A Yellow Aster, Volume 2 (of 3)

Humphrey Strange, a sharp‑tongued wanderer with a penchant for dry humor, finds himself summoned to the solemn drawing‑room of his aunt, Lady Mary, shortly after the death of a reclusive great‑uncle. The relatives swarm like curious moths, each probing his modest means and the thin thread of a potential inheritance that could finally lift him from his perpetual bout of poverty. Amid polite chatter and cryptic references to “colour mania” and “the deuce of a shame,” Humphrey’s quick wit keeps the atmosphere lively despite the underlying grief.

As the family unravels tangled histories—illegitimate heirs, buried sins, and the looming question of who truly deserves the estate—Humphrey contemplates turning his brush‑with mortality into something tangible, even if it means filling his pockets with a pound and threepence worth of beer. The story blends Victorian social satire with a touch of existential wonder, inviting listeners to linger over eccentric characters, sly dialogue, and the ever‑present tension between duty and desire.