Dearest Gentle Reader, Tuesday has delivered unto this Author a dispatch so rich in outrage and indignity that even her fourth cup of tea could not steady the nerves. A television programme stands accused of the most serious wrongdoing, a wrongfully imprisoned man is asked to foot his own bill for freedom, and the high street turns out to have been considerably more criminal than one ever imagined whilst browsing for a pastry. Brace yourself.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Saturday has delivered enough drama to furnish a full season of society intrigue - a Northern lord makes his boldest gambit yet for the very highest office, eleven foreign agitators find the Kingdom's doors most firmly shut against them, and a celebrated British institution discovers its aerial ambitions have rather literally crashed to earth. Your humble Author has been busy indeed.