# Mrs. Crowe — Hadrian the Seventh character guide

> Mrs. Crowe in Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** XI Dear Mrs. Crowe

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

Rose's former landlady, a chatty, status-conscious Englishwoman in Rome who finds herself oddly excluded from the Pope's indiscriminate charity.

## Who they are

Mrs. Crowe arrives in Rome expecting to bask in her old connection to George Arthur Rose, only to discover that the Pope's generosity flows to blind boys, weeping prostitutes, and threadbare strangers rather than to her. She calls his charity 'disgusting' and 'highly improper' at the hotel table, yet privately burns with envy as one grateful recipient after another describes the mysterious windfall that saved them. Her wounded vanity and her scheming attempts to reach him through convents and English residents make her a comic and quietly cutting mirror of how grace looks to those who feel entitled to it.

## Relationships

### [Jerry Sant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/jerry_sant)

_professional_

A servant-mistress relationship, with Mrs. Crowe as the employer and Jerry Sant as a household worker.

### [Pope Leo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/pope_leo)

_social_

A distant acquaintance, likely through Church social circles, with little personal warmth.

### [Father Dawkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/father_dawkins)

_social_

Casual acquaintances within the same social circle, sharing occasional conversations.

### [Jerry Sant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/jerry_sant)

_professional_

A servant-mistress relationship, with Mrs. Crowe as the employer and Jerry Sant as a household worker.

### [Jerry Sant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/jerry_sant)

_professional_

A servant-mistress relationship, with Mrs. Crowe as the employer and Jerry Sant as a household worker.

### [Father Dawkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/father_dawkins)

_social_

Casual acquaintances within the same social circle, sharing occasional conversations.

### [Pope Leo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/pope_leo)

_social_

A distant acquaintance, likely through Church social circles, with little personal warmth.

## In the story

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xi)

Another member of the Liblab deputation, thrilled by her encounter with the Pope.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xii)

Observes Hadrian's charity, becomes a Catholic, and spies on Hadrian's private visit.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xvi)

Mentioned as wanting Jerry Sant elsewhere, but he compels her services through financial control.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xvii)

Confronts Jerry Sant about the Catholic Hour attack, worried about George.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xix)

Accuses Hadrian of secret debauchery, alleging a clandestine tea meeting with women, and supports Sant's blackmail attempt.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/chapters/xxi)

Breaks with Jerry Sant after the failure of their schemes, feels mortified and angry, and seeks to return to obscurity.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters/mrs_crowe
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hadrian_the_seventh_se/characters