Durrance

Ethne Eustace

Durrance is deeply in love with Ethne, but his feelings are complicated by her engagement to Harry and his own blindness.

Mrs. Adair

Mrs. Adair is a close confidante and social ally to Durrance, often helping him navigate his personal and social challenges.

Harry Feversham

Durrance sees Harry as a rival for Ethne's affection, and their interactions are marked by tension and unspoken competition.

Lieutenant Sutch

Durrance and Sutch have a respectful friendship, often discussing matters of honor and duty.

Lieutenant Calder

Durrance and Calder have a professional relationship, with Calder serving as a subordinate and aide to Durrance.

General Feversham

Durrance and General Feversham share a professional military relationship, with Durrance respecting the General's authority.

Colonel Trench

Trench and Durrance are fellow officers, sharing a professional respect and occasional camaraderie.

Captain Mather

Captain Mather serves under Durrance, and their relationship is strictly professional and military.

Ethne Eustace

Durrance is deeply in love with Ethne, but his feelings are complicated by her engagement to Harry and his own blindness.

Ethne Eustace

Durrance is deeply in love with Ethne, but his feelings are complicated by her engagement to Harry and his own blindness.

Harry Feversham

Durrance sees Harry as a rival for Ethne's affection, and their interactions are marked by tension and unspoken competition.

Mrs. Adair

Mrs. Adair is a close confidante and social ally to Durrance, often helping him navigate his personal and social challenges.

II: Captain Trench and a Telegram

Struggles with his feelings upon hearing of Feversham's engagement, standing at the window to hide his emotion.

III: The Last Ride Together

Prepares to leave for the Sudan, reflects on his feelings for Ethne, and experiences a vision of Feversham at the dock.

IV: The Ball at Lennon House

Mentioned as having sent Ethne a violin as a present; not present in the chapter.

VI: Harry Feversham’s Plan

Mentioned as one who might know of the feathers; Harry imagines being with him in Egypt.

VII: The Last Reconnaissance

Leads the reconnaissance, reflects on Gordon's fate and his own affinity for the Sudan.

VIII: Lieutenant Sutch Is Tempted to Lie

Returns from the Sudan and actively seeks information about Harry Feversham's disappearance, showing his persistent friendship and growing interest in Ethne.

At Glenalla

Visits Ethne at Glenalla, contemplates proposing, and is gently refused. He leaves with a sense of sadness and growing anger toward Harry Feversham.

XI: Durrance Hears News of Feversham

Returns to London, learns of Dermod's death, and struggles with bitterness toward Feversham while still hoping for Ethne's affection.

XII: Durrance Sharpens His Wits

Returns to Wadi Halfa blind, concealing his condition. He expresses relief that Ethne refused him, fearing he would become a burden.

XIII: Durrance Begins to See

Returns blind but with sharpened senses and a more penetrating mind. He questions Ethne about her feelings, seeking more than friendship in their marriage, and reveals his plan to see a specialist.

XIV: Captain Willoughby Reappears

Durrance's blindness has heightened his other senses, allowing him to interpret Ethne's silences and movements, reversing their previous dynamic.

XV: The Story of the First Feather

Appears at the gap in the hedge at the end of the chapter, interrupting the conversation.

XVI: Captain Willoughby Retires

Blind, he enters the enclosure where Ethne and Willoughby are hiding, but is unaware of Willoughby's presence.

XVII: The 'Melusine Overture'

Observes Ethne's change in mood, uses the violin as a test of her feelings, and reveals that he heard the same overture played by Harry Feversham at Wadi Halfa.

XVIII: The Answer to the Overture

Tells Ethne of his encounter with Feversham at Wadi Halfa and his concern for Feversham's fate.

XIX: Mrs. Adair Intervenes

Learns the truth about Ethne's feelings and Feversham's news; hides his own hopelessness.

XX: East and West

Blind and at home, he is haunted by memories of his active past and feels a deep longing for the East, which he can no longer experience.

XXI: Ethne Makes Another Slip

Pretends ignorance of Ethne's love for Feversham, plans to seek truth from Lieutenant Sutch.

XXII: Durrance Lets His Cigar Go Out

Blind but perceptive, Durrance uses conversation to uncover the truth about Feversham's past, letting his cigar go out as he focuses on his investigation.

XXIII: Mrs. Adair Makes Her Apology

Says goodbye to Ethne and listens to Mrs. Adair's confession with growing sympathy, realizing her pain.

Lieutenant Sutch Comes Off the Half-Pay List

Visits Sutch to inform him of Harry's heroic act, revealing his own understanding of Ethne's continued love for Harry and his philosophical view on disgrace.

General Feversham’s Portraits Are Appeased

Visits General Feversham to persuade him to accept Harry's return, reveals his own engagement to Ethne is broken.

The House of Stone

Mentioned in Feversham's delirium, standing at a window, and in Trench's memories of the night the feathers were sent.

XXXII: In the Church at Glenalla

Mentioned as the man Ethne is to marry. He is blind, a fact that explains Ethne's decision. He is described as being very quick and perceptive, which is why Ethne fears he would guess the truth about her feelings for Feversham.

XXXIII: Ethne Again Plays the “Melusine Overture”

Reveals he has known about the fourth feather for a year, explains his reasons for going to Wiesbaden, and shows his perceptiveness despite blindness.

XXXIV: The End

Now blind, he travels east, recalling his active years and the coming campaign, though he cannot participate.