# The Beetle — Character guide

> Key figures in The Beetle by Richard Marsh.

- [Sydney Atherton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/sydney_atherton.md): Sydney Atherton moves through drawing rooms and deathbeds with the same restless intelligence, whether he is coaxing a final testimony from the ruined Robert Holt or openly accusing Paul Lessingham of being 'leprous.' He
- [Paul Lessingham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/paul_lessingham.md): Paul Lessingham commands the political stage and the devotion of Marjorie Lindon, yet he is a haunted man whose composure cracks at the mere sight of a scarab. His past in the East has left him with a dread he will not n
- [Marjorie Lindon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/marjorie_lindon.md): Marjorie Lindon is the strong-willed daughter of a wealthy, blustering father, and she refuses to be ordered out of her attachment to Paul Lessingham. Her courage and independence are tested when she becomes the Beetle's
- [Robert Holt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/robert_holt.md): Robert Holt is a starving, out-of-work clerk whose desperate entry into an empty house makes him the Beetle's first victim and instrument. Broken in body and mind, he is found dying in a workhouse bed, able only to gasp 
- [The Beetle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/the_beetle.md): The Beetle is a supernatural predator from Egypt, capable of appearing as an Arab man, a monstrous insect, or something in between, and it pursues Paul Lessingham with patient malice. It kills Robert Holt, terrorizes Mar
- [Mr. Lindon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/mr_lindon.md): Mr. Lindon is a wealthy, short-tempered patriarch who worships Lord Cantilever, detests Lessingham's politics, and forbids Marjorie to speak to the man she loves. His rages are comic and exhausting, full of repeated comm
- [Percy Woodville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/percy_woodville.md): A jealous young suitor of Marjorie Lindon, Percy Woodville burns with resentment toward his older, colder rival Lessingham and cannot quite let her go.
- [Augustus Champnell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/augustus_champnell.md): A private detective drawn into the strange affair surrounding Lessingham, Champnell gathers testimony from witnesses who have glimpsed things no rational inquiry can explain.
- [Miss Louisa Coleman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/miss_louisa_coleman.md): Elderly, proprietorial, and gloriously blunt, Miss Louisa Coleman guards her West Kensington property and the odd secrets of the house across the road.
- [Mrs. Henderson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/mrs_henderson.md): The lodging-house landlady where Robert Holt collapses, Mrs. Henderson smirks, deflects, and doles out her account of the night's horrors on her own terms.
- [Dora Grayling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/dora_grayling.md): Sweet-faced, grey-eyed Dora Grayling is the kind, overlooked woman Percy Woodville abandons at a dance while he broods over Marjorie Lindon.
- [Mr. Bellingham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/mr_bellingham.md): A colleague or acquaintance of Lessingham with a role in the political subplot.
- [Matthews](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/matthews.md): A servant or employee in the Lindon household.
- [Edwards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/edwards.md): A minor functionary or servant mentioned in the narrative.
- [Mr. Stone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/mr_stone.md): A minor acquaintance or official encountered in the story.
- [Mr. Phillips](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/mr_phillips.md): A minor character, possibly a lawyer or business associate.
- [Cabby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/cabby.md): A cab driver who provides transportation and information.
- [Dr. Glossop](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters/dr_glossop.md): A doctor consulted regarding the strange events.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beetle_se/characters