Person

Book/Story

Nicknames

Family

Description

Amesbury, Lord

COUSIN KATE

A London friend of Gurney Templecombe to whom Dolly Templecombe becomes betrothed within a week of arriving in London.

Astley, Mr.

COUSIN KATE

Husband of Mrs. Astley, son-in-law of Mrs. Grittleton but no match for her, he was Kate Malvern's last employer as a governess. He had to turn her off, but he paid her for a full year rather than just the 6 months she had been with them.

Astley, Mrs.

COUSIN KATE

Daughter of Mrs. Grittleton and mother of the 3 children to whom Kate Malvern was governess, she was no more than 3 years older than Kate and a featherhead, and she miscarried her 4th child because of her mother’s scolding.

Badger

COUSIN KATE

Valet and full-time attendant to Torquil Broome, he has been with Torquil since he was a small child and, despite being ill-used from time to time, is perhaps the only person who truly loves him.

Broome, Julian

COUSIN KATE

Son of Sir Timothy and Lady Anne Broome, died while still in leading strings.

Broome, Julian

COUSIN KATE

Brother of Sir Timothy Broome and father of Philip Broome, he was employed in the Diplomatic Service, so Philip was often at Staplewood for holidays. He was ambitious and had excellent taste.

Broome, Lady Anne

COUSIN KATE

First wife to Sir Timothy Broome, long since deceased. She was pretty though not beautiful, not terribly clever and lacking in decision, fair and languid, but so good. She was sickly and had 2 still-born children and 3 who didn’t survive infancy. Sir Timothy was passionately devoted to her.

Broome, Lady Minerva, nee Malvern.

COUSIN KATE

Second wife of Sir Timothy Broome, mother of Torquil Broome, half-sister of Captain Malvern, hence aunt of Kate Malvern, she is tall, handsome, elegant, and fashionably dressed, with dark hair and an arresting countenance dominated by a pair of brilliant eyes, in colour between blue and gray, set under strongly marked brows. Her very regular features are marred only by a slight heaviness in the lower jaw and rather too square a chin; her voice is deeply pitched. At about 40, she is at first intimidating, but has a pleasant smile and manners neither high nor imposing, but plainly those of a lady of quality, and she appears at once kind and gracious. Very ambitious, and enthusiastic and knowledgable about her husband’s family and estate, she has very little imagination but knows how to create beauty, and she is clever, with a will of iron, needing no one to do things for her. Love she regards as sickly balderdash, and she is not one to dote on children, because they are too troublesome.

Broome, Maria

COUSIN KATE

Sister of Sir Timothy Broome, she disapproved of his second marriage to Minerva Malvern (Lady Minerva Broome).

Broome, Philip.

COUSIN KATE

Nephew to Sir Timothy and Lady Minerva Broome, cousin to Torquil Broome and Kate Malvern, he owns a neat and commodious estate, Broome Manor, 30 miles from Staplewood, near Oakham, in Rutlandshire, which was bought by his father, and he farms his land and hunts with the Cottesmore. He is 29 and tall, with broad shoulders and very regular features, always dressed with neatness and propriety, but no dandy—except for his quizzing-glass. He is trustworthy, with a stern face but a warm smile, and is a strong character, like Minerva. Torquil alternately loves him and regards him as his chief enemy.

Broome, Sir Timothy, Baronet.

COUSIN KATE

Husband of Lady Minerva Broome, father of Torquil Broome, and uncle of Philip Broome, he is descended in unbroken line from a Broome who had been one of James I’s braw new knights 200 years earlier, a family not famous but distinguished, and he owns Staplewood, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire. He is much older than his wife and has white hair, an emaciated frame, skin the color of parchment, a gentle voice, and the weariest eyes Kate Malvern has ever seen. Subject to slight seizures and rarely well enough to emerge from his own apartments, he doesn’t care as much about his house and lineage as Minerva does, finds the house actually rather bewildering, and shrinks from anything unpleasant. He dotes on Philip, like a second father.

Broome, Torquil

COUSIN KATE

Son of Sir Timothy and Lady Minerva Broome, cousin to Philip Broome and Kate Malvern, he is the most beautiful youth Kate has ever seen, with an alabaster brow, oddly luminous blue eyes finged by long, curling lashes, a classic nose, an exquisitely curved, petulant mouth, slender, surprisingly strong white hands, and pale golden hair like silk, rather long, with one strand falling forward across his brow. At 19, he is carelessly graceful and dresses negligently and picturesquely. His childhood was sickly and he was never sent off to school; nevertheless, he has the look of a sulky schoolboy, is easily bored, and tends to be moody and melodramatic, alternately aux anges and blue-devilled. Animals don’t like him, and he abominates all sports, remarking from time to time how pleasant it must be to drown.

Burley

COUSIN KATE

The Templecombes’ butler in London, a strict abstainer.

Cadnam

COUSIN KATE

Landlord of the Red Lion in Market Harborough, where Torquil Broome showed up one night.

Cahir, Lady

COUSIN KATE

A friend of Lady Broome who took the chief part in an amateur production of Who's the Dupe at the Priory, at Stanmore.

Croft*

COUSIN KATE

A doctor situated in London and briefly mentioned by Gurney Templecombe as possible source of a second opinion on Sir Timothy Broome’s condition.

Delabole, Dr. Matthew,

COUSIN KATE

Personal physician to the Broomes, having been brought in by Lady Broome to replace Dr. Ogbourne when Torquil had the smallpox. He is a well-preserved gentleman of uncertain age, large, with a bland smile, very white hands, and mouse-colored hair brushed into a fashionable Brutus. Some think him handsome, and he gives an impression of modishness, perhaps because his shirt-points, though moderate, are so exquisitely starched and his neckcloth arranged with such nicety. Genuinely fond of Torquil, he has known Lady Broome since she was 12 and has helped her collect Broome family records and catalog the library at Staplewood. He is a big eater and likes to tell anecdotes, and clearly not Quality. Kate Milvern regards him as a barnacle and cannot like him, though he apparently has taken good care of Sir Timothy.

Dunster, Lady

COUSIN KATE

A gossipy guest at the Broomes' dinner party; she lives near Staplewood at Nutfield Place.

Ellen

COUSIN KATE

A housemaid at Staplewood selected to wait on Kate Malvern while she is staying with the Broomes, she is a country girl with country manners.

Emily, Miss

COUSIN KATE

Sister of Mrs. Malvern. Sarah Nidd refuses to contact her about Kate's welfare because she's as full as a toad is of poison!

Fleet

COUSIN KATE

The lodgehouse-keeper to the Broomes’ house, Staplewood.

Gaston

COUSIN KATE

The French chef employed by the Broomes at Staplewood, he is rather excitable and then lapses into French.

Grittleton, Mrs

COUSIN KATE

Mrs. Brimstone

Mother of Mrs. Astley, she drives Kate Malvern away from her governess job, convinced that Kate is scheming to marry her son. A griffin whom Sarah Nidd calls Mrs. Brimstone and who nags and scolds her own daughter to such an extent that she has a miscarriage.

Grittleton, young.

COUSIN KATE

Son of Mrs. Grittleton and sister to Mrs. Astley, he is as silly as his sister but not by half as agreeable; in fact, he is detestable and a moon-calf who made an offer to Kate Malvern after getting caught trying to kiss her.

Holford

COUSIN KATE

A London doctor whom Gurney Templecombe mentions along with Croft as a possible source for a second opinion on Sir Timothy Broome’s condition.

Jacquard

COUSIN KATE

Chef at the Clarendon Hotel, where Lady Minerva Broome stays when she goes to find Kate Malvern, her niece. He has his own special sauce for lobster.

James

COUSIN KATE

Coachman and/or footman to Sir Timothy and Lady Broome at Staplewood.

Jos

COUSIN KATE

One of the employees at Josiah Nidd & Son, Carriers, perhaps one of the owner’s many grandsons.

Jupiter

COUSIN KATE

The horse upon which Kate Malvern first rides out with Torquil Broome at Staplewood, an incorrigible slug with competitive spirit, an arm-chair ride.

Knowle

COUSIN KATE

Valet to Philip Broome's valet and general factotum, whom Philip does not bring to Staplewood after discovering that the servants there look down on him for being virtually a friend of his master.

Lasham, Mrs.

COUSIN KATE

Kate Malvern had applied to her as a governess but not been engaged.

Mab

COUSIN KATE

Kate Malvern remarks that if Lady Minerva Broome sees her with a pinned-up flounce, she’ll think her a regular Mab.

Maggie

COUSIN KATE

Old Josiah Nidd's daughter who lives separately from the Nidds with one of her sons.

Malvern, Captain, then Major

COUSIN KATE

Father of Kate Malvern, he was the charming but sadly unsatisfactory scion of a distinguished family, sweet-tempered and kind-hearted but never taking thought for tomorrow; full of fun and gig and a gamester, who ran off with a beautiful girl who was socially beneath him. He died when “muddled, not tosticated,” he was knocked down by a tax-cart and hit his head, leaving his daughter penniless and responsible for his debts.

Malvern, Kate

COUSIN KATE

Daughter of Captain and Mrs. Malvern, niece to Lady Broome, and cousin to Torquil Broome, she has a flower-like countenance, an air of youthful innocence, large gray eyes with an irrepressible twinkle, and naturally curly ringlets. She is, in fact, 24 and neither so young nor so guileless as she looks, being an only child who had an adventurous youth spent following the drum and acquiring experience haggling with Portuguese farmers and Spanish muleteers, not to mention learning to ride a light hand and an easy bit. She is not romantice and has no accomplishments but soldiers’ Spanish and sewing—not embroidery, but fashioning dresses, hats, and bonnets. Rather bored by other people’s children, she has nevertheless been supporting herself as a governess, her last post being with the Astleys.

Malvern, Mrs.

COUSIN KATE

Kate Malvern's mother and Sarah Nidd's former nursling, she was a romantic girl of great beauty but somewhat inferior kineage. She remained so ridiculously besotted that neither the discomforts of following the drum nor the aberrations of her volatile spouse abated her love or daunted her spirits. She died in Portugal when Kate was 12.

Minstead

COUSIN KATE

A mutual acquaintance of Philip Broome and Gurney Templecombe; he comes up in their conversation over supper.

Ned

COUSIN KATE

A stableboy at Staplewood; he saddled up for Torquil Broome when he shouldn’t have.

Nell

COUSIN KATE

A dog of Sir Timothy Broome’s who turned on and bit Torquil when he was a boy; Minerva had the dog shot.

Nidd, Joe (Josiah Nidd Junior)

COUSIN KATE

Son of Josiah Nidd and adoring husband of Sarah. He is a simple-minded soul but good-hearted, in some ways a sore trial to his father but Sarah is his indomitable support.

Nidd, Josiah

COUSIN KATE

Sarah Nidd's father-in-law.

Founder of Josiah Nidd & Son, Carriers, he is a garrulous old man but fiercely authoriative. He is the head of his household and can bully everyone in his family except his daughter-in-law, Sarah Nidd, who successfully bullied him into spending money on his business and making it into a success. He likes Kate Malvern very much and goes out of his way to chat with her. His favorite form of neckwear is a large, spotted silk handkerchief which he knots about his throat with great taste and artistry.

Nidd, Maggie

COUSIN KATE

Sister to Joe Nidd. She’s gormless, but there’s no harm in her and she’s always ready to come help Sarah Nidd at the carrier’s yard.

Nidd, Polly

COUSIN KATE

Old Josiah Nidd's daughter-in-law, she has fallen down the stairs and broken four plates, two bowls and her leg—and has 6 children suffering the measles—so Sarah Nidd goes to help her.

Nidd, Sarah, neé Publow. "Sarey"

COUSIN KATE

Daughter-in-law to old Josiah Nidd and wife to Joe Nidd (junior), she is the only person not at all in awe of the former and is largely responsible for his building up his carrier company. We first see her in the kitchen in a flowered print dress, an old-fashioned Tucker around her amply bosom, plump arms, and a starched muslin cap tied in a bow beneath her chin. She is, in a word, redoubtable, and a bang-up cook. Previously she was abigail to Mrs. Malvern and then nurse to Kate.

Nidd, Ted

COUSIN KATE

One of Josiah Nidd’s many grandsons, he helps in the yard. He is a brawny giant but goes in awe of his grandfather.

Ogbourne, Dr.

COUSIN KATE

Former doctor to the Broomes, Lady Broome replaced him with Dr. Delabole when Torquil had the smallpox.

Old Tom

COUSIN KATE

An aged employee of Josiah Nidd & Son's whose wife cooks and looks after Josiah while when Sarah is away. He is notoriously cross-frained, but even he makes a cake of himself over Kate Malvern; and he is the source of some of Kate’s vulgar expressions.

Pennymore

COUSIN KATE

Butler to the Broomes at Staplewood. He is elderly and devoted to Sir Timothy, and has been there since before Lady Minerva Broome ever was.

Phoebe

COUSIN KATE

A housemaid at Staplewood, whom Sarah Nidd regards as a saucy little minx who would probably try on Kate Malvern’s dresses if they are left in the wardrobe when she leaves.

Pickford's*

COUSIN KATE

A carrier’s in London to whom Josiah Nidd & Son, Carriers, is not yet a rival, but a healthy competitor.

Prince Regent*

COUSIN KATE

Frequently entertained by Lady Minerva Broome in London until Sir Timothy’s health required that they shut up the house there and retire to Staplewood.

Prudhoe

COUSIN KATE

A mutual acquaintance of Philip Broome and Gurney Templecombe; he comes up in their conversation over supper.

Publow, Miss Sarah.

COUSIN KATE

See Nidd, Sarah.

Quedgeley, Miss

COUSIN KATE

Sewing woman to Lady Broome's.

Risby

COUSIN KATE

Head gardener to Sir Timothy and Lady Broome at Staplewood.

Scholes

COUSIN KATE

One of the grooms at Staplewood, Sir Timothy and Lady Broome’s estate in Leicestershire.

Sidlaw, Miss

COUSIN KATE

Devoted lady's maid and dresser to Lady Minerva Broome, having been her nurse in her childhood.

She is prim, with sparse gray locks and bony fingers, and both thinks herself first in consequence and supports her mistress’s ambitions. She is jealous of Kate Malvern but admires her sartorial taste and is grudgingly civil to her.

Ted

COUSIN KATE

Old Josiah Nidd's grandson, a somewhat half-witted youth.

Templecombe, Dorothea.

COUSIN KATE

Dolly

Daughter of Lady Templecombe and sister of Gurney, she is very pretty, resembling her brother but not out of her teens. She has a soft little voice and is shy, and she is betrothed within a week of her come-out in London.

Templecombe, Gurney.

COUSIN KATE

Son of Lady Templecombe, brother of Dorothea, and close friend of Philip Broome. He resembles his sister but is rather older, in his late 20’s; he is amiable and talkative, with sleepy eyes, and finds Almacks unbearably insipid.

Templecombe, Lady

COUSIN KATE

A widowed neighbour of the the Broomes at Staplewood, living at Freshford House, and mother of Gurney, Dorothea, and three other girlswho are all older and well married.

Tenby

COUSIN KATE

Valet to Sir Timothy Broome and devoted to him.

Thorne, Mrs.

COUSIN KATE

Housekeeper at Staplewood, haveing come there from the Malvern household with Minerva, to whom she is devoted. She has a long-running feud with Sidlaw dreams from time to time of Disasters, which then seem to come true.

Tom

COUSIN KATE

Pantry boy for Gurney Templecombe at Freshford House; he serves Gurney and Philip Broome when the rest of the family and servants have gone to London.

Treen

COUSIN KATE

A mutual acquaintance of Philip Broome and Gurney Templecombe; he comes up in their conversation over supper, and they agree that it’s bellows to mend with him and he’s about to wind up his accounts.

Warren’s*

COUSIN KATE

Purveyor of Lady Minerva Broome’s special soap.

Wellington*

COUSIN KATE

In 1811 he advanced from the Lines of Torres Vedras and drove all before him, as far as Madrid, as Kate Malvern tells Philip Broome.

Whalley

COUSIN KATE

Groom to Torquil Broome.

Will

COUSIN KATE

An employee at Josiah Nidd & Son, Carriers, a gormless hunk who helps out in the stables.

William

COUSIN KATE

A footman at Staplewood, Sir Timothy and Lady Broome’s estate in Rutlandshire..