# Grace Stepney — The House of Mirth character guide

> Grace Stepney in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Grace, Miss Stepney, Grace Stepney

**First appearance:** 0006-vi

## Snapshot

An obscure, adaptable cousin who reads out the deaths and picks up dropped stitches, Grace Stepney is exactly the kind of woman Lily fears becoming.

## Who they are

Grace runs in to sit with Mrs. Peniston when Lily is out, playing bezique and sincerely admiring the purple satin curtains. She is useful in the small ways Lily disdains, and her quiet competence makes her a natural alternative in the old woman's affections. She matters because she embodies the dingy, dependent future Lily sees waiting for her, and because her patient proximity gives her a claim Lily's brilliance cannot match.

## Relationships

### [Lily Bart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lily_bart)

_rivalry_

A bitter rivalry fueled by jealousy over inheritance and social position, with Grace actively working to undermine Lily.

### [Lily Bart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lily_bart)

_rivalry_

A bitter rivalry fueled by jealousy over inheritance and social position, with Grace actively working to undermine Lily.

### [Lily Bart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lily_bart)

_rivalry_

A bitter rivalry fueled by jealousy over inheritance and social position, with Grace actively working to undermine Lily.

## In the story

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/chapters/xi)

Resentful of Lily for causing her exclusion from a family dinner; deliberately shares rumors about Lily's gambling debts and relationships with Gus Trenor and George Dorset.

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

Inherits the bulk of Mrs. Peniston's estate; refuses Lily's request for a loan and blames Lily for the aunt's illness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/grace_stepney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters