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    Resurrection Row
    Resurrection Row
    Resurrection Row
    Ebook368 pages8 hours

    Resurrection Row

    By Anne Perry

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Some bodies just won’t stay buried . . .“For readers longing to be in 1890s London, Perry’s tales are just the ticket” (Chicago Tribune).
      Lord Fitzroy-Hammond of Resurrection Row has been dead and buried three weeks when he turns up sitting atop a hansom cab. Grave robbing, though a crime, isn’t Inspector Thomas Pitt’s usual fare. But when the macabre joke is repeated, and the man’s corpse is found sitting in the family pew the Sunday following his second interment, Pitt begins to wonder if perhaps there’s some message in it. The case grows increasingly bizarre as other disinterred bodies appear.   A new mother, Charlotte Pitt only takes a cursory interest in the grave robbing case until she hears Thomas mention the name of her late sister’s husband, Dominic Corde, as a possible suspect. As Pitt follows leads into the slums and rookeries, Charlotte, too, is drawn into the politics and horrors of greed and exploitation.   For Pitt and Charlotte, what begins as a mysterious case of musical corpses, becomes a deadly pursuit through the London underworld of pornographic photographers, brothels, and sweatshops.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateJun 14, 2011
    ISBN9781453222324
    Author

    Anne Perry

    Anne Perry (1938–2023) was a bestselling author of historical detective fiction, most notably the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series and the William Monk series, both set in Victorian England. Her first book, The Cater Street Hangman (1979), launched both the Pitt series and her career as a premier writer of Victorian mysteries. Other novels in the series include Resurrection Row, Death in the Devil’s Acre, and Silence in Hanover Close, as well as more than twenty others. The William Monk series of novels, featuring a Victorian police officer turned private investigator, includes Funeral in Blue, The Twisted Root, and The Silent Cry. In addition to these series, Perry also authored the World War I novels No Graves as Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, and others, as well as several collections of short stories. Perry’s novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world and have sold more than twenty-five million books in print worldwide.  

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    Reviews for Resurrection Row

    3.5/5

    200 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Inspector Pitt investigates the cases of the dead bodies, that is disintered bodies that have buried for a few weeks, have been dug up and now appear in various places. But why theses bodies, what is the motive.
      Another enjoyable well-written Victorian mystery in this series with its cast of likeable characters.
    • 4/5
      This is the 4th book in the Charlotte and William Pitt series. I begrudgingly gave the extra 1/2 star to rate Resurrection Ro as 3 1/2 Stars,

      For this reader, the setting and characters are what keeps me interested in this series, followed by the mystery. In this book, Inspector Pitt takes the lead role with Charlotte as support. The domestic scenes are nicely written and Charlotte is becoming more well-developed and mature. I do wish the poor man could find some waterproof boots and clothing, he's always uncomfortablely soaked. We spend more delightful time with Aunt Vespasia.

      As to the mystery, while the plot is creative, it is a bit confusing and the reader's ability to deduce the killer is hampered This makes for a less enjoyable reading experience. As usual, Perry chooses to solve the murder in the final chapter with an abruptness that is starting to leave this reader unsatisfied.

      Finally, in the previous books, I enjoyed reading about the social conditions, values and morality of the era. However, I found the author unnecessarily preachy and repetitive here. It was off-putting to me.

      I will continue with the next title, but my enjoyment of this series has gradually been declining, though the writing itself is still very good.
    • 2/5
      4th in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt mystery series, this volume begins when a cabbie falls off his perch on a cab only to have our intrepid duo to discover that he is not only dead, but has been exhumed from his grave. The corpse, the former Lord Augustus Fitzroy-Hammond conveniently lives on the same street as Aunt Vespacia who has conveniently moved from Paragon Walk after the previous murder in the previous book of the same name. Charlotte's sisters husband, Dominic Corde also makes an appearance and there is a lot of extraneous nonsense about a bill before Parliament to help the poor living in the slums.

      All in all, this is a decidedly confusing story, and while only 216 pages long, it could have been even shorter, if Perry had cut out the bits of the plot that ad very little to the story.
    • 3/5
      I am on a Ferris wheel that cannot stop, and therefore I have finished number 4 of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. Charlotte plays a very minor role in this story, but Aunt Vespasia returns. The story centers on corpses tuning up in unlikely place, and one poor corpse must be buried 3 times. Thomas must find the grave robber and the reason for this ghastly deed. Perry evicts talking of fashion in this novel, but spends much time on the plight of the uneducated and poor that frequent the workhouses. When one of the corpses happens to be an artist thought to be visiting Paris, the investigation sizzles. Perry omits much in this novel that sets her apart, such as characterization and setting. The emphasis rests on a few wealthy people attempting to pass legislation to aid the poor citizens of England.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure the characters actions were quite logical but Perry has a nice mix of things going on in Victorian London. She made her point about workhouses by showing things not going off onto sermons. Made me think about third world conditions today.
    • 5/5
      Really a good read; much information about Victorian social morals and life of the average as well as the advantaged person./
    • 4/5
      Another fabulous Pitt mystery by Anne Perry, the fourth in the series. And the reader is off to the races beginning on the first page when two of the folks hailing a cab get more than they bargained for, an astonished horse and a corpse who’s been there, done that, now dug up, and posed as a cabby. A creative if improbable beginning. And the reader settles in. Not only are the dead again exposed, but the manners and mores, the pretenses and hypocrisies of Victorian society.

      As is always the case with a Perry mystery, history is meticulously researched, a sense of place evoked in rich detail, and all characters memorable. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt are richly drawn as is Aunt Vespasia making her second appearance, and playing a greater role, teaming up with Charlotte to help Pitt’s investigation. In the last sentence of the book, the perp is arrested.

      This was one of my favorite reads in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery series, couldn’t put it down, and any mystery lover interested in Victorian England will love it.
    • 4/5
      Books starts with a corpse, a man who was buried two weeks before, falling out of carriage in front of the theater. Thomas Pitt is assigned to investigate and starts interviewing all the friends and relatives of the deceased and then another corpse is found in a church pew, but in the end it's Charlotte who points him in the right direction to solve the case. There is a subplot involving child labor and workhouse conditions in Victorian London.

    Book preview

    Resurrection Row - Anne Perry

    Resurrection Row

    Anne Perry

    To MEG

    for all her help

    Contents

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    8

    9

    10

    Preview: Rutland Place

    1

    THE FOG SWIRLED thick and sour down the street, obscuring the distances and blurring the gas lamps above. The air was bitter and damp, catching in the throat, yet it did not chill the enthusiasm of the audience pouring out of the theatre, a few bursting into impromptu snatches of song from Gilbert and Sullivan’s new opera, The Mikado. One girl even lilted from side to side in imitation of the little Japanese heroine, before her mother told her sharply to remember herself and behave with the decorum her family had a right to expect.

    Two hundred yards away Sir Desmond and Lady Cantlay were walking slowly in the general direction of Leicester Square, intending to hail a cab; they had not brought their own carriage because of the difficulty of finding a suitable place to meet afterwards. On such a January night one did not wish to keep the horses standing or roaming the area to pick one up. It was too hard to come by a really excellently matched pair to risk their health in such an unnecessary fashion. Cabs were plentiful enough and naturally gathered at the coming out of any theatre.

    I did enjoy that, Lady Gwendoline said with a sigh of pleasure that turned into a shiver as a swirl of fog wreathed her and the damp touched her face. I must purchase some of the music to play for myself; it really is delightful. Especially that song the hero sings. She took a breath, coughed, and then sang in a very sweet voice, A wandering minstrel I, a thing of rags and patches—er—what was next, Desmond? I recall the tune, but the words escape me.

    He took her arm to draw her away from the curb as a cab swished by, splashing manure where the street sweeper had gone home too early to clear it.

    I don’t know, my dear. I’m sure it will be in the music. It really is a miserable night, it is no pleasure at all to walk. We must find a cab immediately. I can see one coming now. Wait here and I’ll call him. He stepped out into the street as a hansom loomed out of the mist, its slow hooves muffled in the blanketing damp, the horse dragging head down, almost directionless.

    Come on! Sir Desmond said irritably. What’s the matter with you, man? Don’t you want a fare?

    The horse drew level with him and raised its head, ears coming forward at the sound of his voice.

    Cabby! Desmond said sharply.

    There was no reply. The driver sat motionless on the box, his greatcoat collar turned up, hiding most of his face, the reins slack over the rail.

    Cabby! Desmond was growing increasingly annoyed. I presume you are not engaged? My wife and I wish to go to Gladstone Park!

    Still the man did not stir or steady the horse, which was moving gently, shifting from foot to foot, making it unsafe for Gwendoline to attempt to climb into the cab.

    For heaven’s sake, man! What’s the matter with you? Desmond reached up and grabbed at the skirts of the driver’s coat and pulled sharply. Control your animal!

    To his horror the man tilted toward him, overbalanced, and toppled down, falling untidily off the box over the wheel and onto the pavement at his feet.

    Desmond’s immediate thought was that the man was drunken insensible. He would not be by any stretch the only cabby to fortify himself against endless hours in the bitter fog by taking more alcohol than he could handle. It was an infernal nuisance, but he was not without a flicker of understanding for it. Were he not in Gwendoline’s hearing he would have sworn fluently, but now he was obliged to hold his tongue.

    Drunk, he said with exasperation.

    Gwendoline came forward and looked at him.

    Can’t we do something about it? She had no idea what such a thing might be.

    Desmond bent down and rolled him over till the man was lying on his back, and at the same moment the wind blew a clear patch in the fog so the gaslight fell on his face.

    It was appallingly obvious that he was dead—indeed, that he had been dead for some time. Even more dreadful than the livid, puffy flesh was the sweet smell of putrefaction, and a crumble of earth in the hair.

    There was an instant’s silence, long enough for the in-drawing of breath, the wave of revulsion; then Gwendoline screamed, a high, thin sound smothered immediately by the night.

    Desmond stood up slowly, his own stomach turning over, trying to put his body between her and the sight on the pavement. He expected her to faint; and yet he did not know quite what to do. She was heavy as she sank against him, and he could not maintain her weight.

    Help! he called out desperately. Help me!

    The horse was used to the indescribable racket of the London streets, and it was barely stirred by Gwendoline’s scream. Desmond’s shout did not move it at all.

    He cried out again, his voice rising as he struggled to prevent her sliding out of his grip onto the filthy pavement and to imagine some way of dealing with the horror behind him before she regained her senses and became completely hysterical.

    It seemed like minutes standing in the wreaths of coldness, the cab looming over him, silent except for the breathing of the horse. Then at last there were footsteps, a voice, and a shape.

    What is it? What’s wrong? An enormous man materialized out of the fog, muffled in a woolen scarf, coattails flapping. What happened? Have you been attacked?

    Desmond was still holding Gwendoline, who was at last beginning to stir. He looked at the man and saw an intelligent, humorous face of undoubted plainness. In the halo of the gaslight he was not so enormous, merely tall, and dressed in too many layers of clothes, none of which appeared to be done up correctly.

    Were you attacked? the man repeated a little more sharply.

    Desmond jerked himself into some presence of mind.

    No. He grasped Gwendoline more tightly, pinching her without meaning to. No. The—the cabby is dead. He cleared his throat and coughed as the fog caught him. I fear he has been dead some time. My wife fainted. If you would be kind enough to assist me, sir, I shall endeavor to revive her; and then I imagine we should summon the police. I suppose they take care of such things. The poor man is an appalling sight. He cannot be left there.

    I am the police, the man replied, looking past him to the form on the ground. Inspector Pitt. He fished absently for a card and turned up a penknife and a ball of string. He abandoned the effort and bent down by the body, touching the face with his fingers for a moment, then the earth on the hair.

    He’s dead— Desmond began. In fact—in fact, he looks almost as if he had been buried—and dug up again!

    Pitt stood up, running his hands down his sides as though he could rub off the feel of it.

    Yes, I think you’re right. Nasty. Very nasty.

    Gwendoline was now coming fully to consciousness and straightened up, at last taking the weight off Desmond’s arm, although she still leaned against him.

    It’s all right, my dear, he said quickly, trying to keep her turned away from Pitt and the body. The police are going to take care of it! He looked grimly at Pitt as he said this, trying to make something of an order of it. It was time the man did something more useful than merely agree with him as to the obvious.

    Before Pitt could reply, a woman came out of the darkness, handsome, and with a warmth in the curves of her face that survived even the dankness of this January street.

    What is it? She looked straight at Pitt.

    Charlotte, he hesitated, debating for an instant how much to tell her, the cabby is dead. Looks as if he’s been dead a little while. I shall have to see that arrangements are made. He turned to Desmond. My wife, he explained, leaving the words hanging.

    Desmond Cantlay. Desmond resented being expected to introduce himself socially to a policeman’s wife, but he had been left no civil alternative. Lady Cantlay. He moved his head fractionally toward Gwendoline.

    How do you do, Sir Desmond? Charlotte replied with remarkable composure. Lady Cantlay.

    How do you do? Gwendoline said weakly.

    If you would be good enough to give me your address? Pitt asked. In case there should be any inquiry? Then I’m sure you would prefer to find another cab and go home.

    Yes, Desmond agreed hastily. Yes—we live in Gladstone Park, number twenty-three. He wanted to point out that he could not possibly help in any enquiry, since he had never known the man or had the least idea who he was or what had happened to him, but he realized at the last moment that it was a subject better not pursued. He was glad enough simply to leave. It did not occur to him until after he was in another cab and halfway home that the policeman’s wife was going to have to find her own way, or else wait with her husband for the mortuary coach and accompany him and the body. Perhaps he should have offered her some assistance? Still—it was too late now. Better to forget the whole business as soon as possible.

    Charlotte and Pitt stood on the pavement beside the body. Pitt could not leave her alone in the street in the fog, nor could he leave the body unattended. He searched in his pockets again and after some moments found his whistle. He blew it as hard as he could, waited, and then blew it again.

    How could a cabby have been dead for more than an hour or two? Charlotte asked quietly.. Wouldn’t the horse take him home?

    Pitt screwed up his face, his long, curved nose wrinkled. I would have thought so.

    How did he die? she asked. Cold? There was pity in her voice.

    He put out a hand to touch her gently, a gesture that said more than he might have spoken in an hour.

    I don’t know, he answered her very quietly. But he’s been dead a long time, maybe a week or more. And there’s earth in his hair.

    Charlotte stared at him, her face paling. Earth? she repeated. In London? She did not look at the body. How did he die?

    I don’t know. The police surgeon—

    But before he had time to finish his thought, a constable burst out of the darkness and a moment later another behind him. Briefly Pitt told them what had happened and handed over responsibility for the entire affair. It took him ten minutes to find another cab, but by quarter-past eleven he and Charlotte were back in their own home. The house was silent, but warm after the bitter streets. Jemima, their two-year-old daughter, was spending the night with Mrs. Smith opposite. Charlotte had preferred to leave her there rather than disturb her at this hour.

    Pitt closed the door and shut out the world, the Cantlays, dead cabbies, the fog, everything but a lingering of music from the gaiety and color of the opera. When he had first married Charlotte, she had given up the comfort and status of her father’s house without a word. This was only the second time he had been able to take her to the theatre in the city, and it was an occasion to be celebrated. All evening he had looked at the stage, and then at her face, and the joy he saw there was worth every careful economy, every penny saved for it. He leaned back against the door, smiling, and pulled her towards him gently.

    The fog turned to rain, and then sleet. Two days later Pitt was sitting at his desk in the police station when a sergeant came in, his face puckered with unhappiness. Pitt looked up.

    What is it, Gilthorpe?

    You remember that dead cabby you found night before last, sir?

    What about him? It was something Pitt would have preferred to forget, a simple tragedy but a common enough one, except for the amount of time he had been dead.

    Well, Gilthorpe shifted from one foot to the other. Well, it looks like ’e wasn’t no cabby. We found an open grave—

    Pitt froze; somewhere, pressed to the back of his mind, had been a fear of something like this when he had seen the puffy face and the touch of wet earth, something ugly and obscene, but he had ignored it.

    Whose? he said quietly.

    Gilthorpe’s face tightened. A Lord Augustus Fitzroy-Hammond, sir.

    Pitt shut his eyes, as if not seeing Gilthorpe might take it away.

    ’E died just short o’ three weeks ago, sir, Gilthorpe’s voice went on inexorably. Buried a fortnight. Very big funeral, they say.

    Where? Pitt asked mechanically, carrying on while his brain still sought to escape.

    St. Margaret’s, sir. We put a guard on it, naturally.

    Whatever for? Pitt opened his eyes. What harm is anyone going to do an empty grave?

    Sightseers, sir, Gilthorpe said without a flicker. Someone might fall in. Very ’ard to get out of a grave, it is. Sides is steep and wet, this time o’ year. And o’ course the coffin is still there. He stood a little more upright, indicating that he had finished and was waiting for orders from Pitt.

    Pitt looked up at him.

    I suppose I had better go and see the widow and have her identify our corpse from the cab. He climbed to his feet with a sigh. Tell the mortuary to make it look as decent as possible, will you? It’s going to be pretty wretched, whether it’s him or not. Where does she live?

    Gladstone Park, sir, number twelve. All very big ’ouses there; very rich, I shouldn’t wonder.

    They would be, Pitt agreed drily. Curious, the couple who had found the corpse had lived there also. Coincidence. Right, Gilthorpe. Go and tell the mortuary to have his lordship ready for viewing. He picked up his hat and put it hard on his head, tied his muffler round his neck, and went outside into the rain.

    Gladstone Park was, as Gilthorpe had said, a very wealthy area, with large houses set back from the street and a well-tended park in the center with laurel and rhododendron bushes and a very fine magnolia—at least that was what he guessed it to be in its winter skeleton. The rain had turned back to sleet again, and the day was dark with coming snow.

    He shivered as the water seeped down his neck and trickled cold over his skin. No matter how many scarves he put on, it always seemed to do that.

    Number twelve was a classic Georgian house with a curved carriageway sweeping in under a pillared entrance. Its proportions satisfied his eye. Even though he would never again, since his childhood as a gamekeeper’s son, live in such a place, it pleased him to see it. These houses graced the city and provided the stuff of dreams for everyone.

    He jammed his hat on harder as a gust of wind rattled a monumental laurel by the door and showered him with water. He rang the bell and waited.

    A footman appeared, dressed in black. A thought flickered through Pitt’s mind that he had missed his vocation in life—nature had intended him for an undertaker.

    Yes—sir? There was the barest hesitation as the man recognized one of the lower classes and immediately categorized him as someone who should have known well enough to go to the back door.

    Pitt was long familiar with the look and was prepared for it. He had no time to waste with layers of relayed messages, and it was less cruel to tell the news once and plainly than ooze it little by little through the hierarchy of the servant’s hall.

    I am Inspector Pitt of the police. There has been an outrage with regard to the grave of the late Lord Augustus Fitzroy-Hammond, he said soberly. I would like to speak to Lady Fitzroy-Hammond, so that the matter can be closed as soon and as discreetly as possible.

    The footman was startled out of his funereal composure. You—you had better come in!

    He stood back, and Pitt followed him, too oppressed by the interview ahead to be glad yet of the warmth. The footman led him to the morning room and left him there, possibly to report the shattering news to the butler and pass him the burden of the next decision.

    Pitt had not long to wait. Lady Fitzroy-Hammond came in, white-faced, and stopped when she was barely through the door. Pitt had been expecting someone considerably older; the corpse from the cab had seemed at least sixty, perhaps more, but this woman could not possibly be past her twenties. Even the black of mourning could not hide the color or texture of her skin, or the suppleness of her movement.

    You say there has been an—outrage, Mr.—? she said quietly.

    Inspector Pitt, ma’am. Yes. I’m very sorry. Someone has opened the grave. There was no pleasant way of saying it, no gentility to cover the ugliness. But we have found a body, and we would like you to tell us if it is that of your late husband.

    For a moment he thought she was going to faint. It was stupid of him; he should have waited until she was seated, perhaps even have sent for a maid to be with her. He stepped forward, thinking to catch her if she crumpled.

    She looked at him with alarm, not understanding.

    He stopped, aware of her physical fear.

    Can I call your maid for you? he said quietly, putting his hands by his sides again.

    No. She shook her head, then, controlling herself with an effort, she walked past him slowly to the sofa. Thank you, I shall be perfectly all right. She took a deep breath. Is it really necessary that I should—?

    Unless there is someone else of immediate family? he replied, wishing he could have said otherwise. Is there perhaps a brother or— He nearly said son, then realized how tactless it would be. He did not know if she was a second wife. In fact, he had neglected to ask Gilthorpe the age of his lordship: Presumably Gilthorpe would not have brought the matter to him at all if he could not have been the man on the cab.

    No. She shook her head. There is only Verity—Lord Augustus’s daughter, and of course his mother, but she is elderly and something of an invalid. I must come. May I bring my maid with me?

    Yes, of course; in fact, it might be best if you did.

    She stood up and pulled the bell cord. When the maid came, she sent the message for her personal maid to bring her cloak, and make herself ready for the street. The carriage was ordered. She turned back to Pitt.

    Where—where did you find him?

    There was no point in telling her the details. Whether she had loved him or it had been a marriage of arrangement, it was not necessary for her to know about the scene outside the theatre.

    In a hansom cab, ma’am.

    Her face wrinkled up. In a hansom cab? But—why?

    I don’t know. He opened the door for her as he heard voices in the hallway, led her out, and handed her into the carriage. She did not ask again, and they rode in silence to the mortuary, the maid twisting her gloves in her hands, her eyes studiously avoiding even an accidental glimpse of Pitt.

    The carriage stopped, and the footman helped Lady Fitzroy-Hammond to alight. The maid and Pitt came unassisted. The mortuary building was up a short path overhung by bare trees that dripped water, startling and icily cold, in incessant, random splatters as the wind caught them.

    Pitt pulled the bell, and a young man with a pink face opened the door immediately.

    Inspector Pitt, with Lady Fitzroy-Hammond. Pitt stood back for her to go in.

    Ah, good day, good day. The young man ushered them in cheerfully and led them down the hallway into a room full of slabs, all discreetly covered with sheets. You’ll be after number fourteen. He glowed with cleanliness and professional pride. There was a basket-sided chair close to the slab, presumably in case the viewing relatives should be overcome, and a pitcher of water and three glasses stood on a table at the end of the room.

    The maid took out her handkerchief in preparation.

    Pitt stood ready to offer physical support should it be necessary.

    Right. The young man pushed his spectacles more firmly on his nose and pulled back the sheet to expose the face. The cabby’s clothes were gone and they had combed the sparse hair neatly, but it was still a repellent sight. The skin was blotched and in places beginning to come away, and the smell was cloying sick.

    Lady Fitzroy-Hammond barely looked at it before covering her face with her hands and stepping back, knocking the chair. Pitt righted it in a single movement, and the maid guided her into it. No one spoke.

    The young man pulled the sheet up again and trotted down the room to fetch a glass of water. He did it as imperturbably as if it were his daily habit—as indeed it probably was. He returned and gave it to the maid, who held it for her mistress.

    She took a gulp, then clutched onto it, her fingers white at the knuckles.

    Yes, she said under her breath. That is my husband.

    Thank you, ma’am, Pitt replied soberly. It was not the end of the case, but it was very probably all he would ever know. Grave robbing was of course a crime, but he did not hold any real hope that he would discover who had made this obscene gesture or why.

    Do you feel well enough to leave now? he asked. I’m sure you would be more comfortable at home.

    Yes, thank you. She stood up, wavered for a moment, then, followed closely by the maid, walked rather unsteadily towards the outer door.

    That all? the young man inquired, his voice a little lowered but still healthily cheerful. Can I mark him as identified and release him for burial now?

    Yes, you may. Lord Augustus Fitzroy-Hammond. No doubt the family will tell you what arrangements they wish, Pitt answered. Nothing odd about the body, I suppose?

    Nothing at all, the young man responded ebulliently, now that the women were beyond the door and out of earshot. Except that he died at least three weeks ago and has already been buried once. But I suppose you knew that. He shook his head and was obliged to resettle his glasses. Can’t understand why anybody should do that—dig up a dead body, I mean. Not as if they’d dissected him or anything, like medical students used to—or black magicists. Quite untouched!

    No mark on him? Pitt did not know why he asked; he had not expected any. It was a pure case of desecration, nothing more. Some lunatic with a bizarre twist to his mind.

    None at all, the young man agreed. Elderly gentleman, well cared for, well nourished, a little corpulent, but not unusual at his age. Soft hands, very clean. Never seen a dead lord before, so far as I know, but that’s exactly what I would have expected one to look like.

    Thank you, Pitt said slowly. In that case there is little more for me to do.

    Pitt attended the reinterment as a matter of course. It was just possible that whoever had committed the outrage might be there to see the result of his act on the family. Perhaps that was the motive, some festering hatred still not worked through, even with death.

    It was naturally a quiet affair; one does not make much of burying a person a second time. However, there was a considerable group of people who had come to pay their respects, perhaps more out of sympathy for the widow than further regard for the dead. They were all dressed in black and had black ribbons on their carriages. They processed in silence to the grave and stood, heads bowed in the rain. Only one man had the temerity to turn up his collar in concession to comfort. Everyone else ignored the movement in pretense that it had not happened. What was the small displeasure of icy trickles down the neck when one was faced with the monumental solemnity of death?

    The man with the collar was slender, an inch or two above average height, and his delicate mouth was edged with deep lines of humor. It was a wry face, with crooked brown eyebrows; certainly there was nothing jovial in it.

    The local policeman was standing beside Pitt to remark any stranger for him.

    Who is that? Pitt whispered.

    Mr. Somerset Carlisle, sir, the man answered. Lives in the Park, number two.

    What does he do?

    He’s a gentleman, sir.

    Pitt did not bother to pursue it. Even gentlemen occasionally had occupations beyond the social round, but it was of no importance.

    That’s Lady Alicia Fitzroy-Hammond, the constable went on quite unnecessarily. Very sad. Only married to him a few years, they say.

    Pitt grunted; the man could take it to mean anything he chose. Alicia was pale but quite composed: probably relieved to have the whole thing nearly over. Beside her, also in utter black, was a younger girl, perhaps twenty, her honey-brown hair pulled away from her face and her eyes suitably downcast.

    The Honorable Miss Verity Fitzroy-Hammond, the constable anticipated him. Very nice young lady.

    Pitt felt no reply was required. His eye traveled to the man and woman beyond the girl. He was well built, probably had been athletic in youth, and still stood with ease. His brow was broad, his nose long and straight, only a certain flaw in the mouth prevented him from being completely pleasing. Even so, he was a handsome man. The woman beside him had fine, dark eyes and black hair with a marvelous silver streak from the right temple.

    Who are they? Pitt asked.

    Lord and Lady St. Jermyn, the constable said, rather more loudly than Pitt would have wished. In the stillness of the graveyard even the steady dripping of the rain was audible.

    The burial was over, and they turned one by one to leave. Pitt recognized Sir Desmond and Lady Cantlay from the street outside the theatre and hoped they had had the tact not to mention their part in the matter. Perhaps they would; Sir Desmond had seemed a not inconsiderate person.

    The last to leave, accompanied by a rather solid man with a plain, amiable face, was a tall, thin old lady of magnificent bearing and an almost imperial dignity. Even the gravediggers hesitated and touched their hats, waiting until she had passed before beginning their work. Pitt saw her clearly for only a moment, but it was enough. He knew that long nose, the heavy-lidded, brilliant eyes. At eighty she still had more left of her beauty than most women ever possess.

    Aunt Vespasia! He was caught in his surprise and spoke aloud.

    Beg pardon, sir? the constable started.

    Lady Cumming-Gould, isn’t it? Pitt swung round to him. That last lady leaving.

    Yes, sir! Lives in number eighteen. Just moved ’ere in the autumn. Old Mr. Staines died in the February of 1885; that’d be just short a year ago. Lady Cumming-Gould bought it back end o’ the summer.

    Pitt remembered last summer extremely well. That was when he had first met Charlotte’s sister Emily’s great-aunt Vespasia, during the Paragon Walk outrage. More precisely, she was the aunt of Emily’s husband, Lord George Ashworth. He had not expected to see her again,

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