# The Splendid Spur — Character guide

> Key figures in The Splendid Spur by Arthur Quiller-Couch.

- [Jack Marvel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/unknown_narrator.md): Jack Marvel is a young royalist messenger whose chance errand—returning a dropped paper to a stranger—drags him into a tangle of duels, letters, and hidden enemies. He is quick to laugh, slow to trust, and honest enough 
- [Joan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/joan_of_arc.md): Joan of the Tor moves between the Cornish hills and the edges of the war, mending wounds, hiding fugitives, and speaking in a blunt country tongue that hides a fierce competence. She saves Jack's life with sackcloth and 
- [Delia Killigrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/delia_killigrew.md): Delia Killigrew is the mistress of Gleys, a royalist lady whose beauty and name make her a prize in more than one schemer's game. When she is snatched aboard a sloop by Settle and his knaves, Jack's private errand become
- [Captain Billy Pottery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/captain_billy_pottery.md): Captain Billy Pottery is a disreputable, cheerful rogue whose coat is a patchwork of blue, orange-tawny, and flame-color over the parent black. He has been a Turkish slave, a Gravesend husband, and a survivor of more scr
- [Sir Deakin Killigrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/sir_deakin_killigrew.md): Delia's late father, a royalist whose death sets events in motion.
- [Molly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/molly.md): A servant or companion to Delia, appearing in domestic scenes.
- [Mr. Hannibal Tingcomb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/hannibal_tingcomb.md): Hannibal Tingcomb is the Killigrews' scheming steward, a man whose straight hair, soft voice, and appetite for ham hide a colder purpose. When Jack and Delia arrive at Gleys, they find him presiding over a closed coffin 
- [Anthony Killigrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/anthony_killigrew.md): Anthony Killigrew serves in Lord Bernard Stewart's troop of guards and carries a letter from the King to the Army of the West. Punctilious to the point of absurdity, he nearly fights Jack over a dropped paper, then clasp
- [Sir Bevill Grenville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/sir_bevill_grenville.md): A prominent royalist commander in the West Country.
- [Luke Settle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/luke_settle.md): A turncoat captain whose polished menace collapses into shrieking agony when Sir Deakin's punch bowl erupts in flame.
- [Matt Soames](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/matt_soames.md): A fellow prisoner and friend to the narrator in Bristol.
- [Master Timothy Carter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/master_timothy_carter.md): A loyal servant or steward to the Killigrew family.
- [Prince Maurice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/prince_maurice.md): A royalist prince and military commander.
- [Dick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/dick.md): A rough sailor or servant encountered in the story.
- [Colonel Essex](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/colonel_essex.md): A parliamentarian colonel who captures the narrator.
- [John Davenant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/john_davenant.md): A royalist officer or gentleman known to the narrator.
- [Reuben Gedges](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/reuben_gedges.md): A local man who helps the narrator in his travels.
- [Sammy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/sammy.md): A servant or attendant, possibly of African descent.
- [King Charles I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/king_charles_i.md): The executed king, whose letter the narrator carries.
- [Sir Ralph Hopton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/sir_ralph_hopton.md): A leading royalist general in the West.
- [Ruthen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/ruthen.md): A soft-voiced Justice of the Peace whose saintly reproofs mask the halting step of a man the narrator has already met committing murder.
- [Earl of Stamford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/earl_of_stamford.md): A parliamentarian commander.
- [Jan Tergagle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/jan_tergagle.md): A Cornish character, possibly a musician or storyteller.
- [Ben Halliday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters/ben_halliday.md): A minor character, possibly a soldier.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_spur_se/characters