# Master Richard Mervale — The Line of Love character guide

> Master Richard Mervale in The Line of Love by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Master Mervale, Sang Master Mervale

**First appearance:** 0005-i-the-episode-called-the-wedding-jest

## Snapshot

A courteous listener with a twirled mustache and a talent for the well-aimed remark, drawing confessions from noblemen who would rather not make them.

## Who they are

Master Mervale sits with the Marquis of Falmouth and hears the whole rueful account of a love abandoned for prudence. His mild interjections — that we pay more dearly for our wisdom than our follies — land like small, precise knives. He is the quiet observer whose questions make other men's pasts audible, and whose presence gives the narrative its reflective spine.

## In the story

### [VIII: The Episode Called in Ursula’s Garden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_line_of_love_se/chapters/viii-the-episode-called-in-ursula-s-garden)

Engages Falmouth in conversation, learns of his past love, and later is sent to fetch Pevensey.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_line_of_love_se/characters/richard_mervale
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_line_of_love_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_line_of_love_se/characters