# Lady Edith — The Prince and the Pauper character guide

> Lady Edith in The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Edith, The Lady Edith

**First appearance:** 0028-xxv-hendon-hall

## Snapshot

A noblewoman whose heart belongs to Miles Hendon, yet whose hand has been seized by his scheming brother Hugh through a false marriage.

## Who they are

Lady Edith moves in the same aristocratic circles as the Hendon family, and her loyalty to the rightful heir places her in quiet opposition to Hugh's ambitions. Bound by a fraudulent union she never consented to, she must weigh obedience to power against the love she still carries for the man Hugh has wronged. Her constancy gives Miles something worth enduring exile and humiliation for, and her peril keeps the stakes of his long road home painfully personal.

## Relationships

### [Miles Hendon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/miles_hendon)

_romantic_

Lady Edith is Miles's beloved, but she is forced into a marriage with his deceitful brother Hugh.

### [Tom Canty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/tom_canty)

_social_

Lady Edith encounters Tom at court and is puzzled by his strange behavior, mistaking him for Edward.

### [Edward VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/edward_vi)

_social_

Edward meets Lady Edith during his wanderings and she shows him kindness, though she is conflicted.

### [Miles Hendon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/miles_hendon)

_romantic_

Lady Edith is Miles's beloved, but she is forced into a marriage with his deceitful brother Hugh.

### [Tom Canty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/tom_canty)

_social_

Lady Edith encounters Tom at court and is puzzled by his strange behavior, mistaking him for Edward.

### [Miles Hendon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/miles_hendon)

_romantic_

Lady Edith is Miles's beloved, but she is forced into a marriage with his deceitful brother Hugh.

### [Edward VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/edward_vi)

_social_

Edward meets Lady Edith during his wanderings and she shows him kindness, though she is conflicted.

## In the story

### [XII: The Prince and His Deliverer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/chapters/xii-the-prince-and-his-deliverer)

Miles's cousin and love, betrothed to Arthur, heiress of a great fortune.

### [Disowned](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/chapters/xxvi-disowned)

Lady Edith enters pale and firm, warns Miles of the danger, denies knowing him under oath, and reveals her husband's tyranny before officers arrest Miles and the king.

### [In Prison](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/chapters/xxvii-in-prison)

Hendon obsesses over her conduct, believing she recognized him but denied him for selfish reasons.

### [Conclusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/chapters/conclusion)

Edith was forced by Hugh to repudiate Miles under threat of his assassination; she later marries the Earl of Kent.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters/lady_edith
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_prince_and_the_pauper_se/characters