# Mrs. Klopton — The Man in Lower Ten character guide

> Mrs. Klopton in The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0000-i-i-go-to-pittsburg

## Snapshot

The narrator's devoted housekeeper, who reads Science and Health by night and refuses to open the shutters after dark.

## Who they are

Mrs. Klopton nurses her injured employer with beef tea and firm pressure, attributing his protests to mental exaltation rather than pain. She is chastened only when reading Science and Health, and even then she will not explain the queer goings-on in the empty house next door — a light that flits fitfully, then climbs. Her superstition and loyalty anchor the narrator's domestic world while the mystery outside grows stranger.

## Relationships

### [Mr. Lawrence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/characters/mr_lawrence)

_social_

Mr. Lawrence and Mrs. Klopton have a brief, tense interaction, with Mrs. Klopton suspicious of his motives.

### [Mr. Lawrence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/characters/mr_lawrence)

_social_

Mr. Lawrence and Mrs. Klopton have a brief, tense interaction, with Mrs. Klopton suspicious of his motives.

## In the story

### [I Go to Pittsburg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/i-i-go-to-pittsburg)

Blakeley's housekeeper, nicknamed 'the Pirate' by McKnight; she prepares his raincoat and umbrella.

### [A Torn Telegram](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/ii-a-torn-telegram)

Mentioned as the giver of the narrator's red and yellow bathrobe, a Christmas remembrance.

### [VIII: The Second Section](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/viii-the-second-section)

Mentioned as brewing drinks for the narrator after he returns home; not present in the wreck scene.

### [The Name Was Sullivan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xi-the-name-was-sullivan)

Nurses Blakeley, reports strange lights in the empty house, and mentions a call from a man named Sullivan.

### [The Gold Bag](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xii-the-gold-bag)

Attends to the narrator, bringing medicine and boneset tea, and is dismayed by his refusal to change the pillowcase.

### [XIII: Faded Roses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xiii-faded-roses)

Announces Hotchkiss's visit and later is told to throw out the dead roses.

### [XIV: The Trapdoor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xiv-the-trapdoor)

Serves the narrator dinner, reports Euphemia's fright about a black figure on the roof, and threatens to call the police about the empty house.

### [XXV: At the Station](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xxv-at-the-station)

Reports the police search and seizure of the black sealskin bag.

### [XXVI: On to Richmond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xxvi-on-to-richmond)

Housekeeper; fusses over Blakeley and complains about the police search.

### [In the Dining-Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/chapters/xxix-in-the-dining-room)

Receives the narrator with dignified reserve, complains about the household disorder, and mentions a woman who came asking for him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/characters/mrs_klopton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_man_in_lower_ten_se/characters