Step inside the King's Arms on a quiet Sunday evening in Victorian England, where the fire is warm, supper is nearly ready, and five places are laid at the long dining-room table. Only four of them are expected to be used. Kate Tennant has laid the fifth place every Sunday since she was fourteen. It has its plate, glass, napkin, knife and fork, just like the others. Nobody sits there without being invited, and nobody in the inn seems inclined to explain why it is always kept ready. As the evening settles in, a travelling salesman, a young farm worker, two familiar Sunday regulars and the Tennant family gather around the table for pea soup, cold beef, potatoes, rice pudding and Stilton. Conversation moves easily through small-town news, buttons, saddles, high water at the bridge and an old game of chess beside the fire. And before the evening is over, Kate finally learns why the King's Arms has kept one place empty for so many years. Behind the story: in 1880s England, pubs had to close on Sunday afternoons — unless you were a "bona fide traveller" who had come at least three miles from where you slept the night before. Further reading: the Licensing Act 1874, which set Sunday hours outside London at 12:30–2:30 and 6–10 in the evening — the hours the King's Arms keeps in the story. No music. Narrated with a calm synthetic voice. Also on Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and iHeartRadio — links on the channel page. #SleepStory #VictorianInn #SundaySupper