Character guide

Peyrol

major

Also known as Master Gunner Peyrol, old Peyrol, Citizen Peyrol, the gunner Peyrol, the farmer Peyrol, Maître Peyrol, Papa Peyrol

Peyrol has come back to Escampobar Farm on the peninsula above a salt lagoon, a disinherited soul circling his birthplace like a seabird in the dusk. He schemes with a naval lieutenant over false dispatches meant to deceive an English admiral, yet his deepest loyalty is torn between the cosmopolitan seaman he was and the inland multitude he barely knows. His patient craft and unreadable silences make him the pivot on which the coastal intrigue turns.

Arlette

major

Also known as Directly Arlette, fatal Arlette, a distracted Arlette

Arlette drifts through Escampobar like a soul in pain, watched over by her stern Aunt Catherine and whispered about by neighbors who sense a strain of Saracen blood. For years she lived empty, her body cast off while her true self wandered in a mysterious exile; now she is hopeful and eager for love, though Catherine insists she is fit for no man's arms. Her trembling visions and sudden tendernesses unsettle everyone around her and draw Peyrol's protective heart.

Aunt Catherine

supporting

Also known as old Catherine, Catherine, Mademoiselle Catherine

Catherine has held Escampobar for a lifetime, preserving the upright carriage of a family rooted there for generations and facing alone the anguish of a forbidden love and terrors like the Judgment Day. She watches her niece Arlette with quiet, unsentimental pity, certain that the girl's outcast body is fit for no man's arms. Her silence and immobility make her the moral anchor of the farm, a figure whose withheld knowledge shapes everything the others do.

Michel

supporting

Also known as the innocent Michel

Michel arrives at Escampobar after the death of his dog breaks up his old life on the lagoon shore, and Peyrol takes him on with a word and a pointed finger. He serves aboard the tartane with unquestioning loyalty, squatting to windward and gazing at Peyrol in expectation of any order, always ready to agree that the master is right. His innocent steadiness gives the rover a human anchor and quietly raises the stakes when danger closes in.

Captain Vincent

supporting

Also known as Vincent

Captain Vincent directs the coastal pursuit from the deck of the Amelia, dispatching Lieutenant Bolt ashore to watch the farm and reminding him he may become the very eyes of Lord Nelson's fleet. He spends anxious nights on deck second-guessing his own decisions, then closes on the tartane with marines ready to fire a well-aimed volley. His patient, professional cunning makes him the quiet pressure against which Peyrol's deeper craft must be measured.

Citizen Scevola Bron

supporting

Also known as Citizen Scevola, Citizen Bron, Scevola, Bron, sacré Scevola

Citizen Scevola carries the violent fervor of the Revolution into the quiet of Escampobar, a man whose past atrocities and present dread make him a walking reproach to everyone around him. Once chased from the village church by the incensed faithful, he now crawls the deck on all fours, howling 'La terre!' and begging not to be drowned. His cowardice and lurking menace sharpen the moral contrast that defines the farm's uneasy household.

Lieutenant Réal

supporting

Also known as Réal, The absent Réal, Captain Réal

Réal moves through Escampobar as an officer on confidential business, pressing Peyrol about a vanished gunner and the movements of an English corvette. He is courteous, relentless, and impossible to read — Peyrol finds him more detestable when absent than present. His quiet pursuit of information forces the old rover to choose between guarded silence and the tangle of loyalties closing around him.

Mr. Bolt

supporting

Also known as Bolt

Bolt is landed on the coast to watch a French port and signal the Amelia, a role Captain Vincent grandly calls being the actual eyes of Lord Nelson's fleet. The post isolates him among suspicious farmhands, and his hope that the ship will linger within view reveals how much he depends on that distant company. His presence on shore quietly raises the stakes of every movement the French characters make.

Symons

supporting

Also known as the undaunted Symons

Symons, battered and hiding under the foredeck of Peyrol's tartane, weighs captivity against the armed strangers who keep climbing aboard in the moonlight. His longing for the Amelia — even for the surly corporal — shows a man discovering how much he loves his ship only once he's lost her. His wary crouch in the dark turns the tartane into a tense waiting game that pulls the plot forward.

The Abbé

minor

Also known as Monsieur l’Abbé

A priest who appears in the story, possibly connected to Arlette's past.

Amelia

minor

Also known as the Amelia

A ship, likely English, central to the naval plot.

The Officer

minor

Also known as That officer, Your officer

An unnamed officer, possibly French, involved in military matters.

Madame Réal

minor

Also known as Madame

Wife of Lieutenant Réal, mentioned in relation to his personal life.

Lord Nelson

minor

Also known as Nelson

British admiral, historical figure referenced in the naval context.

The Captain

minor

Also known as her captain

A captain, possibly of a ship, appearing in the narrative.

The Priest

minor

Also known as Monsieur le Curé

A local priest, possibly the same as the abbé, with a minor role.

The Master

minor

Also known as the master of the Escampobar Farm

Another reference to Peyrol as the master of the farm.

The Young Officer

minor

A young officer, possibly French, appearing in a scene.

Perose

minor

A minor character, possibly a local or a name mentioned.

Keats

minor

A minor character, possibly an Englishman.

Eugène

minor

A minor character, possibly a young man.

Jean Aubry

minor

Also known as Jean

A name mentioned, possibly a historical or minor character.