# Major Robert Fentiman — The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club character guide

> Major Robert Fentiman in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Robert Fentiman, Major Robert, Major Robert Fentiman, Fentiman, Major, old Fentiman, Robert

**First appearance:** 0001-i-old-mossy-face

## Snapshot

The general's grandson and a man of expensive habits, Robert Fentiman stands to gain from the will but insists he only wanted the old man kept alive.

## Who they are

Robert is the grandson who found the general dead and took pains to cover up the circumstances, a fact that makes him both helpful and suspicious. He is perpetually short of money, keeps late hours at Richmond, and has a brother whose instability he must manage. His insistence that he acted in the family's interest creates a tension between his apparent cooperation and the question of what he actually knew.

## In the story

### [III: Hearts Count More Than Diamonds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/iii-hearts-count-more-than-diamonds)

The elder grandson who stands to inherit over half a million if General Fentiman died after 10:37 a.m.; named as executor and residuary legatee of the General's will.

### [VI: A Card of Reentry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/vi-a-card-of-reentry)

Hosts Wimsey at the flat, acts as executor, and recounts the mystery of the General not returning home.

### [X: Lord Peter Forces a Card](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/x-lord-peter-forces-a-card)

Calls Wimsey to report sighting Mr. Oliver at Charing Cross; agrees to help with surveillance.

### [XI: Lord Peter Clears Trumps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xi-lord-peter-clears-trumps)

Reluctantly agrees to the exhumation after Wimsey pressures him, though he is uncomfortable with the scandal and worried about the inheritance.

### [XII: Lord Peter Turns a Trick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xii-lord-peter-turns-a-trick)

Implicated by Wimsey as the one who moved the General's body and fabricated the Oliver story to alter the time of death.

### [XIII: Spades Are Trumps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xiii-spades-are-trumps)

Disappears after receiving an urgent message; pursued by Wimsey.

### [Grand Slam in Spades](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xiv-grand-slam-in-spades)

Confesses to moving General Fentiman's body and faking the time of death; initially laughs off the fraud but faces legal consequences.

### [XV: Shuffle the Cards and Deal Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xv-shuffle-the-cards-and-deal-again)

Listed as a suspect due to being the last to see General Fentiman alive.

### [Picture-Cards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xviii-picture-cards)

Confronts Wimsey angrily about police involvement, accusing him of being a police spy. Strikes Wimsey but is knocked into a wastepaper basket. Later cannot be reached by phone.

### [XXI: Lord Peter Calls a Bluff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xxi-lord-peter-calls-a-bluff)

Arrives after being summoned; shows anxiety about George's condition.

### [XXII: The Cards on the Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xxii-the-cards-on-the-table)

Referred to as a rogue whose dishonesty thwarted Penberthy's plans for the inheritance.

### [XXIII: Postmortem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/chapters/xxiii-postmortem)

Expresses remorse for his fraud and gratitude toward Ann Dorland; plans to take her to a show to cheer her up.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/characters/major_fentiman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_unpleasantness_at_the_bellona_club_se/characters