# Mrs. Grimethorpe — Clouds of Witness character guide

> Mrs. Grimethorpe in Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Grimethorpe, this Grimethorpe, no Mrs. Grimethorpe, A Mrs. Grimethorpe

**First appearance:** 0006-iii-mudstains-and-bloodstains

## Snapshot

The Yorkshire farmer's wife whose remote moorland household shelters the half-frozen Lord Peter and whose silence guards a secret worth more than her marriage.

## Who they are

Mrs. Grimethorpe inhabits a bleak, hard-drinking farm on the moors, married to a brutish man whose bellowing fills the house and whose suspicions curdle the air. She offers the exhausted Wimsey and Bunter grudging warmth and a bed, yet her watchful reticence hints at knowledge she will not easily part with. Her testimony becomes one of the quiet hinges on which the Riddlesdale case turns, and her fear of her husband shadows every word she might or might not say.

## Relationships

### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey)

_professional_

Interrogator and witness, with Peter investigating her connection to the murder and her troubled marriage.

### [Gerald Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/gerald_wimsey)

_romantic_

Secret lovers, with Gerald's affair with the farmer's wife being a motive for the murder.

### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey)

_professional_

Interrogator and witness, with Peter investigating her connection to the murder and her troubled marriage.

### [Gerald Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/gerald_wimsey)

_romantic_

Secret lovers, with Gerald's affair with the farmer's wife being a motive for the murder.

### [Lord Peter Wimsey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/lord_peter_wimsey)

_professional_

Interrogator and witness, with Peter investigating her connection to the murder and her troubled marriage.

## In the story

### [XII: The Alibi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/xii-the-alibi)

Confronted by Wimsey; initially denies knowledge but breaks down when shown the letter.

### [XIII: Manon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/xiii-manon)

Implied to have a relationship with Gerald; Peter considers her potential involvement in the case.

### [XVI: The Second String](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/xvi-the-second-string)

Confesses that the Duke was with her on the night of the murder, providing an alibi but revealing a secret affair.

### [XIX: Who Goes Home?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/chapters/xix-who-goes-home)

Now free after her husband's death; she is indifferent to the Duke and plans to return to Cornwall, buying mourning clothes with Lord Peter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters/mrs_grimethorpe
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clouds_of_witness_se/characters