Dearest Gentle Reader, this Wednesday has delivered arsonists, a hospital's fatal silence, a crystal meth-collecting former Justice Minister, and a hero who embraced a bomber - all before Canterbury makes ecclesiastical history this very afternoon. This Author's constitution has been tested, her eyebrow raised to quite unprecedented heights, and her admiration for a certain nurse from Leeds knows no earthly bounds.

Dearest Gentle Reader, This Author's column today concerns hidden fortunes, blank pages that set Westminster ablaze, and a stable door shut far too late to matter. One might think the Season's intrigues could not grow more delicious - one would be gravely mistaken. Do click through before someone less discreet reveals what you have missed.