Frost Fair by Edward Marston Read Free Book Online

an eye on you while I was away from London.'
        She took a step back. 'You talked to Mr Redmayne about me?'
        'Yes.'
        'Why did you not say?'
        'It was a private matter between the two of us.'
        'Not if it concerns me,' she said, hands on hips. 'I'm not sure that I like the idea of anyone keeping an eye on me. Am I a child that needs to be assigned to a new parent whenever my own goes away on his travels?'
        'No, Susan. You misunderstand the situation.'
        'I understand it all too well. You do not trust me to fend for myself.'
        'That's not the case at all.'
        'I'm wounded by this news. It's galling enough to be packed off to Richmond to stay with Brilliana when I could just as easily remain here.' 'Not on your own.'
        'There are servants in the house.'
        'They are hardly adequate companions.'
        'I've friends in London on whom I can call.'
        'That's my fear. Mr Christopher Redmayne is one of them.'
        'A few days ago, you were urging him to look after me.'
        'That was before I learned the ugly truth about his family,' said Sir Julius. 'It changes everything. Tomorrow, I depart for home but not before I've delivered you into Lancelot's hands. His coach will arrive by mid-morning at the latest.'
        'You do not have to stand over me like that, Father.'
        'I do it by choice. That imbecile of a brother-in-law will hardly be entertaining company but Lancelot will at least get you safely back to Richmond. I've written to Brilliana to tell her what's afoot here.'
        'There was no need to do that.'
        'Brilliana is your sister. She has a right to know what's going on.'
        'She's too critical of Mr Redmayne.'
        'With just cause, it seems.'
        'This will only feed her misconception.'
        'Brilliana will take a dispassionate view of it all.'
        'She'll only interfere.'
        'Precisely,' he said with a cold smile that signalled the end of the conversation. 'Brilliana will agree with me and her husband will, as usual, do what she tells him. That contents me. Between the two of them, they'll keep you well away from Mr Redmayne and that murderous brother of his.'
        Susan felt helpless. She could do nothing but smoulder in silence.
        
      
        The first thing that Christopher Redmayne did when he left the prison was to fill his lungs with fresh air. It helped to clear his head and rid his nostrils of the abiding stench of Newgate. His visit had been deeply disturbing. It was bad enough to find his brother in such an appalling state. To learn that there were genuine grounds for suspecting Henry Redmayne of murder was truly shocking. What made it even worse was that Henry himself could neither deny nor confirm his guilt, making it almost impossible for Christopher speak up in his defence. On previous occasions when he had been arrested, Henry had been fined for being drunk and disorderly before being discharged. He had never spent a night in a prison cell before, especially one as cramped and fetid as the bare room that he now occupied. Unused to squalor, he was having it rubbed in his face and his ordeal seemed likely to continue until he went to trial for murder.
        Christopher walked away from Newgate then turned back to study it. Razed to the ground in the Great Fire, the prison had been rebuilt and work was still continuing on it. As an architect, Christopher had to admire the magnificent facade, decorated, as it was, by emblematic figures and statues. Among other civic worthies of the past, Richard Whittington and his cat looked down on the hordes of people going in and out of the city. Behind the sumptuous exterior of Newgate, however, was a grim prison that retained all the faults of its hated predecessor. Bad ventilation, an inadequate water supply and serious overcrowding made it a breeding-ground for disease. Those who survived the brutal regime