Plot: The writer kills his mistress inadvertently during an argument when he finds her being unfaithful to him, and is chosen as a jury member to try a man accused of murdering the same woman.

Ignatius, who is actually extremely corrupt, was only checking to find out if the Swiss Banks would actually reveal the name of an account holder.

When the head waiter, impressed by the old man's style, later asks Mark after his father's profession he is astonished to hear that he was not a lawyer or teacher but a factory worker.

Plot: Gerald Haskins and Walter Ramsbottom are friends and rivals since their common school days in Hull.

Having completed a renovation of Multavia's sewage system, he is awarded the Order of the Peacock, Third Class, which turns out to be a cheap piece of brass and glass.

Walter, who is a jeweller and also a city councillor, pokes fun of it and claims to be receiving a 14K gold chain when becoming Mayor.

Gerald sees a popular jeweller in London and commissions a copy of the original order, made of pure gold and real gems, although this will cost him £211,000.

This story was the subject of a plagiarism claim by author Kathleen Burnett in 1988[3] Plot: In this first-person narrative, a female awakens beside a man named Roger.

Osman's son appears discontent but the dealer is delighted that the carpet's new owners will "obviously appreciate its true worth".

Defying illness, starvation and maltreatment, he succeeds in keeping the spirit up by morning prayers and sports competitions.

Having returned to England eventually, Richard Moore soon leaves the Army and becomes a parish priest, deeply content with his new task.

Some ten years later, Richard Moore's service in the small parish church is honoured by an unusual visitor.

When they touch on the topic of the cathedral roof which is in urgent need of repairs, the Dean need not wait long for a £10,000 cheque from Japan.

They meet again in 1979, when Richard Moore becomes bishop of Taunton and Ari Sakata is managing director of the largest electronics company in Japan.

A casual remark on the state of the church roof leads to another cheque which will cover the maintenance costs for a whole year.

Among the numerous mourners in his memorial service, there are some elderly Japanese gentlemen including the chairman and president of the largest electronics company in the world.

Asked for the reasons for his generosity, the president explains that he is trying to repay an act of honour and that Richard Moore might probably remember him as the inconspicuous corporal of forty years ago.

The narrator is horrified at this revelation, as Travers has similarly commissioned a painting that belongs to him and Caroline, and assuming the worst, plots his revenge.

Travers, though suspicious, reluctantly agrees, but shortly after he begins skiing, he is pushed by the narrator into a snowbank and is injured.

The narrator casually returns to bed, explaining to a confused Caroline that he went skiing at the crack of dawn to practice.

She further reveals that she was aware the whole time of his plot to kill Travers, and was disappointed that he failed, leaving the narrator shocked and thunderstruck.

The tournament follows round-robin pairing, as the narrator finds himself facing a thin man, wearing a three-piece suit and half-moon spectacles, an accountant working in Woking.

One thing leads to another, as he pulls out an ornate chess set, and challenges her to a game, on the pretext that they were not able to play against each other at the tournament.

As the narrator returns from the kitchen with a new drink, he sees her there, dressed in nothing but a pair of panties and a gauzy black bra.

Finally the male guests of this dinner are invited to a lunch at Hamilton's, together with a wager that Barker will not be able to recognize any of four wines offered.

The narrator, half-heartedly enjoying the taste of these exquisite wines, is able to observe the butler growing nervous and jittery, even staring at the guests in an imploring way.

Surprisingly the wines are served not in bottles but in decanters and, even to the author's "untutored palate",[2]: p.199  appear superior to those offered at Sefton Hall.

Barker is in a better mood than before and makes a cryptic remark that Sefton Hamilton's late father "knew his wines, while his son doesn't.

Benjamin, a Jew, falls in love with Christina, a German girl whose father is anti-Semitic, and had fought under the Nazis—for which he had been awarded the Iron Cross.

A year into their newly rekindled passionate relationship and marriage, Christina is pregnant again, and gives birth to a girl named Deborah.