# Mrs. Raritan — The Truth About Tristrem Varick character guide

> Mrs. Raritan in The Truth About Tristrem Varick by Edgar Saltus.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. R. F. Raritan

**First appearance:** 0004-ii

## Snapshot

The Raritan matriarch, a woman of social weight whose judgments and alliances help decide how the Varick affair is read by the world.

## Who they are

Mrs. R. F. Raritan presides over the family whose name is entangled with Tristrem Varick's fate, and her standing gives her the power to bless or bury reputations. She is the sort of woman for whom appearances are a currency, and her sympathies are never entirely separable from her social calculations. In the novel's middle stretch her influence shapes the distance between what happened and what is said to have happened.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/iv)

Viola's mother, a warm and beautiful woman who consoles Tristrem and becomes a confidante as he pines for her daughter.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/vii)

Welcomes Tristrem, expresses concern over Viola's accident.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/viii)

Visibly distressed and tearful, she prevents Tristrem from seeing Viola and conveys her sympathy.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/ix)

Writes to Tristrem to inform him of Viola's decision and returns the jewels.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/x)

Viola's mother, suspected by Tristrem of knowing the secret and forbidding the marriage.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/xiii)

Travels with Viola; her address is initially unknown, then learned to be via Rue Scribe; she and Viola leave Paris.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/chapters/xvi)

Looks aged and weary; greets Tristrem warmly but leaves the room early, allowing him to speak with Viola alone.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/characters/mrs_raritan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_truth_about_tristrem_varick_se/characters