Character guide

Sir Nicholas Beauvallet

major

Also known as Nick Beauvallet, Beauvallet, Mad Nick, Nicholas Beauvallet, Sir Nicholas, Mad Beauvallet, Mad Nicholas, El Beauvallet

Sir Nicholas Beauvallet — 'Mad Nick' to his crew — is a sea-captain of legendary nerve, heir to a line of reckless Beauvallets, and the terror of Spanish galleons. Capturing the Governor's daughter Doña Dominica, he loses his heart in a single voyage and vows to win her despite every law and border between them. His delight in danger and his refusal to admit impossibility drive the whole reckless enterprise, making him both the engine and the hazard of the tale.

Doña Dominica de Rada y Sylva

major

Also known as Dominica, Doña Dominica, Doña Dominica de Rada y Sylva, Doña Dominica de Rada

Doña Dominica de Rada y Sylva moves through the Spanish court under her aunt's watchful eye, expected to marry her oily cousin Diego and never to speak of the English corsair who once held her ship. Her pride and her honesty war with a growing, inadmissible fascination for a man her world calls a heretic and a thief. Her refusal to lie — even to protect herself from the Inquisition's suspicion — makes her the still point around which Beauvallet's dangerous courtship turns.

Joshua Dimmock

supporting

Also known as Joshua, Privately Joshua

Joshua Dimmock follows Sir Nicholas into Spain with the resigned devotion of a man who has long since stopped being surprised by his master's escapades. Voluble, resourceful, and never short of an improvised tale — brigands, sumpters, a lady's shot horse — he smooths the way for Dominica when Beauvallet cannot. His unshakeable assumption that his master will walk free of any prison gives the anxious heroine, and the reader, a steadying comic counterweight.

Doña Beatrice de Carvalho

supporting

Also known as Beatrice, Doña Beatrice

Doña Beatrice de Carvalho presides over Madrid society with an imperturbable smile, arranging her niece's marriage and observing the scandal of El Beauvallet with more amusement than alarm. She is no fool: she reads the danger of the Inquisition clearly and moves to spirit Dominica out of Madrid before suspicion hardens. Her tolerant, calculating affection for her niece makes her the one adult in the Spanish chapters who can be trusted to see the truth — and to act on it.

Don Diego de Carvalho

supporting

Also known as Diego de Carvalho, Don Diego, Carvalho

Don Diego de Carvalho dresses in white to match his cousin, presses roses on her, and hovers at her elbow with possessive fury, convinced that the Chevalier de Guise is no Frenchman at all. His jealousy sharpens into open accusation, and it is his reckless charge of heresy that threatens to drag Dominica before the Inquisition. Petty, proud, and dangerous in his wounded vanity, he is the domestic menace that makes Beauvallet's Spanish adventure so perilous.

Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva

supporting

Also known as Don Manuel, Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva

Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva, broken by West Indian fever and stripped of his governorship, shields his daughter aboard the captured galleon with the last dignity of a Spanish grandee. His infirmity and diminished fortune leave Dominica exposed to the marriage market and to the Inquisition's suspicion. His presence gives the Spanish chapters their weight of fallen honour and quiet grief, and makes Dominica's loyalty to her family a real cost rather than a formality.

King Philip II of Spain

supporting

Also known as King Philip, Philip, The King

Philip rules from a desk as much as a throne, receiving reports of the English pirate's audacity with hooded eyes and a pen that never stops moving. Where his captains rage and predict disaster, he answers with memoranda, runners to every port, and a quiet certainty that patience will snare what force could not. His unhurried, unforgetting mind turns a single fugitive into a kingdom-wide manhunt, making him the implacable pressure that shadows Beauvallet's every move through Spain.

Mr. Dangerfield

supporting

Also known as Dangerfield, Master Dangerfield, young Dangerfield, young Master Dangerfield

Dangerfield serves aboard Beauvallet's ship as a conscientious young officer, the kind of lad who sets a lady on a pedestal and answers her questions about sailing with painful sincerity. Dominica seizes on him as a tool to provoke Beauvallet, but his guileless loyalty keeps upsetting her plans: pressed to agree that his captain is a bully, he instead protests that most men like Sir Nicholas because he is 'very much—a man.' His quiet, unshakeable faith in Beauvallet becomes the very testimony that undermines Dominica's scorn.

Sir Francis Drake

minor

Also known as Drake, Francis, Sir Francis

Famous English privateer and admiral, a friend and ally of Beauvallet.

Don Cristobal de Porres

minor

Also known as Don Cristobal, Porres, Cristobal

A Spanish nobleman and courtier, involved in the intrigue around Dominica.

Don Maxia de Perinat

minor

Also known as Perinat, Don Maxia, Maxia de Perinat

A Spanish admiral and ally of the de Rada family.

Don Rodriguez de Carvalho

minor

Also known as Don Rodriguez, Carvalho

A Portuguese nobleman, relative of Beatrice and Diego.

Chevalier Claude de Guise

minor

Also known as the Chevalier Claude de Guise, the Guise, the Chevalier de Guise, Chevalier, le Chevalier de Guise

A flamboyant French nobleman and adventurer at the Spanish court.

Gerard Beauvallet

minor

Also known as Gerard, Beauvallet

Nick's younger brother, also an English privateer.

Sir Francis Walsingham

minor

Also known as Walsingham, Sir Francis Walsingham, lean Walsingham

Queen Elizabeth's spymaster, who employs Beauvallet.

Simon the Coldheart

minor

Also known as Simon, Simon the Coldheart, 1st Baron Beauvallet

Legendary ancestor of the Beauvallet family, mentioned in the pedigree.

De Lauvinière

minor

Also known as De Lauvinière, de Lauvinière, M. de Lauvinière

A French gentleman or diplomat at the Spanish court.

Don Juan de Narvaez

minor

Also known as Don Juan, Narvaez

A Spanish gentleman and suitor to Dominica, hostile to Beauvallet.

Señor Cruza

minor

Also known as Cruza, Señor Cruza

A Spanish captain or official encountered during the voyage.

Don Diaz de Losa

minor

Also known as Don Diaz, de Losa, Losa

A Spanish nobleman and courtier.

Father Allen

minor

Also known as one Alan, Alan, Allen, Father

A Catholic priest and conspirator against England.

Dame Margery

minor

Also known as Margery, old Margery, Margaret

An elderly servant or housekeeper in the Beauvallet household.

Don Luis de Noveli

minor

Also known as Noveli, Luis

A Spanish gentleman and minor court figure.

Don Miguel de Tobar

minor

Also known as de Tobar, Miguel, Miguel de Tobar, Tobar, Don Miguel

A Spanish nobleman and ally of the de Rada family.

Frey Luis

minor

Also known as the Frey

A Spanish friar or priest who appears in court scenes.

Señor Cruzada

minor

Also known as Cruzada, Señor Cruzada

A Spanish official or captain encountered during the story.

Frobisher

minor

An English privateer and associate of Drake and Beauvallet.

Don Juan de Aranda

minor

Also known as Don Juan, Juan, Aranda

A Spanish nobleman and courtier.

Admiral Perinat

minor

Also known as Perinat

A Spanish admiral, possibly distinct from Don Maxia.

Master John Davys

minor

Also known as Master John, Master John Davys, Master Davys, John

An English navigator and associate of Beauvallet.

William Hick

minor

Also known as Hick

An English sailor or servant in Beauvallet's crew.

Joan

minor

Also known as Joanna

A female servant or minor character in the story.

Richard Dangerfield

minor

Also known as Richard, Dangerfield, young Richard

A younger relative of Mr. Dangerfield, also an English gentleman.

Master Dawson

minor

Also known as Portly Master Dawson, Dawson

A portly English merchant or ship captain.

Sir William Cavendish

minor

Also known as Cavendish, young Cavendish

An English nobleman and courtier, friend of Beauvallet.

Marquis de Belrémy

minor

Also known as the Marquis de Belrémy, Marquis de Belrémy, Belrémy

A French nobleman and elusive figure at court.

Mary Stewart

minor

Also known as Mary, Mary I

The imprisoned Queen of Scots, mentioned in political context.

Faith

minor

A female servant or minor character, possibly a maid.

Bartolomeo

minor

A Spanish or Italian sailor or servant.

Matteo de Vasquez

minor

Also known as Vasquez, Matteo de Vasquez, young Vasquez

A young Spanish gentleman or page.

Diccon

minor

An English sailor or servant in Beauvallet's crew.

Samson

minor

Also known as old Samson

An elderly servant or sailor.

Kate

minor

A female servant or minor character.

Adela

minor

A female servant or minor character.

Sir Christopher Hatton

minor

Also known as Hatton, Sir Christopher

An English courtier and favorite of Queen Elizabeth.

Carmelita

minor

Also known as old Carmelita, Old Carmelita

An elderly Spanish servant or duenna.

Queen Elizabeth I

minor

Also known as Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth

The English queen, mentioned as Beauvallet's sovereign.

Richard Hawkins

minor

Also known as young Richard Hawkins, young Richard, Richard

An English privateer and son of Sir John Hawkins.

Sir James Crofts

minor

Also known as Crofts, James

An English courtier and diplomat.

Duc de Guise

minor

Also known as the Guise, the Duc de Guise

The powerful French duke, leader of the Catholic League.

John Daw

minor

An English sailor or servant.

Master Hick

minor

An English sailor or servant, possibly related to William Hick.

Sir Walter Raleigh

minor

Also known as Raleigh, the elegant and grave Raleigh

Famous English explorer and courtier, friend of Beauvallet.

Andrea Ferrara

minor

Also known as Ferrara

A famous Italian swordsmith, mentioned in context of blades.

Master Secretary

minor

A secretary or official at the English or Spanish court.