The Repentant Rake

    'How are you feeling now, Lucy?' she began.

    'As if all the life has been drained out of me.'

    'We all feel like that.'

    'What happened to your sister?'

    'Brilliana decided to return to Richmond.'

    'I heard her voice a number of times.'

    'Yes,' said Susan wearily, 'Brilliana tends to shout, I fear, especially when she's losing an argument. It was best for all of us that her husband took her away when he did. The house seems much quieter all of a sudden.'

    'Do you see much of your sister?'

    'Enough.'

    'She is so unlike you, Susan,' said Lucy 'Gabriel warned me that she would be.'

    'Do you have any brothers or sisters?'

    'Not any more. I had one of each but both died during the Plague.'

    'What about your parents?'

    'My mother is a widow.' She felt a lurch of recognition. 'Just like me.'

    'Not quite, Lucy. You were unlucky. Gabriel was taken before his time.'

    'I wish that I had been killed alongside him!'

    Susan was shocked. 'That's a dreadful thought!' she exclaimed.

    'At least we'd still be together.'

    'You are together, Lucy. As long as you preserve his memory.'

    'I'll cherish it for ever.'

    Susan felt a pang of regret that she had never seen her brother and his wife together. They must have made a handsome couple, but there was far more to their marriage than a pleasing appearance. Lucy had somehow managed to rescue Gabriel from his former dissolute existence and give him a sense of purpose. In doing so, she had found her own true path through life.

    'May I ask how you met?' said Susan.

    'By accident.'

    'Where? Gabriel said so little about you in his letters, apart from the fact that he loved you to distraction, that is. I can see why,' she added with a smile. 'But he told me nothing about how you met and where you were married.'

    'We agreed to keep that secret.'

    'Why?'

    Lucy was wary. 'I'm not able to tell you that, Susan. It's rather complicated. Gabriel had reasons of his own for secrecy. Nobody was to know where we were.'

    'Somebody knew,' noted Susan.

    'I was not counting you.'

    'Nor was I, Lucy. The man who killed Gabriel must have known where he lived as well. From what you told me, Gabriel hardly ever left the house.'

    'He was wedded to his work, Susan. He wrote all the time.'

    'That sounds like my brother. Gabriel did nothing by half- measures.'

    'I miss him so much.'

    Lucy's control snapped again and she burst into tears. Leaping off the bed, Susan knelt down to embrace her, fighting off her own urge to cry. They were entwined for several minutes. When Lucy felt well enough to push Susan gently away, she looked into her eyes.

    'You've been so kind to me.'

    'I loved Gabriel as well.'

    'He doted on you,' said Lucy. 'Gabriel could be harsh at times. He told me that he would not mind if he never saw his father or Brilliana again. They had been hateful to him. But he would never spurn you, Susan. You were his one friend in the family.'

    'We grew up together. I could never disown him.'

    'Your sister did.' 'That's all behind us. Brilliana will mourn his death in her own way.' Susan stood up and regarded her sister-in-law for a few seconds. 'Did you mind being at the funeral on your own?'

    'But I was not on my own. I brought Anna with me.'

    'I was thinking about your family.'

    Lucy's face darkened. 'There was nobody else I wanted there.'

    'Not even your mother?'

    'No. In any case, she would be too ill to travel.'

    'Will you tell her what's happened?' Lucy shook her head. 'Why not?'

    Lucy reached out to hold her hand. 'I don't know you well enough to tell you that yet, Susan. Perhaps I will one day. Until then, please bear with me.' She got up and crossed to look through the window. 'It's beautiful here. I'm sorry I have to leave.'

    'Must you?' said Susan, moving to stand behind her. 'Father would like you to stay as long as you wish. He wants to talk to you.'

    'I'm not sure how much we have to say to each other.'

    'When were you thinking of going?'

    'Tomorrow,' said Lucy, turning to face her. 'I need to go back to London.'

    'Why?'

    'Because that's where Gabriel's killer is and I want to be there when he's caught.'

    'If anyone can track him down,' said Susan fondly, 'it is Christopher Redmayne. He's a fine man. Father and I have so much to thank him for, Lucy.'

    'So do I.'

    'Do you have his address?'

    'Yes, he left it when he called on me in Knightrider Street.'

    'Good.'

    'Why do you ask?'

    'Because I think that you might consider telling him what you are unable to tell me. Let me finish,' she went on, silencing the imminent protest. 'Mr Redmayne is putting his own life at risk on our behalf. We must do everything we can to help him. You must have information about Gabriel that nobody else could have. The most trivial details might be valuable clues to Mr Redmayne. Talk to him, Lucy. You can trust him not to break a confidence.' She held her by the shoulders. 'Tell him the truth.'

    'No, Susan. I could never do that.'

    'Not even if it might lead to the arrest of Gabriel's killer?'

    Lucy fell silent and lowered her head. Letting go of her, Susan stepped back to watch her. She had surprised herself with the degree of affection that came into her voice when she mentioned Christopher Redmayne, but she was not ashamed of her feelings for him. Her admiration for him had steadily grown. When he left her in the churchyard after the funeral, she had been bitterly disappointed. She wished that Lucy had the same faith in him that she did. There was a long wait before Lucy looked up at her. When her question came, it took Susan completely by surprise.

    'Will you come back to London with me?' she asked.

    Jonathan was putting a man in the stocks when Christopher rode up on his horse. Having secured his prisoner, a ragged individual with a straggly beard, the constable gave his friend a nod of welcome.

    'I did not expect you back so soon, Mr Redmayne,' he said.

    Christopher dismounted. 'There was nothing to keep me in Northamptonshire.' He thought of Susan Cheever and smiled to himself. 'Well, on reflection, there was, but it was imperative that I got back here. That's why I rode so hard.' He patted his horse's flank. 'You deserve a rest, old friend.'

    'It's good to see you.'

    'Thank you, Mr Bale. And I'm pleased to see you again.' He indicated the man in the stocks. 'More pleased than this fellow was to see a constable, I know that.'

    'Leave him where he is, sir. Those stocks are his second home.'

    He collected a jeer from the prisoner then set off down the street. Leading his horse, Christopher walked beside him. He gave Jonathan a terse account of the funeral but included a reference to the two unheralded visitors.

    'Mr Lunn was there?' he said. 'I met him. He did not strike me as a caring soul.'

    'He was there to accompany Miss Hemmings,' explained Christopher. 'It would have been difficult for her to attend the funeral on her own. With a man beside her, she was almost invisible. Had she been there alone, people would have asked what her relationship had been with Gabriel Cheever.'