# Colin Keith — The Clever Woman of the Family character guide

> Colin Keith in The Clever Woman of the Family by Charlotte M. Yonge.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Colin, Colin A. Keith, Dear Colin, Mrs. Colin Keith

**First appearance:** 0003-iv-the-hero

## Snapshot

A soldier-relative of the Keith family who, amid a dying brother's tangled affairs, asks Ermine to marry him with startling speed and no finery.

## Who they are

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 Ermine for a swift, plain wedding, offering her his poverty and lameness as frankly as his love. His loyalty to his brother and his blunt, unornamented devotion make him the steady counterweight to the novel's schemes and suspicions, and the marriage he proposes is a gamble on plainness over parade.

## Relationships

### [Ermine Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/ermine_williams)

_romantic_

Colin Keith is Ermine's former suitor, and their past relationship is a source of unresolved tension and regret.

### [Ermine Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/ermine_williams)

_romantic_

Colin Keith is Ermine's former suitor, and their past relationship is a source of unresolved tension and regret.

### [Ermine Williams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/ermine_williams)

_romantic_

Colin Keith is Ermine's former suitor, and their past relationship is a source of unresolved tension and regret.

## In the story

### [VI: Ermine's Resolution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/vi-ermine-s-resolution)

Reunites with Ermine and learns of her condition, struggling to accept her refusal.

### [VII: Waiting for Rose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/vii-waiting-for-rose)

Announces his brother's visit and discusses Rachel with Ermine.

### [XVI: An Apparition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/xvi-an-apparition)

Returns from his brother's wedding, vexed by Harry Beauchamp's refusal to come home and critical of Rachel's journal project.

### [XX: The Saracen’s Head](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/xx-the-saracen-s-head)

Investigates Mauleverer's crimes, reveals the Saracen's Head seal, and plans to bring Edward home.

### [Dear Alexander](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/xxiii-dear-alexander)

Despite his illness, visits Ermine to comfort her after Edward's letter. He resolves to travel to bring Edward back himself.

### [At Last](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/chapters/xxix-at-last)

On his wedding day, he receives urgent news of his brother's declining health and resolves to leave immediately after the ceremony, showing his sense of duty and composure under strain.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters/colin_keith
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_clever_woman_of_the_family_se/characters