Chalice of Darkness


 Contents
 Cover
 Also by Sarah Rayne from Severn House
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Author’s Note
 CHALICE OF DARKNESS
 
 Sarah Rayne
 
 
 
 Also by Sarah Rayne from Severn House
 The Phineas Fox mysteries
 DEATH NOTES
 CHORD OF EVIL
 SONG OF THE DAMNED
 MUSIC MACABRE
 THE DEVIL’S HARMONY
 THE MURDER DANCE
 The Nell West and Michael Flint series
 PROPERTY OF A LADY
 THE SIN EATER
 THE SILENCE
 THE WHISPERING
 DEADLIGHT HALL
 THE BELL TOWER
 This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
 
 
 First world edition published in Great Britain and the USA in 2023
 by Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd,
 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE.
 Trade paperback edition first published in Great Britain and the USA in 2023
 by Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.
 This eBook edition first published in 2023 by Severn House,
 an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.
 severnhouse.com
 Copyright © Sarah Rayne, 2023
 All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The right of Sarah Rayne to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
 A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
 ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-0640-4 (cased) 
 ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-0644-2 (trade paper)
 ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-0643-5 (e-book) 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.
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 ONE
 Augustus Pocket sat in a corner of the bare stage and hoped that this was not going to be the day when the Fitzglens in general, and Mr Jack Fitzglen in particular, embarked on a course of action that would end in their downfall. After his years as dresser to Mr Jack, Gus supposed he ought to be accustomed to the family’s ways, but he was not. Every time one of them came up with a new scheme, Gus imagined them all being locked up in some bleak cell, in company with half the old lags in London.
 ‘They’re society burglars, the Fitzglens,’ old Todworthy Inkling had said to Gus when Gus first went to work for the family. ‘They might bound around the stage, declaiming Shakespeare, and put on lavish concerts for the King, and dine with the wealthy, but they’re criminals, every last one of them. Burglars – thieves, robbers, filchers, screwsmen. They’re very good at what they do, though – and,’ he said, with one of his sly winks, ‘they only steal from the rich. And even though they’re criminals, they’re extremely charming.’
 Mr Jack was being extremely charming now. He was standing at the centre of the stage, his eyes alight with enthusiasm.
 ‘I’ve asked you here tonight because I’ve worked out our next filch,’ he was saying. ‘And it’s going to involve something so famous and so priceless that it’ll be the talk of London for years to come.’
 A sharp voice said, ‘I hope you aren’t about to announce that we’re going to lift something like the Star of India, because it would be an impossibility, and I’ll have nothing to do with it.’
 This was Miss Daphnis, of course – the majestic Daphnis Fitzglen who in her youth had been admired by the King when he was Prince of Wales, and who, even now, could sweep on to a stage and inspect the front row of the stalls through a lorgnette, with a stare that silenced even the most chattersome of audiences.
 ‘Don’t talk rot, Daphnis,’ said Mr Rudraige, who would never be left out of any argument that was brewing. ‘Jack won’t be planning anything so outrageous.’
 ‘And so risky,’ murmured Mr Byron Fitzglen, who had draped himself on a chaise longue that had been left on the stage after the week’s performance. ‘But I’m all agog to hear Jack’s plan.’
 ‘Never mind agog, get to the point, Jack, because it’s Sunday night, let’s remember – the one night we’re usually free to go about our lawful occasions—’
 ‘Or unlawful,’ murmured a sardonic voice from the chaise longue.
 ‘—and when I had your note I was about to set off for the Thespis Club, and they’ve just had a consignment of Tuke Holdsworth,’ said Mr Rudraige, glaring at Byron.
 Mr Jack abandoned his centre-stage stance and sat down at the table. ‘Aunt Daphnis,’ he said, ‘of course I haven’t got the Star of India in mind, and Rudraige, I’ll be brief so you can go along to drink your port at the Thespis.’ He leaned forward. His hair, which ladies said was like amber silk or honey with the sun on it, had tumbled over his forehead. ‘We’re going to mount a marvellous, lavish production,’ he said. ‘It will be so extravagant and splendid it will be anticipated for weeks ahead of its opening, and we’ll be booked up for months. But on opening night