Character guide

Robert Audley

major

Also known as Robert, Mr. Audley, Mr. Robert Audley, Audley, Mister Audley

Robert Audley drifts through life with his dogs, his cigars, and his chambers in Figtree Court, until George Talboys disappears and leaves him the one man who cares enough to ask why. What begins as a half-hearted inquiry hardens into something relentless as Robert finds himself suspecting the very relatives who welcome him to Audley Court. His growing obsession with Lady Audley's bright, defiant smile turns a genial idler into the story's reluctant detective.

Lady Audley

major

Also known as Audley, Lucy Audley, Lucy, Miss Lucy Graham, Lucy Graham, Miss Graham, the late Miss Lucy Graham

Lucy Graham rises from a village surgeon's household to mistress of Audley Court, adored by her husband and beloved by the poor, yet coldly resisted by her stepdaughter Alicia. Her terror of growing old, her restless need for admiration, and her uncanny ability to smile through accusation mark her as a woman playing a part she cannot afford to drop. When Robert Audley begins asking questions, her bright defiance becomes the story's most dangerous weapon.

George Talboys

major

Also known as Mr. Talboys, Talboys, Mr. George Talboys, poor George

George Talboys sails home from the goldfields of Australia with a fortune and a single hope: to find the wife he left behind. His joy collapses into grief when he learns she is dead, and he drifts to Audley Court as Robert's guest, hollow-eyed and aimless on the riverbank. His unexplained vanishing is the engine of the novel, and his sister Clara's sorrow gives Robert a vow he cannot break.

Sir Michael Audley

supporting

Also known as Sir Michael, Michael, Michael Audley, Dear Sir Michael

Sir Michael Audley is a country gentleman of comfortable habits, fond of his farms and his daughter, who stuns the neighborhood by wedding the beautiful Lucy Graham. His generous, uncritical love blinds him to the friction between his wife and Alicia and to the unease gathering around his nephew Robert. His devotion makes him both the story's kindest figure and its most vulnerable, since everything he treasures rests on a woman he does not truly know.

Alicia Audley

supporting

Also known as Miss Alicia, Alicia, Miss Alicia Audley, Miss Audley, poor Alicia

Alicia Audley loses her place as mistress of Audley Court the moment her father brings home a wife barely older than herself, and she refuses to pretend otherwise. She rides, sketches, and sulks, watching Robert's pale fascination with Lady Audley with a jealousy she can barely name. Her blunt honesty and wounded pride make her the household's clearest-eyed witness, even when no one wants to hear what she sees.

Phoebe Marks

supporting

Also known as Phoebe, poor Phoebe, Marks

Phoebe Marks is the white-eyelashed attendant who reads French novels with her mistress and glides through the dark passages of Audley Court like a shadow of her. Her likeness to Lady Audley is subtle but real, and it draws her into confidences and errands that grow more compromising by the month. Caught between loyalty, fear, and her own modest ambitions, Phoebe becomes the silent hinge on which much of the household's hidden machinery turns.

Luke Marks

supporting

Also known as Luke, Mr. Luke Marks, Mr. Marks

Luke Marks keeps the Castle Inn and keeps something else besides: a piece of knowledge he has turned into leverage, doling out punishment for every slight he believes he has suffered. Married to Phoebe, he is a man of grudges and appetites, and his bedside confession to Robert Audley reveals a secret he swore he would carry to the grave. His bitterness and his greed make him a dangerous thread in the tangle Robert must unravel.

Clara Talboys

supporting

Also known as Miss Clara Talboys, Clara Talboys, Miss Talboys

Clara Talboys is the sister of the vanished George, and she refuses the consolations of silence. Where Robert Audley hesitates, she presses; where he would rather look away, she extracts a promise and holds him to it. Her telegraphic replies and unyielding letters push the investigation forward, making her the quiet engine of a search that will cost Robert more than he expects.

Mr. Harcourt Talboys

minor

Also known as Mr. Talboys, Harcourt Talboys, Mr. Harcourt - Talboys

George Talboys's stern and unforgiving father.

Helen Talboys

supporting

Also known as Talboys, Helen, this Helen Talboys, Helen Maldon

Helen Talboys married George in haste and was left behind when he sailed for Australia, a desertion that shadowed his conscience and his silence. Word of her death reached him through a newspaper notice, and from that hour he would not speak of her. Yet the particulars of her life — where she came from, whom she knew, how she died — remain stubbornly obscure, and Robert Audley's promise to Clara forces him to trace her history from the beginning.

Georgey

minor

Also known as Little Georgey, little Georgey, Master Georgey

The young son of George and Helen Talboys.

Dr. Alwyn Mosgrave

minor

Also known as Dr. Mosgrave, Alwyn Mosgrave

A physician from London consulted about Lady Audley's sanity.

Mr. Maldon

minor

Also known as Maldon, a Mr. Maldon, Captain Maldon, a Captain Maldon, Lieutenant Maldon

Helen Talboys's father, a drunken former naval officer.

Miss Tonks

minor

Also known as Tonks

A gossipy spinster who boards at Mrs. Vincent's school.

Mr. Dawson

minor

Also known as Dawson, poor Mr. Dawson

The local surgeon of Audley village.

Mrs. Plowson

minor

Also known as Mrs. Plowson, Plowson, a Mrs. Plowson

The woman who cares for little Georgey in London.

Mrs. Maloney

minor

Also known as honest Mrs. Maloney

Robert Audley's loyal housekeeper in London.

Miss Morley

minor

A friend of Alicia Audley who visits Audley Court.

Bob

minor

Also known as poor Cousin Bob

A dissipated cousin of Robert Audley who dies abroad.

Sir Harry Towers

minor

Also known as Sir Harry, Towers, poor Sir Harry Towers, Harry

A baronet who courts Alicia Audley.

Mrs. Barkamb

minor

An elderly lady who lives near Audley Court.

Mr. White

minor

A lawyer consulted by Robert Audley.

Mrs. Marks

minor

Luke Marks's mother, who lives at the Castle Inn.

Richards

minor

Also known as Mr. Richards

A servant at Audley Court who assists Robert.

Mrs. Dawson

minor

The wife of the local surgeon.

Mrs. Martyn

minor

A woman who keeps a lodging house in London.

Mr. Martin

minor

Also known as Martin

A steward or agent at Audley Court.

Mrs. Vincent

minor

Also known as a Mrs. Vincent, young Vincent, this Mrs. Vincent

The mistress of a school where Lucy Graham once taught.

Miss Elizabeth Ann Bince

minor

Also known as Miss Bince

A teacher at Mrs. Vincent's school.

Mr. Marchmont

minor

A solicitor who handles legal matters for the Audley family.

Monsieur Val

minor

A French hairdresser visited by Lady Audley in London.

Farmer Atkinson

minor

Also known as Atkinson

A farmer near Audley Court who provides information.