Henry comes to dinner with the first complete printed copy of his History of Crome, which he spent 25 years writing and 4 years printing. It covers more than 350 years of family history. Anne observes that Henry has been working on the text for her whole life. Gombauld asks if Henry’s family members had interesting lives and wants to know about any crimes or tragedies that occurred. Henry says that on the whole, very few unusual events took place, and he discovered only two suicides, one violent death, four or five broken hearts, and a small handful of seductions and out-of-wedlock children. Priscilla says that the Wimbushes and Lapiths were always “unadventurous” and “respectable,” but her own family history would be “one long continuous blot from beginning to end” (60-61). Mr. Scogan says his own family history could not be written because the Scogans disappeared after two generations. Henry promises to read a passage after dinner. Jenny, who has not been listening, suddenly asks what everyone is talking about.

After dinner, the group sits in the drawing room, and Henry reads a story from the History. The story is about Hercules Lapith, who was born in 1740.