Character guide

Tomas Castro

major

Also known as Castro, The good Tomas, the good Castro, true Tomas

Castro serves the Riego family with a loyalty that survives every scrape his masters won't own up to, and he carries their errands — and their secrets — with a face no one forgets. Carlos calls him 'as faithful as he is ugly' and shrugs off the watch Castro supposedly bought from a bad man, leaving the reader to wonder how much of the villainy is Castro's and how much belongs to the family he serves. His presence turns the voyage to Cuba into something more dangerous than a homecoming.

Carlos Riego

major

Also known as Don Carlos, Don Riego, the old Don

Carlos Riego arrives aboard ship in threadbare finery, bound for an uncle he has never seen — a dying Grand d'Espagne who owns the whole town of Rio Medio and an only daughter named Seraphina. He laughs off the police, the watch, and his own ruin with Byronic ease, insisting he is in no scrape while his companion Castro clearly is. His romantic story — the inheritance, the promised marriage, the family name — is the engine that pulls the narrator and the reader toward Cuba, even as his careless charm hints at what it will cost.

Seraphina Riego

major

Also known as Dona Seraphina, Señorita, Señorita Dona Seraphina Riego

Seraphina moves through the Casa Riego under the shadow of O'Brien's casual, terrifying power, watching her maids flee and her father's authority dissolve into a doting sleep. When she murmurs to the narrator that 'they are all like this — all, all,' she names the isolation and fear that define her world. Her steadiness under O'Brien's courteous menace — the shawl slipping, the candle trembling, her voice never breaking — makes her the emotional center the narrator will risk everything to reach.

Manuel del Popolo Isturiz

major

Also known as Manuel, Popolo, Manuel el Demonio

Manuel del Popolo Isturiz — El Demonio — haunts the novel as a name whispered in courtrooms and on decks, a legend of violence attached to ships looted and men murdered. When O'Brien and the Juez need a villain to pin their catalogue of crimes on, it is Nikola el Escoces, otherwise El Demonio, whose identity they try to fasten onto the narrator. Whether he is a real man, a myth, or a convenient fiction, his reputation is the dark mirror against which the narrator's own innocence must be measured.

Mr. Sebright

supporting

Also known as Sebright, Sebright Castro

Sebright moves through the ship's cuddy with the quiet competence of a man who has all the soiled duties and chipped men to attend to, listening to the narrator's account of the Casa Riego with thoughtful fingers at his moustache. He gives up his own berth without fuss and mentions, almost as an afterthought, that there are warrants out in Jamaica — then begins a sentence about Havana that the narrator is too drowsy to hear. His half-finished warning hangs over the voyage home, a small kindness with an edge of foreboding.

O'Brien

supporting

Also known as Señor O'Brien, Señor Juez O'Brien, the Juez, Don Patricio O'Brien

O'Brien enters rooms like an official who owns them, his eternal smile fixed over lips that tremble and eyes ringed with dark marks, and his slightest gesture — a forefinger shaken at two frightened maids — empties a gallery. He manages the dying Don Balthasar's affairs, controls the old judge with a whisper, and quietly assembles an Act of Accusation against the narrator under the name of Nikola el Escoces. His power is the kind that never raises its voice, and it is the true obstacle between the narrator and Seraphina.

Williams

minor

Also known as Mrs. Williams, Captain Williams

A roystering character and his wife, part of the local English community.

Don Balthasar Riego

minor

Also known as Don Balthasar, the old Don, II Don Balthasar

An ancestor of the Riego family, mentioned in the narrative.

Father Antonio

minor

Also known as Antonio, the Father Antonio

A local priest who interacts with the main characters.

Señor Ramon

minor

Also known as Ramon, old Ramon, Don Ramon

An older local figure, possibly a friend of the Riegos.

Sir Ralph Rooksby

minor

Also known as young Sir Ralph, Ralph, Rooksby, Sir Ralph Rooksby of Horton Priory

An English baronet with connections to the story's events.

Juan Kemp

supporting

Also known as Juan, young Kemp, Señor Don Juan Kemp, Don Juan

Juan Kemp is a mixed-heritage nobleman's nephew bound for Rio Medio to claim the favor of an aged, doting uncle and perhaps the hand of Doña Seraphina. He wears his rags with grace and laughs off the watch-stealing scandal clinging to his faithful, ugly retainer Tomas Castro, insisting he is in no scrape himself. His romantic sheen—Byronic, piratical, heir to a Grand d'Espagne—makes him the story's glittering lure, even as his carelessness and ambiguous past keep the reader wondering what he truly is.

Major Cowper

minor

Also known as Cowper, old Cowper, poor Major Cowper

A retired military man, part of the expatriate community.

Jack Rangsley

minor

Also known as Rangsley, Johnny, old drunken Rangsley

A drunken sailor or local character.

Veronica Rooksby

minor

Also known as Dona Veronica Rooksby

A female relative of Sir Ralph Rooksby.

Mr. Macdonald

minor

Also known as Macdonald, old Macdonald, Macdonald of the Horton Pen

A local planter or landowner, part of the community.

Nikola el Escoces

minor

Also known as Nikola, the said Nikola

A Scottish character, possibly a sailor or mercenary.

Mr. Kemp

minor

Also known as Kemp, John Kemp

An older Kemp, possibly father of Juan Kemp.

Domingo

minor

Also known as a Domingo

A minor character, possibly a servant.

Cesar

minor

Also known as old Cesar, Cesar the majordomo

The majordomo of the Riego household, an African.

Mrs. Cowper

minor

Wife of Major Cowper.

Lady Mary Kemp

minor

Also known as Mary

A female member of the Kemp family.

Nichols

minor

Also known as the notorious Nichols

A notorious character mentioned in the story.

Pat O'Brien

minor

Also known as Patrick, pat

A possible relative or associate of the judge O'Brien.

Don Vincente Salazar

minor

Also known as Salazar, Don Vincente Salazar de Valdepeñas y Forli

A Spanish nobleman with a lengthy name, appears in the story.

David Macdonald

minor

Also known as David, the undaunted David

A younger Macdonald, possibly a son of Mr. Macdonald.

Oldham

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative.

La Chica

minor

Also known as Chica

A female character, possibly a servant or local girl.

El Rubio

minor

A character referred to by a nickname, meaning 'the blonde'.

Inglez

minor

Also known as the Inglez, this Inglez

A character referred to as 'the Englishman'.

Enrico

minor

A minor character, possibly a servant or local.

Admiral Rowley

minor

Also known as Rowley, old Rowley, old Groggy Rowley

A retired naval officer, part of the expatriate circle.

Lumsden

minor

Also known as little Lumsden, old Lumsden, Captain Lumsden

A captain or local figure.

Mr. Lillywhite

minor

Also known as Lillywhite, bonnet Lillywhite

A character, possibly a tradesman or sailor.

Señor Caballero

minor

Also known as Caballero, the Señor Caballero

A gentleman referred to by title.

Old Perkins

minor

Also known as Perkins, J. Perkins, the outrageous Perkins

A minor character, possibly a servant or local.

Sir Charles

minor

Also known as Charles

A minor English character.

Thorns

minor

A minor character.

Mrs. Mac

minor

Also known as Mac

Wife of one of the Macdonalds.

Mercer

minor

Also known as little Mercer

A minor character.

Edward Sadler

minor

Also known as Sadler

A minor character.

Pedro Nones

minor

Also known as Pedro, old Pedro

A minor local character.

Carlos el Demonio

minor

Also known as el Demonio

A character with the epithet 'the Demon', possibly Manuel.

Mrs. Topnambo

minor

Also known as Topnambo

A minor character, part of a family.

Tom Davis

minor

Also known as Thomas Davis

A minor character.

José

minor

Also known as San José, squinting José

A minor character, possibly a servant.

Don Balthazar

minor

A variant spelling of Don Balthasar.

Owen

minor

A minor character.

Miss Riego

minor

A female member of the Riego family, possibly Seraphina.

Caesar

minor

A minor character, possibly a servant.

Sir Peter

minor

A minor English character.

Tinsley

minor

A minor character.

Septimus Hearn

minor

A minor character.