Person

Book/Story

Nicknames

Family

Description

Abel

The Talisman RinG

One of Ludovic Lavenham's smuggling colleagues.

Archer, Mrs.

The Talisman RinG

A lady who had 15 (or 16) candles in her chandelier shot out by Ludovic Lavenham.

Barker, Sam.

The Talisman RinG

A stable-boy employed by Joseph Nye at The Red Lion.

Brown, Jem.

The Talisman RinG

A false name which Ludovic Lavenham contemplates using while masquerading as Eustacie de Vauban's groom.

Bundy, Ned.

The Talisman RinG

Ludovic Lavenham's colleague in smuggling. A harsh and unromantic man who is prepared to kill to save his own skin.

Clem

The Talisman RinG

The tapster at the Red Lion.

Dan

The Talisman RinG

A professional prizefighter referred to by Sir Tristram Shield.

Is he Dan WARR?

Fitzgerald

The Talisman RinG

A professional prizefighter referred to by Sir Hugh Thane

Gregg

The Talisman RinG

Basil Lavenham's valet. A sly gentleman with an oily voice and an ingratiating manner.

Headless Horseman, The.

The Talisman RinG

A spectre reputed to haunt the woods around Lavenham Court, he does not appear on his own horse but suddenly appears on the saddle behind you if you are riding out at night.

Henriette

The Talisman RinG

Eustacie's cousin in France. Between them they argued how they should appear if they were sent to the guillotine. Henriette wanted to go in full Court Dress.

Hooge, de.

The Talisman RinG

Better known as Pieter de Hooch (or Hoogh), (1629-84) he was a Dutch artist whose work Sarah Thane claims to recognise at the Dower House.

Humphrey

The Talisman RinG

A false name suggested by Eustacie de Vaubans for Ludovic Lavenham to use rather than "Jem Brown".

Humphries

The Talisman RinG

A professional prizefighter referred to by Sir Hugh Thane

Jarvis

The Talisman RinG

The valet to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham.

Jenkyns, Mr.

The Talisman RinG

Basil Lavenham's butler.

Jupp

The Talisman RinG

Sir Tristram Shield's valet.

Kettering, Bob.

The Talisman RinG

A childhood friend of Ludovic Lavenham's, now employed as groom to Sir Basil Lavenham.

Kettering, Jim

The Talisman RinG

Father of Bob Kettering.

Lavenham, Basil. "Beau Lavenham"

The Talisman RinG

Great nephew to Lord Sylvester Lavenham, cousin to Eustacie de Vauban, Ludovic Lavenham and Sir Tristram Shield.

Basil Lavenham, a typical dandy with his coquelicot-striped waistcoats and spotted silk coats; is not particularly liked by any of his relations. He is an exquisite of the first degree, composed of delicate mannerisms and niceties of dress; with a languid manner and a soft voice. One of Eustacie de Vauban's suitors, she does not like him in the slightest. Despite his apparent ineffectiveness, however, Beau Lavenham is a devious man capable of almost anything.

Lavenham, Ludovic, Lord, tenth Baron Lavenham.

The Talisman RinG

Grandson to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Basil Lavenham, Sir Tristram Shield and Eustacie de Vauban.

Accused of murdering Sir Matthew Plunkett to retrieve a heirloom talisman ring which was won from him in a rigged game, Ludovic Lavenham fled the country two years before the book's period with the assistance of his grandfather and cousin Tristram. Since then, he has taken up free-trading and smuggling, using The Red Lion inn as a headquarters. When Eustacie de Vauban runs away from home and falls into his hands, it triggers off a sequence of events during which he is shot, has to evade the Bow Street Runners whilst invalided, and prove his innocence of Sir Matthew's murder with the assistance of Eustacie, Sir Hugh and Sarah Thane and Sir Tristram. Although something of an incorrigible rogue, Ludovic is a very romantic character who fascinates Eustacie, and whatever his flaws, he is no brutal villain. His chivalry in preventing Ned Bundy from killing Eustacie from the start, his bravery and somewhat reckless spirit make him rather a devil-may-care fellow but he is a typical example of a wronged romantic hero with a name to clear, a role which is most comparable to that of Jack Carstares in Heyer's first novel, The Black Moth

Lavenham, Marie

The Talisman RinG

See de Vauban, Marie.

Lavenham, Lord Sylvester, ninth Baron Lavenham

The Talisman RinG

Grandfather to Ludovic Lavenham and Eustacie de Vauban, great-uncle to Sir Tristram Shield and Basil Lavenham

An eighty-year old man on his deathbed at the start of the novel, Sylvester used to be a rake in his day, but is now a frail, garrulous old man who still insists on being bewigged and patched despite his invalid status. He has also refused to lie back and wait to die, having summoned Sir Tristram Shield to be married to his great-niece Eustacie. At the last moment, having forbidden his grandson's name to be mentioned in the house, Sylvester has doubts about Ludovic Lavenham's guilt. The most telling note of his character is that it is clearly appropriate that his last words should be a vulgar oath aimed at his doctor.

Lucy

The Talisman RinG

The loyal lady's maid to Eustacie de Vauban at Lavenham Court. Also the name by which Ludovic Lavenham goes whilst masquerading as Eustacie's maid to avoid capture by the Bow Street Runners.

Manton

The Talisman RinG

A renowned gunsmith of the period who made Ludovic Lavenham's duelling pistols, one of which Eustacie de Vauban takes with her when she runs away.

Matthews, Jerry

The Talisman RinG

A friend of Ludovic's who loaded the gun for him during the episode at Mrs Archer's.

Matthews, Frederick

The Talisman RinG

A man mentioned by Sir Hugh Thane, wondering if that would be Jerry Matthew's father.

Mendoza

The Talisman RinG

The proprietor of a pugilist's salon of the period.

Nye, Joseph.

The Talisman RinG

The landlord of The Red Lion.

Joseph Nye's inn is the headquarters of Ludovic Lavenham's smuggling organisation. Eustacie de Vauban takes Ludovic there after he is shot. Sir Hugh Thane and Sarah Thane are staying there at the time, and it very quickly becomes the focus of the book's action. The landlord himself is a good kind of man, who just happens to be involved in a smuggling organisation, and assists Ludovic to dodge the Excisemen and Bow Street Runners.

Nye, Miss

The Talisman RinG

The rather deaf sister of Joseph Nye and cook at the Red Lion, she is tripped up while carrying a tray of cheesecakes by William Peabody and Mr Stubbs during their search for Ludovic Lavenham.

Peabody, William

The Talisman RinG

A Bow Street Runner and Jeremiah Stubb's colleague.

Pickering

The Talisman RinG

Sylvester, Lord Lavenham's lawyer, and one of the trustees of the estate alongside Sir Tristram Shield.

Plunkett, Sir Matthew John.

The Talisman RinG

The person who won Ludovic Lavenham's precious ring in a rigged game, and was later shot, of which crime Ludovic Lavenham stands accused. It is his murder that forms the mystery of the book.

Porson

The Talisman RinG

The butler at Lavenham Court.

Rufus

The Talisman RinG

Eustacie de Vauban's horse, upon which she runs away from Lavenham Court.

Satchwell

The Talisman RinG

Sir Hugh Thane's valet, sent ahead to London with Sarah Thane's lady's maid. Sir Hugh has to be dissuaded from summoning him to The Red Lion.

Shield, Sir Tristram

The Talisman RinG

Great-nephew to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Basil and Ludovic Lavenham and Eustacie de Vauban.

A connoisseur of fine craftsmanship and a collector of works of art, Sir Tristram is summoned to Lavenham Court only to be informed that he is expected to marry his cousin Eustacie de Vauban in the place of Ludovic Lavenham. The idea does not please him, for she is too fanciful and romantic for his liking. He is one of the suspects in Sir Matthew Plunkett's murder case, suspected for having done it to add the talisman ring to his collection. However, although he is not a romantically minded man, being past the age of fancifulness at 31, he becomes enmeshed into the mystery and the responsibility of protecting Ludovic Lavenham from arrest. His is the voice of reason that controls Eustacie, Ludovic and Sarah Thane's high flights of fancy and absurd plans, but he is by no means a stullifying influence, being as keen as anyone to clear Ludovic's name following the discovery that he does not have the talisman ring on him (therefore, he cannot be the murderer of Plunkett)

Stubbs, Jeremiah. "Jerry"

The Talisman RinG

A Bow Street Runner

Jeremiah Stubbs is sent out to apprehend Ludovic Lavenham for the murder of Sir Matthew Plunkett, following a "lead" sent to the headquarters at Bow Street in London. In collaboration with William Peabody, they prove blundering and ineffectual, responsible for exacerbating confusion rather than actually making much progress. Although he does have some pretty shrewd suspicions as to what is going on, he is easily out-witted and thwarted at every step.

Sunning, Jem

The Talisman RinG

One of Sylvester, Lord Lavenham's illegitmate children, who went to America.

Thane, Sir Hugh, Baronet.

The Talisman RinG

Brother of Sarah Thane.

A Justice of the Peace, he decides to stay at The Red Lion en route to London due to the excellence of their smuggled brandy. He is a placid, rather easy-going gentleman, who often travels around Europe with his sister Sarah. Due to his contracting a severe cold, he and Sarah are compelled to prolong their stay at the Red Lion, and this allows him to be a severe hindrance to the Bow Street Runners and a great help to the efforts to prove Ludovic Lavenham's innocence. His connections with Bow Street and the courts of law do not make him a strict upholder of the law, and he is an implicit approver of smuggling. Although he states he will tell the truth, he also remarks that nobody will ask him.

Thane, Miss Sarah

The Talisman RinG

Sister to Sir Hugh Thane.

One of Heyer's more striking early heroines, Sarah Thane is an enchantingly perverse and very humorous lady of twenty-eight, who scandalises her relations by accompanying her brother everywhere he goes, and in recent years, leaving her chaperone behind. A very candid woman, who would probably remain unsurprised by anything life threw at her, she is quite capable of looking after herself, and blends an incredibly romantic imagination with common good sense and charming sensibility. When Eustacie de Vauban brings the wounded Ludovic Lavenham to the Red Lion, Sarah Thane is only too delighted to take part in this exciting adventure coming her way. Well aware of her short-comings, with a very skilled talent for acting as if she were perfectly silly, she makes a perfect foil to Sir Tristram from the very moment they are brought together. Despite being, in her words, "a creature of no importance at all", she is, on the contrary a very important character and the forerunner of Heyer's later heroines Abigail Wendover (Black Sheep) and Hester Theale (Sprig Muslin).

Torrigiano

The Talisman RinG

Pietro Torrigiano, a Florentine sculptor of the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, whose name Sir Tristram tells Sarah Thane to drop while looking around the Dower House of Lavenham Court.

Vauban, Mademoiselle Eustacie de

The Talisman RinG

Grand-daughter to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Sir Tristram Shield and Basil and Ludovic Lavenham.

Comparisons to Léonie de Saint Vire of These Old Shades spring to mind instantly, although other than their French descent, youth and a similar volatility, there is very little in common between Léonie and Eustacie. Eustacie, the dark-haired, beautiful heroine is more romantically minded and less bloodthirsty. Disgusted by the idea of being married to the unromantic Sir Tristram Shield, she runs away and falls into the hands of Ludovic Lavenham, the wicked cousin who has much intrigued and fascinated her. Her appetite for adventure is satisfied in the excitement of keeping him out of the hands of the Bow Street Runners and Excisemen, and of helping to prove his innocence. Perhaps closest in character to Amanda Smith in Sprig Muslin, she set the mould for many of Heyer's romantically minded and unrealistic young beauties such as Lady Letitia Merion in April Lady and Miss Tiffany Wield in The Nonesuch, although she is nowhere near as annoying or irrational as either of those two.

Vauban, Vidame de.

The Talisman RinG

Eustacie de Vauban's French father (deceased), who eloped with her mother Marie Lavenham. A later reference to a Vidame in Austria is presumably about his brother, who Eustacie describes as her uncle.

Vauban, Marie de

The Talisman RinG

Wife to the Vicomte de Vauban. Eustacie de Vauban's mother, Sylvester's daughter. Died three years to the date of the book.

Warr

The Talisman RinG

A professional pugilist referred to by Sir Tristram Shield and Sir Hugh Thane.

Wright, Sampson

The Talisman RinG

From references made to him by Sir Hugh Thane, Sampson Wright clearly must be the head of Bow Street, in charge of the Bow Street Runners.