In the novel Ordeal by Innocence, Rachel Louise Argyle (née Konstam) was the wife of Leo, and mother of five adopted children. She had a strong instinct for mothering, and was also active in charity work.
Rachel was the daughter of Rudolph Konstam, who was a very rich man. Her mother was an American, and was also a very rich woman in her own right. Her father had many philanthropic interests, and brought Rachel up to take an interest in them. After both her parents died in an aircrash, Rachel inherited their money. She used the money for various philanthropical enterprises.
Rachel took a personal interest in these philanthropic enterprises, and did some settlement work herself. At this time, she met Leo Argyle, at a social club in the East End of London.
Leo remembered that when he first met Rachel, she was a girl of medium height, with a stocky build. She was wearing expensive clothes, but with a dowdy air. She had a round face, and was serious and warm-hearted. Her eagerness and naïvety appealed to him. Both of them had felt that there was much that needed doing, and much that was worth doing.
Leo had been doubtful about whether work that was worth doing was always successful, but Rachel had no such doubts. In the present, Leo realises that Rachel had never allowed for human nature, and had never seen that each human being was different and would respond differently.
Rachel had a warmth of heart, which was what Leo found attractive. However, that warmth of heart was not really for him, but for the children that she might have with him.
Rachel and Leo were unable to conceive children, and after visits to many doctors, Rachel was forced to accept that she would never have children of her own. She then suggested that they adopt a child, and Leo agreed.
During a visit to New York, the Argyles' car accidentally knocked down a child, Mary, who was running out from a tenement. Rachel insisted on taking the child to hospital, and suggested to the child's guardians that she should stay with the Argyles for a few days. When the child said that she did not want to go home, and wanted to stay with them, the Argyles adopted her.
After adopting Mary, Rachel was happy, in an "excited, almost feverish kind of way". From then on, all her philanthropic enterprises were connected with children, such as orphanages and endowments for crippled children. These activities became the centre of Rachel's life.
As time went on, Rachel became more of an authoritarian, thinking that she knew what was right and what was best. She would still consult Leo, but sometimes it was "almost perfunctory".
When war broke out in 1939, Rachel had the idea of opening a war nursery for children from London slums, and got in touch with many influential people in London. She bought a newly built house for the purpose, and named it Sunny Point.
Rachel's war nursery took in children from poor and unfortunate homes, some of whom had been ill-treated or neglected. She felt that nothing was too good for these children, and arranged everything on a luxurious basis.
After the war, some of the children remained unwanted, and Rachel wanted to take them in permanently, saying that this was the moment she and Leo could have a real family of their own. They took in Micky, Tina, Hester, and Jacko.
According to Dr MacMaster, Rachel had a very strong maternal instinct, but the physical satisfaction of bearing a child never came, so her maternal obsession never really slackened. Her whole mind was on the children, all the time.
Dr MacMaster was of the opinion that as long as Rachel was alive, none of her children really belonged to themselves. She provided for them financially, through a Trust fund she had set up for them. Although she was not a Trustee, her wishes were operative while she was alive.
Rachel had also wanted to arrange a pattern for each of her children's lives. She wanted to give them a good home, a good education, a good allowance, and a good start in the professions which she chose for them.
Rachel was bludgeoned to death about two years before the novel opens. On the evening of her death, Jacko had come to Sunny Point, demanding money. Rachel had refused to give him any, and he had left, shouting that he would be back, and she had better have the money for him.
Rachel had gone to Leo in the library, and told him of Jacko's demands for money and his threats. According to Leo, Rachel was worried as to whether she had done right or wrong by refusing to give Jacko the money. She did not call him at the time, because she was used to dealing with all practical decisions single-handedly. She would often consult Leo beforehand, and discuss the decisions she had made with him afterwards.
Rachel was later found dead in her study, having been struck on the back of the head with a poker. A large sum of money which had been in her bureau drawer was missing. Jacko's fingerprints were on the poker, and one of the five pound notes that were found on him was definitely one which had been given to Rachel at the bank that morning. Jacko was arrested for killing Rachel, and was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
Rachel was buried in a cemetary near Sunny Point. Her grave had a "square marble surround filled with granite chips", with a granite cross at the back. The inscription read, 'In loving memory of Rachel Louise Argyle', and below it, 'Her children shall rise up and call her blessed.'