The fiery star of the company of players called Lord Westfield''s Men, Laurence Firethorn, is hot for a lady, wife of the Lord Mayor elect. A tryst at London''s Nine Giants Inn is arranged. Meanwhile, the lugubrious landlord of the actors'' home base is laid even lower by a plot to take over ownership of the inn. A young apprentice actor is subjected to a horrible assault and a waterman pulls a mangled corpse from the Thames.The drama comes to a climax at the annual Lord Mayor''s show as his barge moves grandly down the river....