# Mr. Maturin — The Black Mask character guide

> Mr. Maturin in The Black Mask by E. W. Hornung.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Maturin

**First appearance:** 0011-an-old-flame

## Snapshot

A dying invalid with the whitest face and ghastliest grin in London, who interrogates his would-be nurse with the ferocity of a man who has nothing left to lose.

## Who they are

Mr. Maturin is a bedridden recluse in a London flat, attended only by a doctor he despises and now seeking a gentleman of sorts to serve as his sole nurse and companion. He has no patience for pretense: he strips away the narrator's evasions about his past with a tittering cruelty, threatening to dismiss him on the spot if he won't confess what he has done. His insistence on a gentleman—and his willingness to hear the worst—suggests he is not merely an invalid but a man with his own reasons for wanting someone with something to hide.

## In the story

### [A Jubilee Present](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_black_mask_se/chapters/a-jubilee-present)

Alias used by Raffles to deceive the porter about his identity.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_black_mask_se/characters/mr_maturin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_black_mask_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_black_mask_se/characters