The Repentant Rake

    'There is no need for you to go, Father,' Brilliana told him.

    'Somebody must,' he said.

    'Let me send Lancelot. He can identify the body.'

    'Me?' said her husband uneasily. 'Well, yes, my dear. If you wish.'

    'I do wish.'

    'Sir Julius?'

    'No,' said the old man contemptuously. 'The last person who should do this is you, Lancelot. You hardly knew Gabriel. It's a ludicrous suggestion.'

    Brilliana bridled. 'I was only trying to spare you, Father.'

    'Perhaps I should go with you, Sir Julius,' offered Serle.

    'Out of the question,' said Sir Julius hastily. 'Whatever else happens, you will not be involved. This is a family matter.' •

    'Lancelot is part of the family now,' argued Brilliana.

    'He's not a Cheever,' said Susan reasonably. 'It's unfair to force this upon him.'

    'I'm not forcing anything on anybody.'

    'You are, Brilliana.'

    'Well, someone has to make a decision,' retorted her sister, taking a more aggressive stance. 'Nobody else seems capable of doing so.'

    'I think that we should leave it to Sir Julius, my dear,' said her husband.

    'We'll be here until Doomsday if we do that.'

    'Brilliana!' Susan rebuked her.

    'And I won't hear any criticism from you, Susan,' warned Brilliana. 'All that you've done is sit there and mope.'

    'For heaven's sake - our brother is dead!'

    'I'm well aware of that.'

    'Then try to show some pity,' urged Susan.

    'I need no lessons in behaviour from you,' snapped her sister.

    Serle touched her arm. 'There's no reason to get upset about it, Brilliana.'

    'Leave me alone.'

    'We must discuss this calmly, my dear.'

    She rounded on him. 'Oh, be quiet, Lancelot!'

    'Yes,' said Sir Julius vehemently. 'That's the one thing Brilliana has said that I fully endorse. You've no useful comment to make in this debate, Lancelot, so I beg of you to make none at all.'

    Serle was wounded. 'If you say so, Sir Julius.'

    'I do. This bickering is driving me mad. I need peace and quiet.'

    They were still seated round the table in the dining room. The meal had long since been over but they stayed in the room, locked in argument and unwilling to move. Susan Cheever tried to say as little as possible but some of her sister's comments could not go unchallenged. Anxious to help, Serle only managed to add further confusion. Sir Julius shuttled between a brooding silence and bursts of anger. The situation had exposed the deep divisions within the family and that made him squirm. He was uncomfortably reminded of his wife's more tolerant attitude towards their son. She had died after Gabriel left home for good but she usually took his side in his disputes with his father. Sir Julius knew what she would advise in the circumstances, and her counsel weighed heavily with him.

    Susan took the initiative. 'Father should go,' she said, 'and I'll go with him.'

    Brilliana was scornful. 'You, Susan?'

    'Gabriel was my brother.'

    'He was my brother as well, but that does not mean to say I wish to see him laid out on a slab.' She gave a shiver. 'The very notion is revolting.'

    'Nobody will subject you to that, my dear,' promised Serle.

    'I should hope not.'

    'Father will need company on the journey,' said Susan.

    'Lancelot can provide it.'

    'He might prefer me alongside him.'

    'I'd prefer anyone but Lancelot,' said Sir Julius with asperity. 'But not you, Susan. You stay here. This is not woman's work. I appreciate your offer but this is something that falls to me and I'll not shirk it. Besides,' he added hauling himself to his feet, 'it's not merely a question of identifying Gabriel. I want to know who killed him and why. Since I have to go into the city, I'll call on Redmayne.'

    'What business is this of his?' asked Brilliana.

    'He put himself out to bring us the news.'

    'That may be so, Father, but we do not want him poking his nose into our affairs.'

    'Mr Redmayne has gone to great lengths to help us,' said Susan with a fervour that took her sister by surprise. 'You heard what he said. He is taking part in the search for Gabriel's killer. In other words, he is putting himself in danger on our behalf. If you cannot be grateful to him, at least do not be so critical.'

    Brilliana was effectively silenced for once. Her father savoured the moment.

    'I've changed my mind, Susan,' he said at length. 'Perhaps you should come with me, after all.'

    Henry Redmayne was so stunned by the news that he flopped back down into a chair. 'Gabriel Cheever had a wife?' he said incredulously.

    'An extremely attractive one, Henry.'

    'This must be some kind of jest.'

    'It is not,' said Christopher. 'I can assure you.'

    'Gabriel married? Never,' insisted Henry. 'I'd sooner believe that the King had taken a vow of chastity or that our own father shares his bed with two naked women and a long-tailed monkey. It's completely against his nature.'

    'Perhaps that is why he kept it so secret.'

    'But what could have led to such folly?'

    'It was no folly. He somehow met the young lady who is now his widow. Lucy Cheever is the kind of person who would inspire any man to change for the better.'

    'Why bother with a wife when he could have had almost any woman he wanted?'

    Christopher smiled. 'One day you may learn the answer to that question yourself.'

    'Pah!'

    They were in the hall at the house in Bedford Street. Christopher had arrived as his brother was about to venture out. He was pleased that Henry had plucked up enough courage to resume his social life. It signalled a welcome return of his confidence. Henry was still apprehensive, but the fact that Sir Marcus Kemp was also a victim of blackmail had somehow rallied him. His was now a shared pain and that made it easier to bear.

    'Say nothing of this to your friends,' suggested Christopher.

    'They would not believe me if I did.'

    'I agreed to protect Lucy Cheever's secret. She has reasons of her own why the truth should not spread far and wide. We must respect her wishes.'

    'Gabriel was a deeper man than I suspected.'

    'Did you know he had literary aspirations?'

    'No, Christopher.'

    'Miss Hemmings confided as much to me. His wife says that he was a talented poet with ambitions to write plays as well. She said that he was a dedicated author.'

    Henry shook his head in wonder. 'Getting married? Scribbling away in secret? Forsaking his old friends and haunts? No,' he said, getting up, 'this is not the Gabriel Cheever that the rest of us knew.'

    'I fancy there may be more surprises yet before we finish.'

    'I hope not, Christopher. I've had rather too many surprises already.'

    'Where are you going now?'

    'To call on Sir Marcus Kemp. He was as terrified as I was at first, especially when he heard that Gabriel had been murdered. He wanted to barricade himself in his house. But I put some steel into him,' said Henry, adopting a pose. 'I told him that we must stick together and defy the blackmail threats.'