In which we become acquainted with the contrasts among a trio of young men and find companionship and kindness in a friend’s company, while also entering the peculiar but warm domestic world of a civil servant whose home life is a charming fortress of gentle eccentricities. The narrative gently unfolds a scene of quiet domesticity and earnest endeavour, enlivened by whimsical but affectionate details of friendship, household pride, and the curious separation of public and private selves.