# Edward Sylvester — The Sword of Damocles character guide

> Edward Sylvester in The Sword of Damocles by Anna Katharine Green.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Edward, Miss Belinda, Belinda

**First appearance:** 0002-the-sword-of-damocles

## Snapshot

A man with a black line drawn across his life, who finds himself remembering his mother's face and a boyhood he can never return to.

## Who they are

Edward Sylvester is a Sylvester by name and something else by experience—a man whose past has been cut cleanly from his present, leaving him to sit in the city and ache over garret rooms, a dead brother named Tom, and a mother whose eyes he was always too busy to meet. The memories come unbidden: the crow Jocko, the tied rooster, the long Sunday walks. He is not a plotter or a schemer; he is a man haunted by the ordinary happiness he once had and did not know how to hold. His grief gives the Sylvester family its emotional undertow.

## In the story

### [Shadows of the Past](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/viii-shadows-of-the-past)

Sits alone brooding before the fire, reflecting on his past and yearning for a purer life.

### [IX: Paula](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/ix-paula)

Returns to Grotewell after ten years, driven by a vision of Paula. He is deeply moved by her beauty and intellect, feeling a sense of new life in her presence.

### [XII: Miss Belinda Makes Conditions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/xii-miss-belinda-makes-conditions)

Referred to as Miss Belinda, she is cautious and protective of Paula, questioning Mr. Sylvester's intentions and the influence of city life.

### [Miss Belinda Has a Question to Decide](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/xiv-miss-belinda-has-a-question-to-decide)

Sits before her fire, deeply contemplating Mr. Sylvester's request to adopt Paula. She rereads Paula's letters to help her decide, weighing her love for Paula against the apparent advantages of the offer.

### [XXX: Miss Belinda Presents Mr. Sylvester with a Christmas Gift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/xxx-miss-belinda-presents-mr-sylvester-with-a-christmas-gift)

Miss Belinda, brings Paula as a gift, observes the reunion with a stern exterior.

### [A Question](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/xxxi-a-question)

Observes the situation with satisfaction, encouraging Paula's interest in Ensign.

### [XLI: The Work of an Hour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/chapters/xli-the-work-of-an-hour)

Revealed as the bank's president and the one who denounced himself, not Bertram.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/characters/edward_sylvester
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_sword_of_damocles_se/characters