A One-Round Tournament
From the introduction:
There is not one spot in the “Blue Hall of Meeting” at the Arch-baronial palace, which is not polished immaculately. The trays of sweetmeats and finger foods are positioned strategically throughout the hall. You are all quite startled to see one another here, and you begin to greet those of the others whom you know the best.
You do not have enough time to get through more than cursory hellos however, ere the trumps sound, and the polished bronze doors leading deeper into the palace slide open to the fanfare. An elderly man, stooped with a solid gold chain of office, which suspends a copy of the great seal, enters first. In his right hand he bears a gem studded ceremonial mace, which he rings thrice upon a sounding panel in the wall.