frail, garrulous old man who still insists on being bewigged and patched despite his invalid status. He has also refused to lie back and wait to die, having summoned Sir Tristram Shield to be married to his great-niece Eustacie. At the last moment, having forbidden his grandson's name to be mentioned in the house, Sylvester has doubts about Ludovic Lavenham's guilt. The most telling note of his character is that it is clearly appropriate that his last words should be a vulgar oath aimed at his doctor. Sir Hugh Thane – Brother of Sarah Thane. A Justice of the Peace, he decides to stay at The Red Lion en route to London due to the excellence of their smuggled brandy. He is a placid, rather easy-going gentleman, who often travels around Europe with his sister Sarah. Due to his contracting a severe cold, he and Sarah are compelled to prolong their stay at the Red Lion, and this allows him to be a severe hindrance to the Bow Street Runners and a great help to the efforts to prove Ludovic Lavenham's innocence. His connections with Bow Street and the courts of law do not make him a strict upholder of the law, and he is an implicit approver of smuggling. Although he states he will tell the truth, he also remarks that nobody will ask him. Sir Matthew John Pluckett – The person who won Ludovic Lavenham's precious ring in a rigged game, and was later shot, of which crime Ludovic Lavenham stands accused. It is his murder that forms the mystery of the book. References Goodreads Sources Hodge, J. A. The Private World of Georgette Heyer. Bodley Head, 1984; reprinted Arrow Books, 2004. Heyerlist.com 1936 British novels Novels by Georgette Heyer Historical novels Novels set in Sussex Fiction set in 1793 Heinemann (publisher) books British romance novels