About this story
John Bold, who loves you, has been asking the bedesmen whether that arrangement is theft dressed as custom, and means to say so in print. The Archdeacon arrives with lawyers to fight him. A meeting for peace is arranged for tonight, but the newspaper runs the story at breakfast regardless.
How it opens
Hiram's Hospital stood in warm red brick behind a quiet gate near the cathedral close.
Twelve old bedesmen occupied its cottages, each with a garden strip and weekly allowance.
Septimus HardingBunce says the pear tree leans dangerously over the south wall.
Choose
Is the bishop's seal dangerous before breakfast?
Does the letter concern the hospital accounts?