I Will Repay · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in I Will Repay by Baroness Orczy.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Juliette de Marny
major
Also known as Juliette, Marny, Mademoiselle de Marny, Citizeness Juliette Marny
Juliette moves through Revolutionary Paris as a Citizeness with an aristocrat's grief and a Nemesis's purpose, believing Paul Déroulède murdered her brother and must pay. Yet the man she came to destroy treats her with such simple, unguarded kindness that her righteous fury has nowhere clean to land. Her inner war between vengeance and dawning love drives the novel's central, agonizing suspense.
Paul Déroulède
major
Also known as M. Déroulède, Déroulède, Citizen Déroulède, Deputy Déroulède
Déroulède is the rare man the Revolution still trusts: a Citizen-Deputy whose honor is so plain that even his enemies hesitate to strike him. He loves once and for always, a fact his friends know and his enemies exploit, and he shelters Juliette without suspecting what she carries. His guileless decency is both his greatest strength and the trap closing quietly around him.
Anne Mie
supporting
Anne Mie keeps Déroulède's house and guards his interests with a fierce, wounded loyalty, her deformed shoulder a private grief she believes disqualifies her from being loved. When Juliette arrives—young, beautiful, and suspicious—Anne Mie's melancholy sharpens into something harder, a watchfulness that sees what others miss. Her jealousy is the story's quiet fuse, capable of wrecking the very man she means to protect.
Sir Percy Blakeney
supporting
Also known as Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel
Blakeney arrives in Paris drawling about snuff and ruffles while the Committee of Public Safety hunts him as the one man they cannot catch. He has deliberately baited Tinville with his scarlet signature to draw the wolves away from Déroulède's doomed scheme. His cool, laughing recklessness is the counterweight to French fanaticism, and the reason anyone in this book survives to the next chapter.
Citizen Merlin
supporting
Also known as Merlin, Deputy Merlin
Merlin represents the Revolution's ugliest face: a Terrorist who can smile while he hunts, treating a search for evidence as a pleasant game of cat and mouse. He respects Déroulède's popularity enough to be careful, but his narrowed eyes miss nothing, and he would rather find proof than not. His raid turns the household's private drama into public peril and forces every hidden loyalty into the open.
Pétronelle
supporting
Also known as old Pétronelle
Pétronelle has served the de Marny family long enough to weep like a mother when the heir is carried home dead, but not enough to steady herself and tell the crippled old Duc. Her collapse throws the unbearable duty onto Juliette, forcing a girl to become the family's grief-bearer in a single night. She is the human cost of the old regime's destruction, and the reason Juliette's vengeance feels less like politics than like blood.
Duc de Marny
minor
Also known as the old Duc de Marny, M. le Duc
Juliette's father, executed years before the main story begins.
Vicomte de Marny
minor
Also known as the little Vicomte, de Marny
Juliette's young brother, killed in the Revolution.
Foucquier-Tinville
minor
Also known as Tinville, Citizen Tinville
The ruthless public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Citizen Lenoir
minor
Also known as Lenoir
A Jacobin spy who watches Déroulède and Juliette.
Marie Antoinette
minor
Also known as the wretched Queen
The deposed queen, briefly mentioned as a prisoner.
Madame Déroulède
minor
Also known as old Madame Déroulède
Paul Déroulède's elderly mother, a kind and pious woman.
Charlotte Corday
minor
Also known as Charlotte
The assassin of Marat, mentioned as a historical figure.
Marat
minor
Also known as Dead Marat
The murdered revolutionary leader, referenced in passing.
Citizen Santerre
minor
Also known as Santerre, Santerne
A revolutionary general and commander of the National Guard.
Robespierre
minor
Also known as Citizen Robespierre
The influential Jacobin leader, mentioned as a political figure.
Brogard
minor
Also known as Citizen Brogard
The innkeeper at the Cheval Borgne, a shady establishment.
Sir Andrew Ffoulkes
minor
Also known as Ffoulkes
A friend of Sir Percy Blakeney and fellow member of the League.
Lord Anthony Dewhurst
minor
Also known as Lord Anthony
A young English aristocrat and friend of Blakeney.
Marquis de Villefranche
minor
Also known as de Villefranche, M. le Marquis
An émigré aristocrat rescued by the Pimpernel.
Danton
minor
A prominent revolutionary, briefly referenced in political discussions.
Adèle de Montchéri
minor
Also known as Adèle
A young aristocrat rescued by the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Citizen Samson
minor
Also known as Samson
The public executioner, mentioned in the trial scene.
de Mirepoix
minor
Also known as Mirepoix
A minor aristocrat mentioned among the condemned.
M. de Quettare
minor
A nobleman mentioned in the context of the Revolution.