‘He’s a much more amenable and, I fancy, a more malleable human being. My hope is that he won’t pose anything like the threat that his father did.’

‘As usual, you’re well informed, Sir Marcus.’

‘Intelligence somehow drifts into my ear.’

‘How sound is it?’

‘Oh, I can guarantee its authenticity, Oswald. The Radical Dandy will soon become a distant memory.’

‘I can’t wait for that to happen,’ said Ferriday. ‘His ferocious personal attack on me with regard to the Corn Laws went well beyond acceptable limits. It was vicious. I tell you this in confidence,’ he went on, lowering his voice. ‘If someone else hadn’t killed him, I’d have been tempted to do it myself.’

‘A number of us felt the same way,’ said Sir Marcus, smugly.

‘Does anyone know who shot him?’

‘I fear not and that’s a great pity.’

‘Why is that?’

‘I’d like to have shaken the fellow’s hand and told him what a great service he’s done to his country. The rebellion that’s been rumbling away far too long has now been crushed because the only man who could have led it – Mellanby – is no longer alive to do so.’

Ferriday smirked. ‘Goodbye and good riddance to him!’

Edmund Mellanby was less than pleased when his brother walked into the hotel. He was torn between surprise and antagonism.

‘What the devil are you doing here, David?’ he demanded.

‘I’ve as much right as you to be in London,’ said the other, resolutely. ‘He was my father as well, you know. I felt that my place was here.’

‘You’ll only be in the way.’

‘I wanted to be present at the inquest.’

‘I could have told you exactly what happened.’

‘You don’t understand, do you, Edmund? I don’t want to hear your version of events. I mean to experience them for myself. Is there any law against my doing so?’

‘It’s … damned inconvenient, that’s all.’

They adjourned to the hotel lobby and sat down. While he hadn’t expected a welcome, David was slightly taken aback by his brother’s truculence. Accustomed to being ignored by Edmund, he was now being glared at as if he’d committed some heinous crime.

‘Besides,’ resumed David, ‘I had another reason to be here. I’ve been entrusted with the task of presenting a petition to the Prince Regent.’ Edmund gave a hollow laugh. ‘It’s a version of the earlier one and it explains that Father was supposed to present it. Given the fact that you will embark on a political career, it should have fallen to you to hand it over, but Seth Hooper and the others felt that they couldn’t trust you to do so.’

‘They were quite right in that assumption,’ said Edmund, simmering with anger. ‘It’s a document to which I could never subscribe. Given the opportunity, I’d have torn it to bits.’