After graduating in June 1898, James Branch Cabell worked briefly as a reporter in New York City. On his return to Richmond he again found himself the subject of a malicious rumor, that he had murdered a cousin with whom his mother was allegedly having an affair. Although the victim's family conducted an investigation that revealed the identities of the real killers, the truth about the murder, which for various reasons would have sullied the family's name, was allowed to remain obscure, and Cabell spent the rest of his life dogged by innuendos and shady allegations.

Sources

1. Encyclopedia of Virginia - James Branch Cabell
2. Branchiana; being a partial account of the Branch family in Virginia, by James Branch Cabell.  Richmond, Va., Printed by Whittet & Shepperson.1907. page 71.