# The Talleyrand Maxim — Character guide

> Key figures in The Talleyrand Maxim by J. S. Fletcher.

- [Linford Pratt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/linford_pratt.md): Pratt is Eldrick's clerk at a Barford solicitors' firm — outwardly dutiful, inwardly cataloguing every advantage. When Antony Bartle collapses in the office, Pratt alone grasps what the dead man carried, and his long-hop
- [Bartle Collingwood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/bartle_collingwood.md): Collingwood arrives in Barford to bury Antony Bartle and take up a promising legal career, only to find himself drawn into the Mallathorpe affairs. Proud enough to dread being thought a fortune-hunter, he is drawn to Nes
- [Nesta Mallathorpe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/nesta_mallathorpe.md): Nesta inherits wealth, the mill, and a family already compromised by secrets she does not yet know. Where her brother was weak and her mother fearful, Nesta is direct and unflinching — she tells Pratt to his face that he
- [Charles Eldrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/charles_eldrick.md): Eldrick handles the Mallathorpe estate business and takes a practical, paternal interest in Collingwood's career, even handing him cases. He calls Pratt a clever chap and half-defends him, unaware how much the clerk has 
- [Richard Mallathorpe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/richard_mallathorpe.md): Mrs. Mallathorpe has quietly run the estate and mill while her son Harper drifted, and she knows exactly how much is at stake when Pratt reveals what he holds. She cannot confide in her weak son or her upright daughter, 
- [James Parrawhite](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/james_parrawhite.md): Parrawhite once took money from Eldrick's desk and booked passage to America, or so the shipping agent says. Now Halstead & Byner and Eldrick are both hunting him, and Pratt affects surprise at the advertisements while c
- [Eldrick & Pascoe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/eldrick_and_pascoe.md): Eldrick & Pascoe handle the Mallathorpe estate and the affairs of old Antony Bartle, placing them at the crossroads of Barford's money and secrets. Eldrick, the senior partner, is shrewd enough to watch his own clerk nar
- [Halstead Byner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/halstead_byner.md): Halstead Byner works for City solicitors hunting Parrawhite, the vanished legatee of twenty thousand pounds, and his advertisements drag the case into Barford's local papers. He is methodical and deliberate, insisting to
- [George Pickard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/george_pickard.md): A local tradesman with connections to the Mallathorpe family.
- [Esther Mawson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/esther_mawson.md): A housekeeper or servant in the Mallathorpe household.
- [R. Murgatroyd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/r_murgatroyd.md): A local businessman involved in the community.
- [John Mallathorpe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/john_mallathorpe.md): John Mallathorpe's death left his estate in the hands of his widow and his weak-willed son Harper, with his strong-minded daughter Nesta kept at a distance from the truth. A later will, if produced, would dispossess the 
- [Prydale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/prydale.md): A police sergeant investigating the death of John Mallathorpe.
- [Cobcroft](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/cobcroft.md): A couple who are tenants or associates of the Mallathorpes.
- [Harper Mallathorpe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/harper_mallathorpe.md): The late John Mallathorpe's nephew and a potential heir.
- [Jabey Naylor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/jabey_naylor.md): A local character with ties to the events surrounding the will.
- [Hoskins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/hoskins.md): A servant or employee in the Mallathorpe household.
- [Clough](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/clough.md): A woman who provides lodging or services in Barford.
- [John Standridge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/john_standridge.md): A baronet mentioned in connection with the Mallathorpe family.
- [Stringer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_talleyrand_maxim_se/characters/stringer.md): A minor character in the Barford community.

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