# Miss Althorpe — That Affair Next Door character guide

> Miss Althorpe in That Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the rich Miss Althorpe, O Miss Althorpe, the cultured Miss Althorpe

**First appearance:** 0008-viii-the-misses-van-burnam

## Snapshot

A wealthy, cultured heiress whose kindness to a feverish stranger puts her household at the center of a deception she never quite sees through.

## Who they are

Miss Althorpe is the rich, gracious young woman whose charity brings a sick and nameless patient under her roof — and, unknowingly, under Amelia Butterworth's scrutiny. Preoccupied with her own approaching marriage, she is abstracted enough to miss the significance of what her guest murmurs in delirium, and generous enough to be mortified when she finds strangers tending her patient. Her distracted sympathy makes her an unwitting instrument of the investigation, and her household becomes the stage for one of its most delicate deceptions.

## In the story

### [XXIII: Ruth Oliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxiii-ruth-oliver)

Hosts Ruth Oliver as a companion; cooperates with Amelia but shows concern for the girl's welfare.

### [A House of Cards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxiv-a-house-of-cards)

Confides in Amelia about her engagement to Randolph Stone; reveals she has seen Louise Van Burnam before and that she does not resemble the patient.

### [XXV: “The Rings! Where Are the Rings?”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxv-the-rings-where-are-the-rings)

Present during Amelia's visit; she is distracted by her own concerns and does not fully grasp Amelia's reactions.

### [A Tilt with Mr. Gryce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxvi-a-tilt-with-mr-gryce)

Hosts Amelia and Ruth Oliver; is present at the house when Ruth flees.

### [Found](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxvii-found)

Provides telephone assistance to contact police headquarters about the missing girl.

### [Exactly Half-Past Three](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxxiv-exactly-half-past-three)

Accepts Miss Butterworth's help with wedding preparations, appears anxious and worried about the situation.

### [A Ruse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxxv-a-ruse)

Arrives in her victoria as the ruse unfolds; her presence is used as a cover for the test.

### [XXXIX: The Watchful Eye](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xxxix-the-watchful-eye)

Mentioned as the bride whose wedding Ruth Oliver plans to attend.

### [As the Clock Struck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xl-as-the-clock-struck)

The intended bride; cowers in shame and misery as the ceremony is disrupted.

### [XLI: Secret History](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/chapters/xli-secret-history)

The woman Randolph Stone was about to marry when Ruth Oliver interrupted the ceremony.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/characters/miss_althorpe
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/that_affair_next_door_se/characters