Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussion of death, racism, antigay bias, and bullying.

In a flash-forward, narrator David “Dave” Win is in his sixties. His former benefactor, the wealthy philanthropist Mark Hadlow, who was in his nineties, has just died. Dave recalls him with affection. A well-known actor, Dave is currently rehearsing a play. He visits Cara, Mark’s widow, for lunch.

It is 1962, and 13-year-old Dave is on a spring vacation from school. He is playing war games on the Berkshire Downs with another boy, Giles, the son of the Hadlows, the family he is visiting for a weekend. As they play, Giles reveals himself as a bully. Near Woolpeck, the Hadlows’ house and farm, Dave sees Mark Hadlow arriving from London in his expensive car. Dave has yet to meet him.

Giles introduces Dave to his father. Dave thanks Mark for awarding him the scholarship called the Hadlow Exhibition to Bampton, a nearby all-boys public boarding school. This is the reason why Dave, as the Hadlow Exhibitioner, has been invited to visit the family. Dave is in his first year at Bampton. Mark inquires how Dave is settling in, and Dave answers politely, not mentioning the aggressive behavior of the boys toward one another and the occasional violence that he has observed.