The Parliament House

    'Oh, I will, I will.'

    'Go out as little as possible.'

    'I must to the Parliament House when the session opens.'

    'From what Susan tells me, Sir Julius, your own home is a veritable Parliament House. It's a pity you cannot conduct business there, well away from danger.'

    'I'm not afraid, Christopher. I need to be seen. I have to show my enemies that I'm not put to flight by a stray musket ball.'

    'They'll have a shock when they realise you are still alive.'

    'I'll give them even more shocks when they're unmasked!'

    'Go armed at all times,' advised Christopher.

    'I do.'

    'I see no weapon about you.'

    'Stand up.'

    'What?'

    'Get to your feet so that you may raise the seat.'

    Christopher obeyed the order and lifted the cushioned seat. Lying beneath it was a blunderbuss and a supply of powder and ammunition.

    'I keep it loaded,' said Sir Julius. 'It's a great persuader if any highwayman should deign to stop us. Lower it down.' Christopher did so and resumed his seat. 'What I'll not do again is to be caught out in the open, alone and unguarded.'

    'That's music to my ears.'

    The old man leaned forward. 'I value your discretion.'

    'Discretion?'

    'Susan was told nothing of your fears. Otherwise, she'd have done her best to stop me going to Cambridge. Thank you, Christopher.'

    'I did not wish to alarm her.'

    'You spared her much anguish.'

    'I'll be blamed for doing that, Sir Julius. When she hears about the attack on you, Susan will be very angry with me.'

    Sir Julius grinned. 'My daughter will be more than angry. She has Cheever blood in her veins. You concealed something from her that she had a right to know. Susan will want you hanged, drawn and quartered.'

    'I'm not looking forward to telling her.'

    'Then why do so?'

    'Something as important as this cannot be hidden.'

    'Yes, it can,' said Sir Julius, indicating his left arm. 'My sleeve will cover the wound and Susan will be none the wiser.'

    'But what if she should learn the truth by other means?'

    'What other means? The coachman and the footman have been sworn to secrecy. The only other person who knows about the attack was the man who fired that musket, and he's unlikely to tell her. No,' Sir Julius went on, 'we must conspire together for her peace of mind. Why cause her unnecessary upset? There's no way that Susan will ever find out that her father's life is in danger.'

    Lancelot Serle was too honest a man to nurse a guilty secret for long. After a day of brooding, and in spite of warnings from his wife, he blurted it out over supper that evening.

    'We met Christopher's brother yesterday,' he volunteered.

    'Did you?' Susan was astonished. 'Why did you not say so when you returned from your drive?'

    'Because it was only a casual encounter,' said Brilliana, shooting her husband a venomous look, 'and hardly worth mentioning.'

    'Where did this encounter take place?'

    'Outside his house.'

    'And inside, Brilliana,' said Serle, determined to make a clean breast of it. 'We went to Bedford Street to look at his house from outside when Mr Redmayne came riding home.'

    'It was a happy accident,' said Brilliana.

    'I call it bare-faced audacity,' cried Susan, looking across the table at her sister. 'Whatever possessed you to go near Henry's house?'

    'We were only acting on your account.'

    'I did so with great reluctance,' said Serle.

    'Keep out of this, Lancelot,' advised his wife in a tone of voice that suggested he would be severely reprimanded later on. 'You've already said too much.'

    'I'm glad that Lancelot spoke,' Susan continued, her anger rising. 'It's bad enough that you should do such a thing. Hiding your treachery from me only makes it worse.'

    'No treachery was involved, Susan.'

    'You went there behind my back.'

    'Only because you'd never have sanctioned a visit.'

    'I'd have resisted the notion with every breath in my body.'

    'When you spoke about Henry Redmayne,' said Brilliana, 'I felt that you were hiding something and I wanted to know what it was. A first step was to look at the house where he lived.'

    Serle nodded. 'We were doing that when the gentleman rode up.' He caught another glare from his wife. 'You tell it, Brilliana.'

    'As it was,' continued his wife, 'Mr Redmayne - Henry - was kind enough to invite us in so that we could see the inside of the house. In fact, we stayed there for some time.'

    'Talking about me, I suppose?' said Susan, clearly upset.

    'Your name did come into the conversation.'

    'Brilliana, this is quite unforgivable! How dare you intrude into my private life? Even by your standards, this is shameful behaviour.'

    'My standards have always been impeccably high.' 'Well, they sank to the depths yesterday.'

    'I was acting on your behalf, Susan. Don't you understand that? If we are to be more closely allied to the Redmayne family, it behoves me to find out more about it.'

    'And where is your next port of call?' asked her sister with biting sarcasm. 'Do you intend to bang on the doors of Gloucester cathedral and demand to see the dean?'

    'No. Henry is much more entertaining company.'

    'Though I deplore his taste in art,' Serle put in.

    'I found it rather diverting.'

    'Brilliana, how can you say such a thing?' He turned to Susan. 'The first thing you see as you enter the hall is a depiction of a Roman orgy, and there's hardly a room where naked females do not adorn the walls. They are painted with great cunning, I grant you, but are they suitable for public exhibition?'

    'You are too narrow-minded, Lancelot.'

    'Would you hang such obscenities in our home?'

    'That's neither here nor there,' said Susan, irritably. 'The simple fact is that you should never have gone anywhere near Bedford Street. As for being invited into the house so that you could discuss my private affairs, that was unpardonable.'

    'But we learned something of importance about Father.'

    'It was the reason why I had to speak out,' said Serle. 'Since you actually share the house with Sir Julius, it would be wholly unfair to keep it from you a moment longer. The wonder is that you did not hear it from Christopher.'

    'Hear what?' asked Susan.

    'Henry Redmayne has been advising his brother with regard to the murder investigation.'

    'Yes,' said Brilliana, admiringly. 'Henry is remarkable. He knows everyone in London who is worth knowing, from His Majesty downwards. After the tragedy in Knightrider Street, he had a visit from his brother. Christopher