Short Fiction · Character

Lucy Savile

Once the town's dark-haired beauty, now a widowed woman of forty-five whose quiet rectitude masks a life measured against a love she never quite buried.

supporting

Also known as Lucy, Savile

First appearance: destiny and a blue cloak

As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, Lucy Savile is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Lucy is visited by Barnet at her cottage; she is reserved and half-proud, painting flower outlines by candlelight to earn money, and she urges Barnet to make peace with his wife.

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Lucy Savile has become Lucy Downe's neighbor and the settled widow of a quiet town, her hair silvered and her mild eyes grown a little more stringent with years. When Barnet—the old friend everyone presumed dead—walks back into her drawing-room, she greets him with cheerful steadiness, but the scene hums with the long arithmetic of what each of them chose. Her composure and her unspoken history make her the mirror in which the story's returning wanderer must see himself.

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Character Web

17 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Haunting Pasts and Duty
Romantic Entanglements and Consequences
Protagonist
Complex Web of Love and Consequences

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

In this excerpt, the emotional/psychological peak occurs when both Jim and Rosalys consciously recognize their…

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In the story

Lucy Savile appears across 8 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

II
Lucy is visited by Barnet at her cottage; she is reserved and half-proud, painting flower outlines by candlelight to earn money, and she urges Barnet to make peace with his wife.
IV
Seen gathering flowers in her garden; exchanges a brief, awkward greeting with Barnet as he passes.
V
Her house and chimney smoke become a focal point of Barnet's longing and moral conflict.
VI
Proposed as a governess for Downe's children; meets Barnet by the shore and rejects his help, considering going to India.
VII
Lucy is the governess for the Downe children, and she becomes a regular presence near the new house, eventually thanking Barnet for his role in securing her position.
Chapter VIII
Marries Downe in a private ceremony; had previously planned to go to India.
IX
Now a widow, she has waited years for Barnet's return, but declines his marriage proposal.
XVII
Not present in this chapter.

Chapter companion notes

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