In which the narrator, amid the venerable surroundings of an ancient house, finds himself confiding in the earnest and honourable Lord Chelford regarding a delicate matter, only to be disturbed by a chilling nocturnal encounter that blurs the line between dream and reality. The following day, in the sober company of the astute yet unsettling lawyer Mr Larkin, the weary business of settlements and legalities unfolds, revealing characters whose outward propriety belies an undercurrent of unease.