# Mr. Marble — Payment Deferred character guide > Mr. Marble in Payment Deferred by C. S. Forester. **Role:** major **Also known as:** William Marble, Old Marble, V Mr. Marble, VI Mr. Marble, young Marble **First appearance:** 0000-i ## Snapshot A suburban clerk whose sudden wealth and quiet desperation make him dangerous, especially to anyone who notices what he keeps in the garden. ## Who they are William Marble has climbed from pinched respectability to gilt furniture, gold cigarette cases, and a bowler hat his neighbours resent. But his new money is shadowed by a secret he guards with a jealousy that frightens children and puzzles the street. As Madame Collins circles him and his wife grows anxious, Marble's careful self-control begins to look less like virtue and more like a man holding a door shut. ## Relationships ### [Mrs. Marble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/mrs_marble) _family_ Husband and wife, but their relationship is strained by financial desperation and moral decay. ### [Annie Marble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/annie_marble) _family_ Father and daughter, with Annie increasingly aware of her father's dark secrets and instability. ### [Saunders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/saunders) _professional_ Employer and employee, with Saunders serving as Mr. Marble's clerk and unwitting accomplice. ### [Collins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/collins) _rivalry_ Collins is a blackmailer and antagonist who threatens to expose Mr. Marble's crime. ### [Mr. Henderson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/mr_henderson) _professional_ Mr. Henderson is a business associate or creditor, representing financial pressure on Mr. Marble. ### [Dr. Atkinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/dr_atkinson) _social_ Dr. Atkinson is a neighbor and potential future son-in-law, viewed with suspicion by Mr. Marble. ### [Jim Medland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/jim_medland) _rivalry_ Jim Medland is a former friend or associate whom Mr. Marble murders for financial gain. ### [Netley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/netley) _professional_ Netley is a subordinate or colleague involved in Mr. Marble's shady financial schemes. ### [Evans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/evans) _professional_ Evans is a business contact or detective figure who becomes suspicious of Mr. Marble's activities. ### [Mrs. Marble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/mrs_marble) _family_ Husband and wife, but their relationship is strained by financial desperation and moral decay. ### [Mrs. Marble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/mrs_marble) _family_ Husband and wife, but their relationship is strained by financial desperation and moral decay. ### [Annie Marble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/annie_marble) _family_ Father and daughter, with Annie increasingly aware of her father's dark secrets and instability. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/i) Consumed by debt and despair, he obsesses over his finances and whisky, and rudely questions his nephew while eyeing his money. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/ii) Shows paranoid behavior, repeatedly checks the backyard, pays off Evans, drinks heavily, and snaps at Annie. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/iii) Tortured by guilt and fear of discovery; obsessively plans to buy the house to protect the buried body; drinks heavily and reads crime literature. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/iv) Shows signs of worry and drinking at the bank; conceives a risky foreign exchange speculation; approaches Saunders to execute his plan. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/v) Suffers from paranoia and guilt, obsessively reads crime books, and anxiously monitors the franc's value. ### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/vi) Returns home buoyant after financial success, but becomes paranoid and violent when his wife confronts him about his secret. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/vii) Now wealthy from speculation, he resigns from the bank, accepts a new job, buys the house, and forces his wife to spend money on lavish furniture and clothes. ### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/viii) Confronted by John, fears gossip and police investigation, refuses to hire a charwoman, oversees delivery of new furniture, meets Madame Collins. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/ix) Obsessed with guarding the backyard, drinks heavily, and is determined not to leave the house unguarded even for a holiday. ### [The Intrigue of Madame Collins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/x) Consumed by paranoia during dinner with Madame Collins, haunted by the buried body and the threat of exposure. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xi) Obsessively guards the garden, drinks to avoid thoughts of the murder, and realizes his wife knows the truth when he sees her reading about cyanide. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xii) Drinks heavily, lives in terror of the gallows, disturbed by Winnie's bustle, gives her a £100 cheque. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xiii) Anxious about his wife's potential independence; tries to be affectionate; blackmailed by Madame Collins; gives her £300. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xiv) Experiences a brief respite from paranoia, feeling fondness for Annie, but relapses into drinking and despair after receiving a blackmail letter from Madame Collins. ### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xv) Struggles to nurse Annie while paranoid about Dr. Atkinson's scrutiny and the secret in the garden; exhausted and fearful. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/chapters/xvi) Discovers his wife dead; his suspicious behavior and possession of cyanide lead to his conviction for murder. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters/mr_marble - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/payment_deferred_se/characters