The Rich Pay Late

"The Rich Pay Late" is Volume I of the novel sequence "Alms for Oblivion" by Simon Raven, published in 1964. It was the first novel to be published in The "Alms for Oblivion" sequence though it is the fourth novel chronologically. The story takes place in and around London in 1956 and culminates with the Suez crisis and how it afflicts some of the characters. .

Characters, in the order of appearance

Donald Salinger – Printer. Partner of Jude Holbrook. Engaged and later married to Vanessa Drew. Romantic but otherwise a man of caution.

Jude Holbrook – Printer. Partner of Donald Salinger. Originally bachelor of arts in Literature turned printer. Tries very hard to buy the major share of the magazine Strix from Lord Philby. As a man repulsive in general. Unhappily married with former model Penelope while he tries to be a good father to his neglected son Donald (godson of Salinger), the only person he have some feelings for. Have had a short romance with Vanessa Drew and have Angela Tuck as a mistress even though she dumps him at the end of the novel. Loses his son, who dies of meningitis and disappear.

Miss Beatty – Secretary at Salinger & Holbrook. Spinster who takes care of her old mother. Somehow attracted to Holbrook who helps her to get her mother to a home for old people. Later killed in some gruesome way, even if details aren’t revealed.

Somerset Lloyd-James – Editor on Strix, a magazine of commerce. Unhappily married. Engaged in S & M with Maisie and later Susan Granger. A devout catholic who has the habit of writing down his train of thought and signing this with A.M.D.G. (Ad maiorem Dei gloriam). Careful though he is, he always destroys these papers. Appeared earlier in Fielding Gray.

Vanessa Drew – Promiscuous young woman who have had sexual relations with many of the male characters. Eventually marries Donald Salinger though she continues with much of her earlier life style.

Jonathan Gamp – Friend of Salinger and Drew. Witty homosexual.

Lord Philby – President of the board of the magazine Strix, a post he inherited.

Ashley Dexterside – Employee at Salinger & Holbrook. Homosexual. Have some kind of relation with Carlton Weir.

Penelope Holbrook – Wife of Jude Holbrook. Former model.

Donald Holbrook – The neglected son of Jude Holbrook. Dies of meningitis.

Angela Tuck – Demanding mistress of Jude Holbrook. Gets rich when her husband, Mr Tuck, is ran over. Appeared earlier in Fielding Gray.

Old Mrs Beatty – Miss Beatty’s old mother who is forced to a home for the old. Finds it very amusing when her daughter is murdered.

Tom Llewyllyn – Freelancing journalist and writer who sometimes work for Strix. Ladies man and bon vivant who is in constant need of money. Coins the phrase Art for Art’s Sake but Money for God’s Sake!” Betrays Peter Morrison but regrets this later on.

Norma – Dancer and mistress of Llewellyn.

Tessie Buttock – Friend of Llewellyn.

Peter Morrison – MP. Rather honest. Leads the group of ”Young England.” Resigns at the end of the book. Appeared earlier in Fielding Gray.

Captain Detterling – MP. Allied of Morrison. Appeared earlier in Fielding Gray and The Sabre Squadron.

Carton Weir – MP. Allied of Morrison.

Lady Susan Grange – Mistress of, in turn, Detterling, Salinger and Lord Philby. She settles for marriage with Philby.

Harry Dilkes – Member of the board of Strix.

Professor Robert Constable – Member of the board of Strix. From Lancaster College. A man of high morals. Appeared earlier in Fielding Gray and The Sabre Squadron.

Maisie Malcolm – Mistress of Lloyd-James who has the habit of spanking him.

Mr and Mrs Anthony Holbrook – The boring and greedy father of Holbrook and his intellectual and highly educated mother.

John Growes – Solicitor for Salinger & Holbrook. Under the thumb of Holbrook, who helped him with a doctor for abortion when he made Vanessa Drew pregnant.

LaSoeur – Doctor. Have made abortions on Vanessa Drew twice.

Max de Freville – Gambler and Bon Vivant. Is mentioned in The Sabre Squadron.

Mark Lewson – Hustler and failure in general.

Felicity Lewson – Italian Contessa. Ruined because of her husband.

Helen Morrison – The loyal wife of Peter Morrison.

Fielding Gray – Officer and friend of Somerset. Only mentioned during a party. Protagonist of the novel Fielding Gray and a major character in The Sabre Squadron.

Burke Lawrence – Film Director.

Alfie Schroeder – Journalist at Billingsgate Press. Somewhat decent. Appeared earlier in The Sabre Squadron.

Lord Billingsgate – Media Tycoon.

Reverend Purchase – Priest with archaeology as a hobby. Lives in the village next to the mansion of the Morrison family.

Plot summary

The story opens in 1955. The printing firm of Salinger & Holbrook (mainly Holbrook) is interested in becoming major shareholders in Strix, a magazine of commerce. Early on, the reader is presented to major characters like Donald Salinger, Jude Holbrook, Somerset Lloyd-James and MP Peter Morrison. All men, except Morrison, have trouble with women. Holbrook and Lloyd-James are unhappily married. Salinger gets engaged with the promiscuous Vanessa Drew who tries to restrict her sex life (only sex in a few places and not with people Salinger knows or even knows of).

Holbrook, a repulsive man who hates old people, help his secretary Miss Beatty to force her old mother into a home for the old. The spinster Beatty becomes more lively after this and picks up a rather boring man on a pub. Later on, she is founded murdered in her flat, probably in a rather gruesome way even if the details aren’t fully revealed. Lloyd-James have managed to make his friend Peter Morrison a member of the board of Strix. The board consists of Lloyd-James, Morrison, Lord Philby, Harry Dilkes and Roger Constable.

Morrison is against Salinger & Holbrook buying lord Philbys post, despite his friendship with Salinger. Some for this is his dislike of Holbrook who haven’t given a raise to employee Dexterside and who didn’t attend the funeral of Miss Beatty. Holbrook is trying to make Lloyd-James into an allied. Lloyd-James expects that this good improve his political career and also bring him some money. Holbrook also knows of the constant infidelity of Vanessa Drew in her relation with Salinger and he blackmails her to persuade Salinger to be more positive to the buying of Strix. Since Salinger at heart is a rather vain man, she succeeds in this. After the honeymoon of Salinger and Vanessa (now Vanessa Salinger) the newly married throws a big party who is not a complete success.

Salinger tries to mix his former friends, the intellectual proletariat, with his newer acquaintances, the rich of the countryside. Susan Grange breaks the flushes on the toilets just for the fun of it. Angela Tuck and Somerset Lloyd-James meets for the first time in over 10 years and discuss events that took place in “Fielding Gray.” Tom Llewyllyn gets extremely drunk and is rude to the Morrison’s. Later he reveals (for a sum of 200£) to Holbrook and Lloyd-James a scandalous story. The upright MP Peter Morrison have, in 1944, made a 14 year old girl pregnant and she was later married to her fiancée who took on the role as the real father. This unhappy man have told Lloyd-James of the whole thing. Towards the end of the party Llewyllyn behaves even more outrageous and knocks over statues in the garden. Right then it is revealed that the huckster Mark Lewson have stolen 75£ from Salinger. Susan Grange, who have bathed naked in the pool, is later on really depressed and is escorted home by the chivalrous Lloyd-James.

Some time after the party Vanessa finds out that she’s pregnant. Since the father may be a black man it would be hard to suggest to Salinger that he’s the father and Vanessa settles for abortion. Lloyd-James, who often engages in S & M, starts a relation of that kind with Susan Grange, always interested in trying something new. Susan tells Lloyd-James that he, however, must settle with the role as “second string lover” since she’s already engaged in another man. Holbrooks checks the story about Morrison and finds it to be true. He tries to blackmail Peter Morrison into voting for Salinger & Holbrook as new majority holders but he refuses. Right after this, lord Philby mentions casually for Lloyd-James that he have Susan Grange as his mistress. Lloyd-James reveals nothing.

Holbrook, having had a bad day in general, writes a number of letters to the parliament, the press etc. and reveals the story about Peter Morrison. People around him consider this utterly foolish. Since Llewyllyn is mentioned as a source of the story he get haunted by the somewhat still decent journalist Alfie Schroeder. Llewyllyn, haunted by bad conscience, tries to deny the whole affair. He even tries to give Peter Morrison some help but Peter refuses, in a friendly way. Later both he Llewyllyn and Schroeder goes to the little village where Morrison’s “Bastard” is living, to discover the through. When they meet in the village they decide to cooperate.

Salinger are going to visit the old Mrs Beatty but looses his way and walks into the abortion clinic where he finds Vanessa, who faints at the sight of him. Salinger are fooled into believing the child was his and forgives Vanessa the whole thing while he promises her a trip around the world so they can have some quiet time for themselves. Schroeder finds out that the girl Morrison was said to have raped (almost) was blind at the time even though Morrison’s father later paid for an operation who recovered her eyesight.

Susan Grange settles for marriage with Lord Philby and Lloyd-James finds that all his plans have come to naught. He have fallen out with Salinger because of the failed affair, he have fallen out with Peter because of his betrayal to him, he will not receive money or improve his political career and he even loses his mistress. Angela Tuck, on the other side, inherits a fortune since her husband Mr. Tuck have been ran over when drunk. Salinger, planning for his trips around the world, pays Holbrook to dissolve their partnership since his disgraceful role in the Morrison affair will ruin also Salingers reputation. Salinger even doubts the mental condition of his soon-to-be former partner.

Schroeder and Llewyllyn finds Purchase, the reverend of the village, and he tells after a bit of hesitation a very different story about Peter Morrison and the girl. The young Betty was raped by a gang of boys after she, blind as a bat, had been deliberately left alone by Mrs Vincent, the mother of her fiancée. Peter and his father came to her rescue but when she woke up in the arms of Peter she tought, chocked as she was, that he was the seducer. The reverend have been told this by Mrs Vincent on her deathbed.

The nouveau rich Angela dumps Holbrook on short notice and at the same time tells him how inhuman he is. Llewellyn have great success with a book about communism and gives 50% of the royalties to Lloyd-James since that was the condition for a loan Llewyllyn received from him earlier. Llewyllyn don’t care much about the money (since there is lot of them) and Lloyd-James still makes a fortune, despite earlier setbacks. During a meeting Peter Morrison reveals for Llewyllyn why he didn’t try to defend himself during the scandal. The Suez crisis is approaching and Morrison, a former military man, wouldn’t not let his conscience allow him to criticize the army in public, despite the fact that he in private finds such actions foolish. He just needed an excuse to resign and this was given him through the scandal raised by Llewyllyn. Detterling, the good friend of Morrison, are one of the men who heads for Suez and that wouldn’t have made things easier for the honest MP.

The book is ended with a party hosted by the famous gambler Max de Freville where the majority of the main characters is appearing. Donald and Vanessa is about to start their long trip, Lord Philby is there with his soon-to-be wife, lady Susan, the pleased Lloyd-James is there, happy for his new income and a possible political career after the resignation of Peter and Detterling’s adventures in Egypt. No one know where Holbrook, who lately have lost his son Donald in meningitis, is at the moment.