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be exposed, and this evening was the time or his name
     was not Pipkin.
    Sir Thomas looked round at his five colleagues, whom he had carefully positioned to separate the opposition. True, this involved
     his directly facing the obnoxious Pipkin, but no matter. Angelina was by his side, conveniently placed for him to exert his
     full charm upon her.
    He beamed at the committee, exulting in the almost palpable tension. Ah, the power of being able to mould people to his way
     of thinking. The thought of those who had sworn vengeance on him over the years gave him particular pleasure, for he knew
     they would never succeed. Conversely, few ever got the better of him, and he never forgot the rare occasion they did, just
     as he never forgot a face. Sooner or later they would pay – and especially one. He’d been made a fool of, and it would never
     happen again. Particularly not tonight, much as Pipkin was eager to try.
    Already, his chest puffed out in happy anticipation of Sir Thomas’s downfall, Samuel Pipkin was reading the minutes of the
     meeting that had heralded the crisis. ‘Although the Society’s year runs from 23rd April to the following 22nd April, and the
     chairman holds his position for four years, Sir Thomas Throgmorton moved that his chairmanship should end on 23rd April 1900,
     and not 22nd April, relying on Rule four bee bracket small roman three unbracket of the Society’s constitution. It was agreed
     after discussion that further consideration be given to the matter and that it be resolved at our next meeting in order to
     allow plenty of time for suitable plans to be made for the Event.’
    Sir Thomas glanced confidently round the table. ‘And has anyone had further thoughts on the subject before we vote?’ he asked
     off-handedly, as though expecting silence. But it was patently clear from the voices that immediately broke out that anyone
     had, if not everyone. (Beddington was asleep.) The indignant bellow of Pipkin, however, carried the day.
    ‘I still maintain your suggestion is preposterous, sir, preposterous. The rule makes it clear that the chairman shall hold
     the post for four Society years. Your chairmanship, sir, was inaugurated on 23rd April 1896 and you, sir, therefore desist
     from being chairman on 22nd April 1900.’
    ‘I disagree, as you know, Mr Pick – er Pipkin.’ (He did it on purpose, seethed Samuel. ) ‘The rule also clearly states that
     the chairman shall hold the position for three years of three hundred and sixty-five days and one leap year. The year of 1900
     is not a leap year. My case is, therefore, that, my fourth year being one day short, I remain chairman until and including
     23rd April 1900. The chairman elect, yourself, sir, will take over the position on the 24th. This is the law.’
    ‘Then, sir,’ sneered Pipkin, ‘in the words of your Mr Dickens, the law is an ass.’
    ‘You are the ass, sir,’ said Sir Thomas calmly, ‘if you cannot understand plain English.’
    ‘I think, Sir Thomas,’ Oliver put in, doing his best to keep a strictly serious face, ‘that your point overlooks rule four
     bee bracket small roman two unbracket, which states that the Society’s year shall run from 23rd April in each year until the
     22nd the following year; it makes no allowances for variations in the calendar; this must surely take precedence over rule
     four bee bracket small roman three unbracket.’
    Sir Thomas fixed an unsmiling eye on Oliver. Young figureheads on committees were meant to be seen and not heard, particularly
     since it had not escaped his notice that Oliver had arrived with Angelina. He was a playwright; he should leave legal matters
     to his peers. Sir Thomas turned his best Dickensian frown on the young man. ‘They are two separate rules, Mr Michaels. I see
     no reference’ – ostentatiously he studied the parchment sheets before him – ‘to any link between the two rules. Common sense
     decrees that rule four bee bracket small roman