In which we find ourselves amid the bustling yet somewhat forlorn environs of Cripple Corner and Break-Neck-Stairs in London, where young Mr. Walter Wilding, a man of open speech and hearty feeling, contemplates the honourable legacy left by his late mother and the intimate household he hopes to build among those in his employ. Over glasses of venerable port and in earnest discourse with his legal counsel and steadfast cellar-man, Wilding shares his vision of camaraderie, music, and shared meals—a quaint yet earnest aspiration to knit together business and family under one roof.