The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
Encyclopedia
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is a 1928 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers
, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
.
, the Roman goddess
of war). The death in the club, subsequent investigations by police and reporters resulting in eventual revelations of murder and suicide, all disturb the peaceful atmosphere, constituting what the traditionalist members regard as "unpleasantness".
Lady Dormer dies at 10:37am the next day, which is 11 November - Remembrance Day
. That afternoon the General is found dead in his armchair at the club. This produces a hysterical outburst from his younger grandson, George Fentiman, a veteran of World War I
still suffering from poison gas and shell shock
.
Due to the terms of Lady Dormer's will and the time of her death, it becomes necessary to establish the exact time of the General's death, so that the will can be correctly executed. Though the Dormer fortune would provide amply for all three heirs, Ann Dorland has refused any compromise settlement.
Wimsey is asked to help solve the puzzle by his friend Mr Murbles, who is the solicitor
for the Fentiman family. Wimsey agrees, though he insists that he will pursue the exact truth, regardless of who benefits.
The problem turns out to be deeply mysterious. The General was seated by an open fireplace, so the temperature of the body is of no help. The rigor mortis
was well established, indicating death much earlier than the discovery of the body, but one knee was already limp from the rigor having subsided - unusual as rigor usually eases head and neck muscles first. Dr Penberthy, a former army surgeon and club member, who was the first to see the body, certified death by natural causes. He was the General's personal physician, and was treating him for a weak heart.
It would seem obvious that the General must have died sometime after arriving at the club on the morning of 11 November, since he was found later that day. But nobody saw him arrive. He went to the club at some point after visiting his estranged, dying sister, Lady Dormer, the previous afternoon, 10 November, but his whereabouts are unknown between those two events. His manservant confirms that the General did not sleep at home during the intervening night, a highly unusual situation, explained away by means of a phone message informing the servant that the General would spend the night with a certain Mr Oliver. No one knows anything about Oliver, but the elder grandson, Robert Fentiman, says that he's seen him often at a popular Italian
restaurant. Robert agrees to watch for Oliver.
Robert thinks he sights Oliver, and follows him halfway across England, but the man is not Oliver at all. Wimsey also turns up a few clues - there was a fresh tear in the cuff of the General's trousers and a scraping of paint on the side of his shoe.
Wimsey locates the taxi driver who picked up the General at Lady Dormer's house, and another who took him to the Bellona Club. The General went to see Dr Penberthy in between. Then, en route to the club, he had the taxi pick up George Fentiman. The two men had a long and angry discussion in the back of the taxi, and then George got out.
Wimsey also inquires into the character of Ann Dorland, using his connections among London's "artsy" set, trying to learn why she won't compromise.
There is another sighting of Oliver, and this time Robert and the detectives follow him to Italy.
Robert returns from Italy, and admits that Oliver does not exist. Wimsey has figured out what happened. There was no memorial poppy on the General's suitcoat - impossible if he had been on the streets on Remembrance Day.
Actually, the General died at the club the evening before, shortly after seeing his sister. He had just told Robert the terms of Lady Dormer's will. A few minutes later, Robert found his grandfather dead in the club's library, apparently of natural causes. Piqued at losing the inheritance, he concealed the body overnight in the club's telephone booth behind an "Out of order" sign. (The General's cuff was torn by a nail inside the booth, and the paint was scraped from its floor. Also, the process broke the rigor mortis in one leg.) The next day, Robert moved the body to an armchair to be found later. He acted when all the other members had stepped outside for the two minutes' silence, observed on Remembrance Day at 11am.
In the meantime, Wimsey has had the General exhumed and properly examined. The General was poisoned with an overdose of the heart medication digitalis
.
Suspicion falls on Ann Dorland, who was among the last persons to see the General, and who has an obvious motive. When she suddenly agrees to compromise with the Fentimans, it only adds to the suspicion.
Then George Fentiman has a nervous breakdown. In an incoherent babble, he claims to have poisoned his grandfather, though this is clearly impossible.
Wimsey eventually meets Ann Dorland, who is miserable. But it is not guilt that distresses her, it is callous and humiliating treatment by her former lover - Dr Penberthy. They had been secretly engaged, and he had insisted she fight for the whole estate and not compromise. Then after the autopsy, he broke off with her, giving highly insulting reasons having to do with sexual proclivities he accuses her of, matters that she hotly denies.
The plot is now clear. Penberthy had eyes on Ann Dorland's expected inheritance. When General Fentiman saw him, he spoke of Lady Dormer's will and Penberthy realized that if the General didn't die at once, Ann Dorland wouldn't collect. So he gave the General a deliberate overdose of digitalis, timed to be taken when Penberthy was not in attendance.
He was present next day when the body was discovered, and so was able to cover his tracks and certify a natural death, though Robert's intervention confused the time of death. When the poisoning was discovered, he panicked, and broke off with Ann Dorland - insulting her so that she would be too embarrassed to tell anyone.
Wimsey confronts Penberthy and offers him the chance to behave like a gentleman. He cannot save himself, but he can exonerate Ann Dorland from suspicion. Penberthy writes a confession and shoots himself in the club library - one last bit of unpleasantness.
In an epilogue, it is revealed that the three heirs have divided the estate equitably. In fact, Robert, a brusque soldier who expressed distaste for artistic and intellectual women, is now dating the demure Ann Dorland.
had on its veterans. The book opens on Remembrance Day, a momentous occasion in a country where every adult had lost someone in the war. General Fentiman's shell-shocked grandson George tells Lord Peter:
George Fentiman is both grateful and resentful that his wife supports him. Lord Peter's health is better, but as in Whose Body?
, he is also a victim of shell-shock. George's brother, Major Robert Fentiman, appears not be affected by the war — but all is not as it appears.
Similar plot elements appeared in other Lord Peter novels. Whose Body?
, The Nine Tailors
, and Gaudy Night
all touch on World War I or Lord Peter's military service. Unnatural Death
and Strong Poison
explore the legal technicalities governing wills and inheritance more fully.
Nevertheless, the two are very dissimilar. Sir Julian Freke in Whose Body? is utterly immoral and amoral, meticulously planning a murder for years, carrying it out ruthlessly and later feeling not the slightest twinge of conscience. Conversely, Dr. Penberthy in the present book had only succumbed to a momentary temptation, when an easy opportunity for a murder which could make him exceedingly rich suddenly presented itself.
Accordingly, the two meet dissimilar ends. The repentant Penberthy is given a chance to redeem himself in Wimsey's eyes (and those of the reader) by taking all responsibility upon himself and completely exonerating Ann Dorland, who might otherwise have been unjustly prosecuted as a partner to his crime. He is then given the traditional "gentleman's way out", being provided with a loaded gun and the leisure to kill himself. Conversely, the obdurate and unrepentant Freke had been forcibly denied the chance to kill himself, being rather dragged off to imprisonment, trial and eventual hanging.
", where she is the first person other then Wimsey himself to realize, to her shock and dismay, that he had fallen in love with Vane and that she had lost him. She never again appears or gets mentioned in the Wimsey books.
as Lord Peter.
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
.
Plot outline
General Fentiman is found dead at the Bellona Club in London, where his body went unnoticed for some hours. His wealthy sister also passed away the same day and under her will if she died first, most of her fortune would go to the General's heirs. However if he died first, his relatives would get only a small share, and the rest would go to another relative, Ann Dorland. Lord Peter is asked to help resolve the legal battle between the heirs by discovering who died first.Explanation of the title
The title is a wry take on the perception of the novel's events. The Bellona Club is a quiet, respectable gentlemen's club for active or retired military officers (named after BellonaBellona (goddess)
Bellona was an Ancient Roman goddess of war, similar to the Ancient Greek Enyo. Bellona's attribute is a sword and she is depicted wearing a helmet and armed with a spear and a torch....
, the Roman goddess
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
of war). The death in the club, subsequent investigations by police and reporters resulting in eventual revelations of murder and suicide, all disturb the peaceful atmosphere, constituting what the traditionalist members regard as "unpleasantness".
“I say, you fellows ... here's another unpleasantness. Penberthy's shot himself in the library. People ought to have more consideration for the members.”
chapter XXII
Plot summary
90-year old General Fentiman has been estranged for years from his sister, Lady Dormer. On the afternoon of 10 November, he is called to her deathbed for a reconciliation where he is told the terms of her will. If she dies first he will inherit a fortune, which his grandsons sorely need. If he dies first, most of the money will go to a distant relative of Lady Dormer's late husband, Ann Dorland. She is a young woman with artistic leanings who lives with Lady Dormer.Lady Dormer dies at 10:37am the next day, which is 11 November - Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth...
. That afternoon the General is found dead in his armchair at the club. This produces a hysterical outburst from his younger grandson, George Fentiman, a veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
still suffering from poison gas and shell shock
Shell Shock
Shell Shock, also known as 82nd Marines Attack was a 1964 film by B-movie director John Hayes. The film takes place in Italy during World War II, and tells the story of a sergeant with his group of soldiers....
.
Due to the terms of Lady Dormer's will and the time of her death, it becomes necessary to establish the exact time of the General's death, so that the will can be correctly executed. Though the Dormer fortune would provide amply for all three heirs, Ann Dorland has refused any compromise settlement.
Wimsey is asked to help solve the puzzle by his friend Mr Murbles, who is the solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
for the Fentiman family. Wimsey agrees, though he insists that he will pursue the exact truth, regardless of who benefits.
The problem turns out to be deeply mysterious. The General was seated by an open fireplace, so the temperature of the body is of no help. The rigor mortis
Rigor mortis
Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate...
was well established, indicating death much earlier than the discovery of the body, but one knee was already limp from the rigor having subsided - unusual as rigor usually eases head and neck muscles first. Dr Penberthy, a former army surgeon and club member, who was the first to see the body, certified death by natural causes. He was the General's personal physician, and was treating him for a weak heart.
It would seem obvious that the General must have died sometime after arriving at the club on the morning of 11 November, since he was found later that day. But nobody saw him arrive. He went to the club at some point after visiting his estranged, dying sister, Lady Dormer, the previous afternoon, 10 November, but his whereabouts are unknown between those two events. His manservant confirms that the General did not sleep at home during the intervening night, a highly unusual situation, explained away by means of a phone message informing the servant that the General would spend the night with a certain Mr Oliver. No one knows anything about Oliver, but the elder grandson, Robert Fentiman, says that he's seen him often at a popular Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
restaurant. Robert agrees to watch for Oliver.
Robert thinks he sights Oliver, and follows him halfway across England, but the man is not Oliver at all. Wimsey also turns up a few clues - there was a fresh tear in the cuff of the General's trousers and a scraping of paint on the side of his shoe.
Wimsey locates the taxi driver who picked up the General at Lady Dormer's house, and another who took him to the Bellona Club. The General went to see Dr Penberthy in between. Then, en route to the club, he had the taxi pick up George Fentiman. The two men had a long and angry discussion in the back of the taxi, and then George got out.
Wimsey also inquires into the character of Ann Dorland, using his connections among London's "artsy" set, trying to learn why she won't compromise.
There is another sighting of Oliver, and this time Robert and the detectives follow him to Italy.
Robert returns from Italy, and admits that Oliver does not exist. Wimsey has figured out what happened. There was no memorial poppy on the General's suitcoat - impossible if he had been on the streets on Remembrance Day.
Actually, the General died at the club the evening before, shortly after seeing his sister. He had just told Robert the terms of Lady Dormer's will. A few minutes later, Robert found his grandfather dead in the club's library, apparently of natural causes. Piqued at losing the inheritance, he concealed the body overnight in the club's telephone booth behind an "Out of order" sign. (The General's cuff was torn by a nail inside the booth, and the paint was scraped from its floor. Also, the process broke the rigor mortis in one leg.) The next day, Robert moved the body to an armchair to be found later. He acted when all the other members had stepped outside for the two minutes' silence, observed on Remembrance Day at 11am.
In the meantime, Wimsey has had the General exhumed and properly examined. The General was poisoned with an overdose of the heart medication digitalis
Digitalis
Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials that are commonly called foxgloves. This genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, but recent reviews of phylogenetic research have placed it in the much enlarged family...
.
Suspicion falls on Ann Dorland, who was among the last persons to see the General, and who has an obvious motive. When she suddenly agrees to compromise with the Fentimans, it only adds to the suspicion.
Then George Fentiman has a nervous breakdown. In an incoherent babble, he claims to have poisoned his grandfather, though this is clearly impossible.
Wimsey eventually meets Ann Dorland, who is miserable. But it is not guilt that distresses her, it is callous and humiliating treatment by her former lover - Dr Penberthy. They had been secretly engaged, and he had insisted she fight for the whole estate and not compromise. Then after the autopsy, he broke off with her, giving highly insulting reasons having to do with sexual proclivities he accuses her of, matters that she hotly denies.
The plot is now clear. Penberthy had eyes on Ann Dorland's expected inheritance. When General Fentiman saw him, he spoke of Lady Dormer's will and Penberthy realized that if the General didn't die at once, Ann Dorland wouldn't collect. So he gave the General a deliberate overdose of digitalis, timed to be taken when Penberthy was not in attendance.
He was present next day when the body was discovered, and so was able to cover his tracks and certify a natural death, though Robert's intervention confused the time of death. When the poisoning was discovered, he panicked, and broke off with Ann Dorland - insulting her so that she would be too embarrassed to tell anyone.
Wimsey confronts Penberthy and offers him the chance to behave like a gentleman. He cannot save himself, but he can exonerate Ann Dorland from suspicion. Penberthy writes a confession and shoots himself in the club library - one last bit of unpleasantness.
In an epilogue, it is revealed that the three heirs have divided the estate equitably. In fact, Robert, a brusque soldier who expressed distaste for artistic and intellectual women, is now dating the demure Ann Dorland.
Characters in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
- Lord Peter WimseyLord Peter WimseyLord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
– an aristocratic amateur detective, Bellona Club member - Detective-Inspector Charles Parker – Wimsey's friend.
- Mervyn BunterMervyn BunterMervyn Bunter is a fictional character in Dorothy L. Sayers' novels and short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.- Literary Background :Dorothy L...
– Wimsey's manservant. - Mr. Murbles – solicitor to the Wimsey and Fentiman families.
- General Fentiman (deceased) – an elderly retired solder. Bellona Club member.
- Lady Dormer (deceased) – General Fentiman's wealthy widowed sister.
- Major Robert Fentiman – General Fentiman's older grandson. Bellona Club member.
- Captain George Fentiman – the General's younger grandson. Bellona Club member.
- Sheila Fentiman – George's harassed and hard-working wife.
- Ann Dorland; distant relative and companion of Lady Dormer.
- Dr Penberthy – an impecunious physician. Bellona Club member.
Themes
Written after Sayers' marriage to World War I veteran Oswald Arthur "Mac" Fleming, the book explores the effect the "Great War"World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had on its veterans. The book opens on Remembrance Day, a momentous occasion in a country where every adult had lost someone in the war. General Fentiman's shell-shocked grandson George tells Lord Peter:
“Oh rotten as usual. Tummy all wrong and no money. What’s the damn good of it, Wimsey? A man goes and fights for his country, gets his inside gassed out, and loses his job, and all they give him is the privilege of marching past the Cenotaph once a year and paying four shillings in the pound income-tax.”
George Fentiman is both grateful and resentful that his wife supports him. Lord Peter's health is better, but as in Whose Body?
Whose Body?
Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.-Plot introduction:Lord Peter is intrigued by the sudden appearance of a naked body in the bath of an architect, and investigates...
, he is also a victim of shell-shock. George's brother, Major Robert Fentiman, appears not be affected by the war — but all is not as it appears.
Similar plot elements appeared in other Lord Peter novels. Whose Body?
Whose Body?
Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.-Plot introduction:Lord Peter is intrigued by the sudden appearance of a naked body in the bath of an architect, and investigates...
, The Nine Tailors
The Nine Tailors
The Nine Tailors is a 1934 mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.- Plot introduction :For this novel, set in the Fens, Sayers had to learn about change ringing...
, and Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth in her popular series about aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third featuring crime writer Harriet Vane....
all touch on World War I or Lord Peter's military service. Unnatural Death
Unnatural Death
Unnatural Death is a 1927 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her third featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It has also been published in the United States as The Dawson Pedigree.-Plot introduction:...
and Strong Poison
Strong Poison
Strong Poison is a 1929 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.-Plot introduction:It is in Strong Poison that Lord Peter first meets Harriet Vane, an author of police fiction. The immediate problem is that she is on trial for her life, charged with murdering her former...
explore the legal technicalities governing wills and inheritance more fully.
Similarity to Whose Body?
In both this novel and Whose Body?, the murderer is a physician who grossly abused and betrayed the trust of his patients, and of society in general, in order to commit murder; and at the conclusion of both novels, the doctor-murderer provides Wimsey with a written confession detailing his crime.Nevertheless, the two are very dissimilar. Sir Julian Freke in Whose Body? is utterly immoral and amoral, meticulously planning a murder for years, carrying it out ruthlessly and later feeling not the slightest twinge of conscience. Conversely, Dr. Penberthy in the present book had only succumbed to a momentary temptation, when an easy opportunity for a murder which could make him exceedingly rich suddenly presented itself.
Accordingly, the two meet dissimilar ends. The repentant Penberthy is given a chance to redeem himself in Wimsey's eyes (and those of the reader) by taking all responsibility upon himself and completely exonerating Ann Dorland, who might otherwise have been unjustly prosecuted as a partner to his crime. He is then given the traditional "gentleman's way out", being provided with a loaded gun and the leisure to kill himself. Conversely, the obdurate and unrepentant Freke had been forcibly denied the chance to kill himself, being rather dragged off to imprisonment, trial and eventual hanging.
Wimsey's love life
This is the only book to feature onstage one of the numerous women with whom Peter Wimsey was romantically involved before meeting and falling in love with Harriet Vane, and forsaking all others for her sake. Marjorie Phelps plays an important part in the plot of "Bellona Club", as Wimsey's occasional lover and contact person in London's Bohemian millieu. She is attractive, vivacious, intelligent and humorous, Wimsey is fond of her and enjoys her company - but he is not in love with her and at the end of the book politely declines her offer to have a more permanent relationship. Marjorie Phelps reappears briefly in the beginning of "Strong PoisonStrong Poison
Strong Poison is a 1929 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.-Plot introduction:It is in Strong Poison that Lord Peter first meets Harriet Vane, an author of police fiction. The immediate problem is that she is on trial for her life, charged with murdering her former...
", where she is the first person other then Wimsey himself to realize, to her shock and dismay, that he had fallen in love with Vane and that she had lost him. She never again appears or gets mentioned in the Wimsey books.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club was adapted for television in 1972, as part of a series starring Ian CarmichaelIan Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
as Lord Peter.