Character guide

Mr. Burton

major

Also known as Burton

Mr. Burton moves through the Argyll household as investigator, confidant, and friend, the kind of man who promises a dying woman peace and keeps his word. He is relentless in pursuit of the guilty, a trait that has raised up enemies who fear what he might uncover next. His presence in the early chapters sets the machinery of revelation in motion, and his eventual fate shadows everything that follows.

James Argyll

major

Also known as James, Jim, cousin James

James Argyll occupies the awkward space of family insider and emotional outsider, tolerated at the table but never quite trusted by those who see him clearly. His uncle loves him less than he loves the orphaned law student Richard, a wound James wears with feigned indifference. His presence complicates the household's grief and courtship alike, and his choices ripple through the family's unraveling peace.

Eleanor Argyll

major

Also known as Eleanor, Miss Eleanor, Norah

Eleanor Argyll is the noble presence in a grieving house, the one whose clear-eyed counsel both Mary and the narrator defer to without question. She ministers to the suffering of others while carrying her own hidden grief, a burden that makes her compassion feel earned rather than sentimental. Her steadiness anchors the early chapters, and the shriek that marks her final separation from what she loves becomes one of the novel's most haunting moments.

Nora

major

Also known as little Nora, Little Nora, Lenore, Miss Lenore, little Lenore, Miss Nora, Poor Nora

Nora is the small, bright center of Leesy Sullivan's fading world, a child whose innocence is guarded with a ferocity that surprises everyone who witnesses it. Her father, George Thorley, is a name Leesy will not speak without a shudder, and her fear of him shapes every choice she makes about the girl's future. As Burton prepares to travel west, Nora becomes the living question at the heart of the mystery: who will protect her, and from what?

George Thorley

supporting

Also known as George, Doctor Thorley, Thorley, Doctor George Thorley, that Thorley

George Thorley once kept a little shop in Blankville, a place of too much politeness and too many questions, until a suspicious case of malpractice drove him out. Leesy Sullivan remembers him as a creature rather than a man, and her refusal to let him near Nora is absolute. His shadow falls across the early investigation, a villain whose handwriting Burton studies and whose whereabouts in California may hold the key to everything.

Leesy Sullivan

supporting

Also known as Leesy, Sullivan, this Leesy Sullivan

Leesy Sullivan is the keeper of Nora and of a history she has confessed to no one but God and Mr. Burton. Her health is failing, her days numbered, and her one care is what will become of the child she has raised. She speaks of George Thorley with a hunted panther's fierceness, and her refusal to let him near Nora is the emotional wall Burton must gently work around.

Mr. Argyll

supporting

Also known as Argyll, young Argyll

Mr. Argyll presides over a warm, well-ordered home where his law student Richard Redfield is treated almost as a son, and where his nephew James lounges in uneasy idleness. His indulgent affection for his daughters and his trust in those around him make him slow to suspect the rot already spreading beneath his roof. When violence strikes close to his circle, his health and authority crumble, and his decline becomes one measure of how thoroughly the crime has poisoned ordinary domestic life.

Miss Sullivan

supporting

Also known as this Miss Sullivan

Known only as Leesy Sullivan, she haunts the margins of the case as a figure whose testimony could either convict or exonerate. Mr. Burton's feverish anxiety to find her alive before the voyage ends suggests she holds a secret others would kill to suppress. Her poverty and obscurity make her vulnerable, yet her very survival becomes the thread on which the pursuit of justice depends.

Mary Argyll

supporting

Also known as Mary, cousin Mary, the Virgin Mary

Mary moves through the Argyll mansion as a witness to its sorrows, recording her father's decline and Mr. Burton's death with a mourner's fidelity. She leans on Eleanor as the household's moral anchor, confessing that her own passions sometimes cloud her reason where Eleanor's never do. Her domestic perspective gives the mystery its emotional register, reminding readers that behind every clue lies a family learning to live with loss.

Henry Moreland

supporting

Also known as Moreland, Henry, young Moreland, poor Moreland, poor Henry

Henry Moreland is the murdered beloved whose absence drives the novel's central inquiry, mourned by Eleanor and avenged in spirit by Richard Redfield's vow never to rest until the killer is found. His parents endure the funeral arrangements with a dignity that makes the crime's cruelty sharper. Though dead before the story proper begins, his character lingers as the standard of worth against which the living measure their own conduct.

Dr. Seltzer

supporting

Also known as Doctor Seltzer, the wily Doctor Seltzer

Dr. Seltzer has insinuated himself into Don Miguel's confidence and married into a Mexican family whose trust he never deserved. His face betrays him to anyone perceptive enough to read it, but his hosts see only courtesy where Mr. Burton sees a villain about to be brought to bay. When exposure comes, he flees rather than face it, and his cowardice becomes the surest proof of his guilt.

Richard Redfield

supporting

Also known as Richard, Redfield, Mr. Redfield, Poor Richard, Mr. Richard

Richard Redfield studies law in Mr. Argyll's office and loves Eleanor with an ardor that survives every shock the case delivers. When Henry Moreland is murdered, he consecrates himself to finding the killer, vowing in Eleanor's name never to rest while the murderer goes free. His suspicions, his sleepless nights, and his willingness to face the whole world in her behalf make him the engine of the investigation and the reader's guide through its darkest turns.

Mrs. Scott

minor

Also known as correct Mrs. Scott

A housekeeper or matronly figure in the story.

Don Miguel

minor

Also known as The Don, This Don Miguel, the Don

A Spanish or foreign character involved in the plot.

Miss Argyll

minor

Also known as Argyll

Another female member of the Argyll household.

Molly

minor

Also known as Miss Molly, Marie

A servant or young woman in the Argyll circle.

John Argyll

minor

Also known as John

A male relative of the Argyll family.

Mr. Browne

minor

Also known as Browne

A minor character who appears in social contexts.

Johnny

minor

Also known as little Johnny

A child character, possibly a servant or family member.

Maggie

minor

Also known as Margret

A servant or young woman in the household.

Bagley

minor

A minor character, possibly a servant or local.

John Owen

minor

A man who calls for letters at Peekskill, briefly mentioned.

Mrs. Moreland

minor

Mother or relative of Henry Moreland.

Mrs. Barber

minor

A minor character, possibly a neighbor or servant.

Tasso

minor

A pet or minor named entity in the story.