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....