# The Clever Woman of the Family — Character guide

> Key figures in The Clever Woman of the Family by Charlotte M. Yonge.

- [Rachel Curtis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/rachel_curtis.md): Rachel Curtis is the restless intellect of the Curtis household, chafing against the ornamental role expected of a clergyman's daughter while her gentler sister Fanny drifts through life. She longs for serious work and s
- [Alick Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/alick_keith.md): Captain Alick Keith arrives in the neighbourhood as nephew to the respected Colonel, moving easily among the Curtis circle with an offhand manner that masks real steadiness. He teases Rachel's grand theories while quietl
- [Fanny Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/fanny_temple.md): Fanny Temple has been protected her whole life — first by her mother, then by a doting elderly husband who spared her every trouble, and now by the well-meaning friends who manage her affairs. Left with children and no e
- [Ermine Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/ermine_williams.md): Ermine Williams lives retired with her sister Alison and young Rose, her invalidism no bar to a lively, ironic intelligence that Alick Keith treats as family and Rachel cannot quite read. She listens more than she speaks
- [Rose Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/rose_williams.md): Little Rose Williams plays quietly under Ermine's care, presenting her doll Violetta to visitors and laughing at the notion of making noise. She is the household's sunlight, but her history — including a cruel maid who o
- [Aunt Ermine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/aunt_ermine.md): Aunt Ermine presides over the Williams household with the wisdom of years and a sympathy that draws out confidences others cannot. She is the listener to whom Fanny's guarded history finally spills, and the steady eye th
- [Bessie Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/bessie_keith.md): A dark-eyed, teasing young woman whose saucy banter with her brother Alick unsettles Rachel Curtis's solemn self-image the moment they meet at the station.
- [Alison Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/alison_williams.md): Ermine's quiet, unformed sister, who carries burdens of loyalty and uncertainty while watching the Curtis household's dramas from its edges.
- [Lady Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/lady_temple.md): A gentle, easily flustered widow whose soft manner conceals a startling capacity for decisive action when children are being cruelly used.
- [Colonel Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/colonel_keith.md): A bearded, sage military officer whose presence at Avonmouth quietly reshapes Rachel Curtis's thinking and whose motives she cannot quite read.
- [Sir Edward Morden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/sir_edward_morden.md): A grey-haired baronet and magistrate whose considerate tone in court proves more devastating to Rachel than any stranger's open scorn.
- [Conrade Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/conrade_temple.md): A young man, possibly a relative of Lady Temple, who is a friend of the family.
- [Lord Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/lord_keith.md): Deceased patriarch of the Keith family, often referenced in connection to Gowanbrae.
- [Mrs. Curtis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mrs_curtis.md): Rachel and Fanny's gentle, overwhelmed widowed mother, who insists the family present an unassailable front even as her nerves fray beneath it.
- [Mr. Mauleverer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mr_mauleverer.md): Mr. Mauleverer moves through the Curtis family's charitable schemes as an inspector and authority, his name the password that admits or bars visitors at the asylum. His smooth, artistic manner and convenient vagueness ab
- [Colin Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/colin_keith.md): Colin Keith returns from the East to find his brother broken in health and spirits, burdened by a young son and by guardianship schemes designed to check every claimant. In the midst of that unceasing trouble he presses 
- [Mr. Clare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mr_clare.md): A clergyman who appears in the narrative, possibly connected to the parish.
- [Mr. Touchett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mr_touchett.md): A character who appears in the narrative, possibly a friend or relative.
- [Mrs. Tibbie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mrs_tibbie.md): A servant or housekeeper in one of the households, speaks with a Scottish dialect.
- [Mrs. Kelland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mrs_kelland.md): A woman who appears in the narrative, possibly a neighbor or acquaintance.
- [Lovedy Kelland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/lovedy_kelland.md): A young girl, possibly a daughter of Mrs. Kelland, who appears in the narrative.
- [Mr. Mitchell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mr_mitchell.md): A character who appears in the narrative, possibly a friend or acquaintance.
- [Grace Curtis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/grace_curtis.md): A young woman, possibly a relative of Rachel and Fanny, who appears in the narrative.
- [Miss Wellwood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/miss_wellwood.md): A woman who appears in the narrative, possibly a friend or acquaintance.
- [Emily Grey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/emily_grey.md): A young woman, possibly a relative of Mr. Grey, who appears in the narrative.
- [Mrs. Carleton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/mrs_carleton.md): A woman, possibly the mother of Charlie Carleton, who appears in the narrative.
- [Zack](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/zack.md): A man, possibly a servant or acquaintance, who appears in the narrative.
- [Major Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/major_keith.md): A military officer of the Keith family, possibly a relative of Colonel Keith.
- [Francis Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/francis_temple.md): A man, possibly a relative of Lady Temple, who appears in the narrative.
- [Isabel Menteith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/isabel_menteith.md): A woman, possibly a relative of Mrs. Comyn Menteith, who appears in the narrative.

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