# Don Mario Sanfuentes — The Courts of the Morning character guide

> Don Mario Sanfuentes in The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Don Mario, Mario, Sanfuentes, old Don Mario

**First appearance:** 0007-i

## Snapshot

An elderly horse-breeding cousin of Don Alejandro, whose ranch of heirlooms and thoroughbreds becomes a quiet schoolroom in Olifero history and politics.

## Who they are

Don Mario lives apart from modern Olifa, his dead wife's memory kept company by horses, faded tapestries, and a Murillo from some forgotten Conquistador church. He greets the Roylances with grave courtesy and feeds them talk of foxhounds, tiger hunts, and punitive expeditions, a living archive of the old land. It is he who summons young Luis de Marzaniga to dinner — the introduction that sets the travellers on the path toward the Gran Seco and everything that follows.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/iv)

Hosts Archie and Janet at dinner, retires early at ten o'clock.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned as a kinsman of Don Alejandro, present at the luncheon.

### [The Gathering Storm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/x)

Olifa's Minister for External Affairs; visits the Gran Seco and discusses press strategy with the Gobernador.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/v)

Hosts the council of war at Veiro, rejuvenated by the excitement.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/vi)

Contacted by telephone to confirm the rebel forces' movements.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/chapters/ix)

Engages in philosophical conversation with Castor about fate and atonement. He attempts to strike Romanes with a riding whip but misses.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/characters/mario_sanfuentes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_courts_of_the_morning_se/characters