Character guide

Lizzie Eustace

major

Also known as Lizzie Greystock, Lady Eustace, Lizzie, the late Lady Eustace, Eustace, Lizzie Eustace, the former Lady Eustace

Lizzie Eustace has married into Portray Castle and out of poverty, and now she means to keep both, whatever the Eustace lawyers and her discarded suitors say. Her genius is performance: she weeps, she veils, she stretches out her clasped hands, and magistrates and publics alike melt — even as she confesses to perjury. The necklace is the hinge on which her whole future turns, and her refusal to surrender it drags cousins, suitors, and attorneys into her orbit.

Lucy Morris

major

Also known as Lucy, Miss Morris, Dear Miss Morris, poor Lucy, Miss Lucy, Dear Lucy, Miss Lucy Morris

Lucy Morris is a treasure though no heroine — cataloguing libraries, planning flower-gardens, and lighting up Fawn Court with a face no one can resist. She loves Frank Greystock without fortune or prospect, and Lady Fawn's household quietly assumes he must marry money instead. Trollope calls her a simple entity, single and predictable, set at the opposite pole from Lizzie; the novel's early tension is whether such plain goodness can survive in a world that rewards Lizzie's kind of charm.

Frank Greystock

major

Also known as Frank, Mr. Frank Greystock, Mr. Greystock, Greystock, cousin Frank

Frank Greystock is dual in character: on the banks of the Bob he tells himself the world lost for love would be well lost, and in Westminster he swears he will win the game whatever it costs his heart. He is in debt, in Parliament, and in love with a governess with no fortune — and he is also Lizzie's cousin, which makes him her champion when Lord Fawn and Mr. Camperdown close in. His divided nature is the novel's central question: whether a man of ambition can be true to himself and to Lucy at once.

Lord Fawn

supporting

Also known as the late Lord Fawn, Fawn, Poor dear Lord Fawn, Poor Lord Fawn

Lord Fawn is prudent, diligent, and utterly without poetry — a Peer of Parliament who mastered an earlier disappointment by burying himself in blue-books. Engaged to Lizzie, he panics the moment the diamond scandal threatens his respectability, and his cowardly letters give her exactly the ammunition she needs to refuse him first and claim the moral victory. His fear of being thought a scoundrel is funnier and more damning than any actual vice.

Sir Griffin Tewett

supporting

Also known as poor Sir Griffin, Sir Griffin, Griff, Sir Griffin Trewett

Sir Griffin Tewett is the fool everyone allows to be a fool, yet he has wit enough to counterfeit wealth while his lawsuits multiply against his own family. He pursues Lucinda Roanoke under Mrs. Carbuncle's managing eye, and his arrival at Portray brings a whiff of menace into Lizzie's house-party. He matters because he shows what the marriage market produces when fortune-hunting runs to its violent, threadbare end.

Lady Fawn

supporting

Also known as old Lady Fawn, Fawn, Dear Lady Fawn, Old Lady Fawn, poor Lady Fawn

Lady Fawn lives year-round at Richmond in a large old-fashioned house with a large old-fashioned garden, ruling a household of unattractive but good-natured daughters and one indispensable governess. She loves Lucy genuinely, yet she also understands that Lord Fawn must marry money, and she manages the delicate boundary between affection and propriety with a word here and a hint there. Her quiet diplomacy — and her feud with Lady Linlithgow — shapes the social weather in which Lucy's hopes and Lizzie's visits alike must survive.

Lucinda Roanoke

supporting

Also known as Lucinda, the haughty Lucinda, Luce, Miss Roanoke

Lucinda Roanoke is an American-born beauty whose portrait once set the Exhibition arguing whether she was Cleopatra, a poisoner, or the Queen of Sheba. She goes everywhere with her aunt, Mrs. Carbuncle, accepting partners and gates as her due while offering almost nothing in return, and no girl seems to take less pains to secure a husband. Her cold grandeur and her aunt's scheming make her engagement to Sir Griffin Tewett a transaction rather than a romance, and the mismatch between her pride and her position drives much of the novel's uneasy comedy.

Mr. Camperdown

supporting

Also known as Camperdown, old Mr. Camperdown, John

Mr. Camperdown is a sixty-year-old lawyer whose father and grandfather served the Eustaces before him, a connection that lets him speak his mind to the heir with startling freedom. He regards Lady Eustace's claim to the necklace as barefaced robbery, and his dogged pursuit of it makes him the respectable, unglamorous counterweight to Lizzie's charm and evasions. His refusal to let the matter drop keeps the diamonds in play long after everyone else would prefer to forget them.

Mrs. Carbuncle

supporting

Also known as Carbuncle, This Mrs. Carbuncle

Mrs. Carbuncle moves through fashionable London on credit and calculation, chaperoning her beautiful niece while angling for her own advantage. She fights Lizzie down to a smaller cheque, then smooths it over with talk of Lucinda's present and the horse and carriage account, and she lectures Lucinda fiercely when the girl seems about to lose her titled prize. Her blend of genteel manners and financial desperation makes her a perfect barometer of how precarious respectability is in this world.

Lady Glencora Palliser

supporting

Also known as Lady Glencora, Glencora, Palliser

Lady Glencora Palliser arrives at Lizzie's drawing-room to convey the Duke's sympathy over the lost diamonds and to whisper encouragement about a coming visitor. Her notice is worth more than money to Lizzie, who reads in it proof that the scandal may yet blow over and that her position is recovering. Glencora's easy, amused interest in the affair shows how the great world treats a scandal as entertainment, and her approval becomes one of the prizes Lizzie schemes hardest to keep.

Mr. Emilius

supporting

Also known as Mr. Joseph Emilius, the Rev. Mr. Emilius

Mr. Emilius is a reverend gentleman of uncertain antecedents whose manners and conversation win him praise at Portray and whose eagerness toward Lucinda raises eyebrows. The question of whether he already has a Mrs. Emilius is debated over dinner with more laughter than charity, and Miss Macnulty, to her own surprise, finds his notice rather delightful. His unctuous charm and ambiguous marital state mark him as the kind of suitor who flourishes wherever money and credulity meet.

Miss Macnulty

supporting

Also known as Macnulty, Poor Miss Macnulty, the unfortunate Macnulty, poor Macnulty, the faithful Macnulty

Miss Macnulty is the faithful, threadbare dependent who trails after Lizzie through country houses and hunting fields, grateful for scraps of notice and careful never to betray a secret she does not possess. She is teased about Mr. Emilius and half-likes it, since the idea of having a lover, married man or not, is delightful to her. Her small vanities and quiet endurance throw Lizzie's grander selfishness into relief, and her presence measures the cost of living at another woman's pleasure.

Lord George de Bruce Carruthers

supporting

Also known as Lord George, Lord George Carruthers, George Carruthers, George, Carruthers, de Bruce

Lord George moves through Lizzie Eustace's set as the kind of man who is useful in a crisis and dangerous in a drawing-room, too experienced to be swept away and too shrewd to be trusted. He knows more about the missing diamonds than he admits, and his refusal to take them off her hands is less chivalry than self-preservation; what he wants is Portray Castle, its income, and perhaps the young widow herself. His presence turns Lizzie's panic into a negotiation, and his calculating restraint makes him the story's most unsettling kind of ally.

Sir Florian Eustace

minor

Also known as Sir Florian, the late Sir Florian, poor Sir Florian, Eustace

Lizzie's late husband, who dies shortly after their marriage, leaving her the diamonds.

Lady Linlithgow

supporting

Also known as old Lady Linlithgow, Linlithgow, Old Lady Linlithgow

Lady Linlithgow is one of those old women who seem always to have been old, a countess who knows nothing of fear, charity, or the softness of love, yet means to be honest and dutiful in her own severe fashion. She took Lizzie in when Lizzie was homeless, endured her niece's ingratitude, and was cast off the moment Lizzie had a roof of her own; now her sudden appearance in Mount Street throws Lizzie into a shaking panic. Her arrival matters because she carries the social and moral weight Lizzie has spent the whole novel dodging, and because she is the one person in the book Lizzie cannot charm, bribe, or outface.

Andy Gowran

minor

Also known as Andy, Mr. Gowran, Gowran, Mr. Andy Gowran

A stubborn Scottish tenant at Portray who suspects Lizzie of wrongdoing.

John Eustace

minor

Also known as John, Eustace, Mr. Eustace, Mr. John Eustace, John the Just

Sir Florian's brother, a just man who manages the Eustace estate.

Mr. Gager

minor

Also known as the ingenious Gager, the great Mr. Gager

A clever detective hired to investigate the theft of the diamonds.

Mr. Bunfit

minor

Also known as Bunfit

A police detective working on the diamond case, often at odds with Gager.

Mrs. Hittaway

minor

Also known as Mr. and Mrs. Hittaway, Mr. Hittaway, Hittaway, the Hittaway

Lord Fawn's married sister, who schemes against Lizzie's marriage to her brother.

Patience Crabstick

minor

Also known as Miss Patience Crabstick, Crabstick, Patience, Miss Crabstick

Lizzie's maid, who becomes a key witness in the diamond theft case.

Augusta Fawn

minor

Also known as Augusta, Poor Augusta, the unfortunate Augusta, Fawn, poor Augusta

One of Lord Fawn's sisters, who marries Mr. Hittaway.

Arthur Herriot

minor

Also known as Arthur, Herriot

A young man who loves Lucy Morris but is rejected by her.

Mr. Dove

minor

Also known as Mr. Thomas Dove, Dove, a Dove

A wise, scholarly barrister who gives legal opinions on the diamond case.

Mr. Benjamin

minor

Also known as Now Mr. Benjamin, Benjamin, Mr. Benjamin the, The unfortunate Mr. Benjamin

A shady jeweler involved in the diamond theft plot.

Madame Max Goesler

minor

Also known as Madame Goesler, Madame Max, Madame

A wealthy, clever widow and friend of Lady Glencora.

Amelia

minor

Also known as the wise Amelia

One of Lady Fawn's daughters, sensible and outspoken.

Billy Cann

minor

Also known as William, Billy Cann, Cann, Billy

A small, clever thief who helps steal the diamonds.

Mrs. Greystock

minor

Also known as a Greystock, Greystock

Frank Greystock's mother, a widow living in poverty.

Major Mackintosh

minor

Also known as Mackintosh

A police officer who oversees the diamond investigation.

Lydia Fawn

minor

Also known as Lydia

One of Lord Fawn's younger sisters.

Mr. Smiler

minor

Also known as Smiler

A criminal accomplice in the diamond robbery.

Mr. Bonteen

minor

Also known as the Bonteen, Bonteen

A politician and associate of Mr. Palliser.

Barrington Erle

minor

Also known as Barrington

A political friend of Frank Greystock and Mr. Palliser.

MacFarlane

minor

Also known as Mr. MacFarlane, that traitor MacFarlane

A Scottish lawyer involved in the Eustace estate matters.

Ellinor Greystock

minor

Also known as Ellinor, Greystock

Frank Greystock's sister.

Plantagenet Palliser

minor

Also known as Plantagenet

A rising politician and Lady Glencora's husband.

Mr. Nappie

minor

Also known as Nappie, poor Mr. Nappie

A horse dealer who sells a horse to Lord George.

Mr. Palliser

minor

Also known as Palliser

Plantagenet Palliser, a rising politician and Lady Glencora's husband.

Lady Chiltern

minor

Also known as Chiltern

A friend of Lady Glencora, formerly Violet Effingham.

Nina

minor

Also known as Whereupon Nina

A young girl at Portray who becomes attached to Lizzie.

Messrs. Harter and Benjamin

minor

Also known as Messrs. Harter, Benjamin, Harter, Harter and Benjamin

A firm of shady jewelers involved in the diamond plot.

Jack Morgan

minor

Also known as Morgan

A groom at Portray who assists in the diamond theft.

Jane

minor

Also known as Aunt Jane

A servant or relative at the Fawn household.

Mr. Legge Wilson

minor

Also known as Mr. Wilson

A barrister who appears in the diamond trial.

Sawab of Mygawb

minor

Also known as the Sawab of Mygawb, the Sawab, The Sawab, Sawab, the poor Sawab

An Indian prince visiting London, courted by Mrs. Carbuncle.

Mrs. Dean

minor

A friend of Lady Fawn's family.

Lord Mount Thistle

minor

Also known as Mount Thistle

A Scottish peer and neighbor of Lizzie at Portray.

Mrs. Eustace

minor

John Eustace's wife.

Mr. Mopus

minor

Also known as Mopus, blackguard Mopus

A disreputable lawyer consulted by Lizzie.

Clara Fawn

minor

Also known as Clara

One of Lord Fawn's sisters.

Mr. 'Oward

minor

Also known as Oward

A servant or tradesman in the story.

Lady Pierrepoint

minor

Also known as old Lady Pierrepoint, Dear old Lady Pierrepoint

An elderly society lady.

Messrs. Mowbray

minor

Also known as Mowbray

A firm of solicitors.

Messrs. Garnett

minor

Also known as the Messrs. Garnett, Garnett, The Messrs. Garnett, Mr. Garnett, Old Mr. Garnett

A firm of jewellers who value the diamonds.

Mr. Carstairs

minor

Also known as Carstairs

A friend of Frank Greystock.

Miss Greystock

minor

Frank Greystock's sister, Ellinor.

St. Cecilia

minor

Also known as Cecilia

A saint referenced in a poem by Lizzie.

Lord Chiltern

minor

Lady Chiltern's husband, a master of hounds.

Orlando

minor

Also known as Rowland

A character in a poem or story referenced by Lizzie.

Lubin

minor

A character in a poem referenced by Lizzie.

Violet Effingham

minor

Also known as one Violet Effingham whom he had loved, Violet

Lady Chiltern before marriage, briefly mentioned as a past love.

Admiral Greystock

minor

Also known as old Admiral Greystock, the late Admiral Greystock

Frank Greystock's late father.

Ianthe

minor

Also known as Soul of Ianthe

A poetic figure referenced by Lizzie.

Clara Hittaway

minor

Also known as Clara

Mrs. Hittaway's daughter.

Mrs. Bonteen

minor

Mr. Bonteen's wife.

Mrs. Hanbury Smith

minor

Also known as Mrs. Smith

A society acquaintance.

Georgina

minor

A servant or minor character.

Sir Thomas

minor

Also known as Thomas

A judge in the diamond trial.

Warrior

minor

Also known as poor Warrior

A horse owned by Lucinda Roanoke.

Mr. Harter

minor

Also known as Harter, old Mr. Harter

A jeweler and accomplice of Mr. Benjamin.

Mr. Howard

minor

Also known as Howard

A barrister in the diamond trial.

Mr. Cabob

minor

Also known as old Mr. Cabob

A minor character mentioned in society.

Julia

minor

A servant or minor character.

Mr. Burke

minor

Also known as Burke

A politician who gives speeches in Parliament.

Miss Jones

minor

Also known as Jones

A minor character, possibly a servant.

Lady Tewett

minor

Also known as the future Lady Tewett

Sir Griffin's mother.

Diana Fawn

minor

Also known as Diana

One of Lord Fawn's sisters.

Mr. Gresham

minor

Also known as Gresham

The Prime Minister in the story.

Lady Douglas

minor

A society hostess.

Mr. Rooper

minor

Also known as Rooper

A police officer involved in the case.

Sir Harry Coldfoot

minor

Also known as Coldfoot

A judge or magistrate.