Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

will they train for war any more. However, Sidney knew that his academic, and therefore judgemental, congregation would find this too obvious and so, in recognition of Valentine Lyall’s love of mountains, he settled for something braver, especially given the context of the man’s death. He chose to speak on the subject of Matthew, chapter 17, verse 20: If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place: and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
    It was worth the risk. Every time Sidney spoke to the more doubtful, humanist or cynical members of the university he found himself becoming more aggressive about his faith.
    Not that he knew everyone who had come to the service. Despite the aspersions cast about his private life, Lyall had once had a wife; and although she had left him shortly after the war and lived in London, she returned for her former husband’s funeral and sat with his sister in the front row. The two women were joined by the Master of Corpus, several senior fellows, and staff from the Strangeways Research Laboratory.
    Sidney’s sermon went well. He had learned that the best way of unsettling the non-believer was to attack with certainty, acknowledging doubt before hitting home with the necessity of faith.
    The wake was held in Cherry Hinton Road. Lyall’s sister, Hetty, offered guests some rather tired-looking cheese sandwiches, followed by tea and cake, whisky or sherry, while Sidney took the opportunity to have a quiet word with a woman he had never met before.
    Alice Lyall, now Bannerman, was a surprisingly tall, elegant woman with magnificent Titianesque hair that had been swept back and curled. Although she could clearly dominate a room she took pains not to, either embarrassed or tired by the effect she could have on a man. She was going to stay for as long as it was polite to do so, and Sidney knew that he would have to choose his words carefully if he was going to acquire information.
    ‘When we first moved in, I thought that we would live here for ever,’ she explained. ‘I imagined the children going to the Leys or the Perse and that I would become a don’s wife, one of those grass widows you see on their bicycles all over town trying to look as if they belong in a world of men. Now, of course, it turns out that I am merely a widow; of sorts.’
    ‘You didn’t have children?’
    ‘Not with Val, no, although that is hardly a surprise. I have had two boys since.’
    ‘Your husband didn’t mind you coming today?’
    ‘I didn’t particularly want to come. But when you’ve been married to a man you have to find a way of coming to terms with what has happened. You have to forgive him in the end.’
    ‘Did Mr Lyall require much forgiveness?’
    ‘I don’t think this is the time or the place to discuss the failure of my first marriage, do you, Canon Chambers?’
    ‘I am sorry. Please “forgive” my indiscretion.’
    Alice Bannerman took no notice. ‘It’s not easy to be married to a liar. I am glad you did not mention it in your address.’
    ‘That would not have been appropriate. I presume you are referring . . .’
    ‘There’s no need to spell it out. Everyone knows he preferred men.’
    ‘Everyone suspects. That is different.’
    ‘God forbid anyone at the university ever telling it like it is.’
    Sidney did not like to press matters. ‘I am sorry to have troubled you.’
    ‘You are not troubling me. In fact, I am grateful. I am also sorry to have been short with you. It’s not been an easy day and I do hate Cambridge. Thank you for taking the service.’
    Sidney was surprised that so many women tended to think in this way. ‘Do you think your former husband did too?’
    ‘Hate Cambridge? I am sure he loved it.’
    ‘Many people find it difficult: the lack of privacy, the two different worlds of town and gown.’
    ‘Oh surely, Canon Chambers, there is a hierarchy of etiquette and a