"It's true."
"Of course. Weren't you on your oath? It was very zealous of you to get up so early to tell me. In which hand did you have this cramp?"
"Why, in the right, of course."
"And you couldn't write with your left?"
"I don't think I could even hold a pen."
"Or any other instrument, mayhap. What had you been doing to bring it on?"
"Writing too much. That is the only possible cause."
"Oh, I don't know. Writing what?"
Denzil hesitated. "An epic poem."
"No wonder you're in debt. Will a sovereign get you out of it?"