"The Rake's Song - Introduces the villain of the story, the Rake, who provides some background details of his life. The Rake was married at the age of 21, and was happy with it for a while, until his wife began having children, whom he despised. He had three children, Isaiah, Charlotte and Dawn. His fourth child, Myfanwy, died in childbirth along with her mother. With his wife gone, he began to desire a new life of freedom, but saw the children as a major obstacle. He killed Charlotte first, feeding her poisonous foxglove, then drowned Dawn in the bath, and finally went on to kill Isaiah. Isaiah tried to fight back, but was easily defeated by his father, who then burned his body as punishment. The Rake then tells us that his actions have never really bothered him and that he is not haunted by his actions. (This is a bit of dramatic irony because in The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!) his children will literally come back to haunt him.)"
From Wikipedia
"The Rake's Song - Introduces the villain of the story, the Rake, who provides some background details of his life. The Rake was married at the age of 21, and was happy with it for a while, until his wife began having children, whom he despised. He had three children, Isaiah, Charlotte and Dawn. His fourth child, Myfanwy, died in childbirth along with her mother. With his wife gone, he began to desire a new life of freedom, but saw the children as a major obstacle. He killed Charlotte first, feeding her poisonous foxglove, then drowned Dawn in the bath, and finally went on to kill Isaiah. Isaiah tried to fight back, but was easily defeated by his father, who then burned his body as punishment. The Rake then tells us that his actions have never really bothered him and that he is not haunted by his actions. (This is a bit of dramatic irony because in The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!) his children will literally come back to haunt him.)"