Our chapter opens in Marlow, that bustling, lively, river-side town, with our esteemed travellers - sweet-natured, mischief-prone Harris, considered and affable George, our ever-observant narrator, and that whirling dervish canine companion, Montmorency. We voyage through history, through crumbling stone walls hiding whispered secrets, and the idyllic country paths teeming with long-lost summers roaming in the fragrance of memory.
Venture upstream towards Sonning and stand before the grandeur of Bisham Abbey, a relic of time, graced by the footsteps of Anne of Cleves, Queen Elizabeth, and the infamous Knights Templar. Jeremiah's delightful prose brings alive the spectral shadows of the Lady Holy and the striking figures of history that graced its halls.
Weary from the day's exploits, we escape to Hurley Village, a time-frozen alcove where the whispers of a thousand years echo in your ears. Savour the enigma of the infamous Medmenham monks, known widely as the "Hell Fire Club." Explore an Abbey that promises a world of stern and strange, pious Cistercian monks cloaked in silence, and the curious, irreverent jesters who dared to disturb it centuries later.
Explore the myriad faces of the delightful Montmorency as his mortal enmity with cats leads to more than one incident of hilarious tom-foolery. His antics are sure to leave you chortling in delight. And who can forget the escapade at the Civil Service Stores, where a fox-terrier brought forth a pandemonium that would make even the strongest crumble.
Steer with us through breath-taking landscapes bathed in the golden light of sunset, and down to the sombre bareness that trails Henley. Discover a mirthless departure from Marlow, an impressive procession of man, beast, and some adorable drifters. Beware the steam launches, the bane of every rowing gentleman's existence, as our trio engages in a saga of exciting encounters.
A chance consumption of river water, a sobering encounter with a peaceful dog, and a mysteriously disappearing Harris (along with that day's dinner), make sure that adventure never veers too far from our unsuspecting heroes.
