Chancery Lane Summary

Wanting to sue rich banker Charles Benson for breach of contract and to generate a good deal of publicity for her fading dance career, twenty-six-year-old Jill Twilly, writes a barrister, John Lewis, whom she has just met at a party while in a drunken state, to seek his advice. She reminds him that she had been the woman dancing in blue with a tattered boa. She does not trust the Yellow Pages and dislikes the look of barristers' offices. She recalls where Lewis works and offers to barter her tap-dancing lessons for advice.

Overlooking Lewis' objections and advice as mere "stuffy phrases" (p. 200), Jilly describes her situation, assuming lawyer/client privilege: the villain Charlie has given her a ring but pulled out of the engagement after the party, claiming that she has humiliated him by her behavior. She is getting too...