# Ettie Shafter — The Valley of Fear character guide

> Ettie Shafter in The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Ettie Shafter, Ettie, Miss Ettie, Mary, Ettie Shafter

**First appearance:** 0009-i-the-man

## Snapshot

The nineteen-year-old daughter of a Vermissa storekeeper who loves McMurdo but sees the guilt in his face and fears the criminal world pulling him under.

## Who they are

Ettie is young, quick, and clear-eyed, caught between her love for McMurdo and her dread of the lodge that owns him. When she surprises him at his table, his tiger-like lunge and the crumpled letter reveal a guilt she cannot unsee — 'if your conscience was at ease, you would not have looked at me like that.' Her plea that they flee together, taking her father, becomes the human stake against which McMurdo's double game is measured.

## In the story

### [The Scowrers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/chapters/part-ii-the-scowrers)

Daughter of Jacob Shafter, courted by McMurdo.

### [The Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/chapters/i-the-man)

Jacob Shafter's beautiful daughter, who runs the household and immediately attracts McMurdo's admiration.

### [II: The Bodymaster](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/chapters/ii-the-bodymaster)

Daughter of the house, torn between her fear of Baldwin and her growing love for McMurdo. Begs McMurdo to flee with her.

### [V: The Darkest Hour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/chapters/v-the-darkest-hour)

Visits McMurdo to plead with him; suspects him of guilt and fear after startling him; demands to see a letter he was writing.

### [Danger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/chapters/vi-danger)

McMurdo's sweetheart; he visits her to warn that danger is coming and that they may need to leave.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/characters/ettie_shafter
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_valley_of_fear_se/characters