The Chandlers had been making candles in Bolton for five hundred years, & had given their name to the village of Chandlers Green. The dynasty, now in decline & ruled by Richard Chandler, is reduced to an unhappy household & a few tenanted properties.
But Richard continues to behave as though he were lord of the manor. Jean, his wife, is terrified of him; his aunt, Anna Chandler, has moved out of the house & is writing a history of candlemaking; his grown-up children despise him, but fear for their mother if they were to leave home. & now Richard