# The Duc de Mersch — The Inheritors character guide

> The Duc de Mersch in The Inheritors by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** de Mersch, the Duc, old de Mersch, Mersch

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

A European nobleman whose Arctic expedition and railway bill make him the pivot of a financial and political storm he cannot survive.

## Who they are

De Mersch is the grand duc whose Greenland scheme is promoted by Churchill's railway bill and bankrolled by the colossal Halderschrodt. He is courted, flattered, and ultimately treated as a detail by the woman who uses him as a public front while engineering his ruin. His crumbling fortunes become the test case through which the novel's rival powers fight for the future.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/iii)

The Duc de Mersch is the foreign financier and philanthropist behind the Greenland scheme and the 'Hour' newspaper.

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

Mentioned as a key figure in the Greenland Protectorate scheme, part of the syndicate backing the Hour.

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

Referenced in connection with the Greenland regeneration scheme and Churchill's political calculations.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/viii)

Visits Churchill to discuss the Greenland railway; is intimate with the Dimensionist girl, provoking the narrator's jealousy.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/x)

Hosts the narrator, discusses his Arctic schemes, asks for a favorable article.

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

Present at the salon, attempts to ingratiate himself, and is confronted by the narrator about Greenland.

### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xii)

Target of the woman's scheme; she plans to ruin him through scandal and betrayal by his lieutenant.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiii)

Mentioned as having disappeared; troubles in his grand duchy.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiv)

Discussed as a target of the woman's schemes through Halderschrodt's downfall.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xviii)

Included in the narrator's vision of the vanquished.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xix)

Referenced as a tool whose exposure helped destroy the old order's credibility.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters/duc_de_mersch
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters