Much Ado About You
Darlington, Anna—(b. 1821)—Pleasure for Pleasure
Anna is the daughter of Sir Charles and Lady Darlington (i.e., Griselda). Anna was born a couple months after her father was knighted for his work on Princess Charlotte’s biography.
Darlington, Sir Charles—aka Lord Charles Darlington—Pleasure for Pleasure
Darlington is a very good-looking, yellow-curled, blue-eyed writer who does not always put his creative gifts to good purpose. Not only did he come up with the term that plagued Josie—the “Scottish Sausage”—but he wrote the pseudo memoir of the Earl of Mayne, as well as many other popular books. He confesses his reasons for coming up with cruel nicknames to Griselda before he asks her to marry him, which she does. Later he is knighted for his work on Princess Charlotte’s biography, and he and Griselda have a daughter, Anna.
There was no doubt that life was difficult when cravats were so expensive, and the ton so tiresome. Of course, there were pleasures in life, although small.
The pleasure of a well-turned retort was one. One might think that Darlington was something of a monster, but he was not. He knew perfectly well that he was a trivial person, and he never failed to promptly acknowledge the fact, as did his friends.
Pleasure for Pleasure
Derwent—Much Ado About You
Lucius Felton’s gloomy manservant is resigned to his fate as an artiste in the service of a man with no sense of fashion.
Alas, Lucius Felton was resolutely conservative when it came to dress. No mustache. No facial hair whatsoever, as a matter of fact. The most he would allow his valet to do was to sleek his thick blond hair back from his face in a style that was most severe.
Much Ado About You
Devonshire, Duke of—The Taming of the Duke
A most interesting historical character. When Griselda informs Rafe that it is unsuitable for him to entertain his ward in the presence of his illegitimate brother, the duke asks her why not, given that the Duke of Devonshire raised all seven of his children (from three different mothers) together. The Fifth Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish (1748–1811) was portrayed in the movie The Duchess, featuring Keira Knightley.
Dobson, William—Much Ado About You
William Dobson (1611–46) a portraitist, was one of the first notable English painters. Lucius reports having bought one of his paintings, a depiction of the children of a roundhead cavalier, for nearly a thousand pounds—a painting that Eloisa wishes she hadn’t described because she made so many errors in identifying the subjects (see Part One for her confession).
E
Ellerby, Miss Alice—Kiss Me, Annabel
Lucius Felton pays Miss Ellerby a large sum of money to publish a truly scintillating account of her relationship with Lord Ardmore, so that Annabel can return to London without marrying Ewan. By the time Annabel gets the news, she has already fallen in love with Ewan, so she goes forth with the marriage.
Elsie—Much Ado About You
Elsie, a nursemaid, becomes a lady’s maid after Holbrook met his new wards; she is assigned to Annabel. She travels with Annabel to Scotland.
“You’ll wear it with the double row of pearls from Mrs. Felton,” Elsie said, scurrying about the room. “And more of those French roses in your hair.” She had her jaw firmly set.
“All right,” Annabel said. “I’ll wear the gown, but I’ll not wear the slippers.”
Elsie scowled and Annabel wondered just how it happened that she ended up ruled by her maid instead of the other way around.
Kiss Me, Annabel
Essex, Charles—Viscount Brydone (deceased) Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke
Viscount Brydone was the father of the Essex sisters, and died when he was thrown from a half-tamed stallion. We learn he had written to a mere acquaintance, the Duke of Holbrook, asking him to be the guardian for his daughters, and offering him a horse in exchange.
Brydone was “horse crazy” and spent all his money on his stables while neglecting his family. The viscount repeatedly promised his daughters that they would have a season in London to find husbands once he won big at the racetrack. He left a racehorse as a dowry for each of his daughters, together with the stipulation that no groom could sell his horse before the first year of marriage had passed.
Essex, Miss Annabel—Annabel Essex Poley; Countess of Ardmore—Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Annabel is the second eldest Essex sister. She has buttery hair that gleams with the dull gold of old silk, eyes tilted slightly at the corners and framed with sooty eyelashes. When she was thirteen, her father discovered that she had a gift for numbers and dumped the entire financial accounting of the estate on her. Annabel, with a brazen belief in her own magnificence, has made up her mind to marry a wealthy English husband.
Essex, Miss Imogen—Imogen, Lady Maitland; aka Her Grace, Imogen Jourdain, Duchess of Holbrook—Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Imogen is the third eldest Essex sister. She has their mother’s sleek black hair and her laughing eyes, and an exquisitely curved mouth. In Much Ado About You, Imogen elopes with Draven Maitland, who dies just days after their marriage. Her first husband was penniless, but his mother dies shortly thereafter, leaving her private estate to her daughter-in-law, and making Imogen one of the wealthiest widows in all England. After her first six months of mourning, Imogen joins Annabel in London for the season and amuses herself by shocking matrons of the ton by wearing mourning dresses cut in daring styles. She is rumored to be having a flagrant affaire with the Earl of Mayne.
Essex, Miss Josephine “Josie”—Josephine “Josie” Langham, Countess of Mayne—Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Josephine, or Josie, as she is called, is the youngest of the sisters. Josie is quick-witted, and lush with unfashionable curves. Nicknamed the “Scottish Sausage” within a week of her debut on the marriage market, her chances of matrimony look dim, at least until she allows the scandalous Earl of Mayne to tutor her in the arts of seduction.
Essex, Miss Teresa Elizabeth “Tess”—Mrs. Teresa “Tess” Felton—Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Teresa, or Tess, as she is called, is the eldest of the Essex sisters. She conceals a dry sense of humor behind her irreproachable behavior. She is beautiful, with brandy brown hair and cheekbones that the harshest sunlight couldn’t diminish. She determines to marry a rich man for the sake of her sisters, and marries Lucius Felton after the Earl of Mayne jilts her at the altar.
F
Feddrington, Lady (Lucy)—Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
In Kiss Me, Annabel, Lady Feddrington is portrayed in the grip of a passion for all things Egyptian. Her ballroom is flanked by twenty-foot-high statues of Anubis, an Egyptian god, which originally guarded the doors of an Egyptian temple. Giggling, Lady Feddrington tells Annabel that she thinks of them like superior servants: “so silent, and you can tell in a glance that they won’t drink to excess.”
By Pleasure for Pleasure, Lady Feddrington is over her passion for all things Egyptian and she has donated the statues to the British Museum. Her husband was apparently quite displeased by this, as the statues were so expensive, but he was quickly reconciled once the museum promised to name a room after him. (A note from Jody: the statues shrank from twenty feet high in Kiss Me, Annabel to ten feet high in Pleasure for Pleasure!)
At the Epsom Downs race course, Sylvie notices that Lady Feddrington is wearing a bonnet that looks like a huge meringue, tied with a ribbon, along with diamond earrings as large as daisies. Sylvie views her attire as gauche, but original.
Felton, Mr. Lucius John Percival—later Earl of Barnett—A Fool Again (novella featured in the anthology The One That Got Away), Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the
Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Lucius looks every inch a duke, a patrician, a wealthy creature of privilege who dominates a room merely by entering it. He is worth more than the Duke of Holbrook and the Earl of Mayne put together. He marries the eldest Essex sister, Tess. He is characteristically calm and nonjudgmental. It becomes clear through the series that when something needs to be done, Lucius will get it done, quietly, and without a fuss. He longs for a home of his own, which Tess provides.
Felton, Phineas “Phin”—future Earl of Barnett—Much Ado About You, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure (b. 1818)
The son of Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Felton, and future Earl of Barnett, Phin is a sensible, calm boy who takes after his father. He is last seen at age thirteen in the bonus chapter that takes place ten years after Pleasure for Pleasure, having succumbed to a sartorial trend that involves wearing a fringed cravat that he twists and sticks through his buttonhole. As his mother says, it looks ridiculous.
Flambeau, Monsieur—Kiss Me, Annabel
Ewan’s French cook, whom his factor, Mac, found and lured to the Highlands for quite a large salary. He probably would have left during his first winter, except he fell in love with Mac’s sister. They now have two children, but Ewan still has to raise Flambeau’s salary every time the snow goes over five feet.
G
Gemima, Miss—Pleasure for Pleasure
Gemima is the only daughter of a younger brother of the Duke of Smittleton, who made a fortune in shipping. She is unmarried and enormously rich, so she does precisely as she pleases. She is wildly fashionable, with hair of an extraordinary striped, tortoiseshell color. We learn that she was once lovers with the august and severe Lady Emily Blechschmidt, but the next thing we know, she’s off on a trip with Sylvie. Which casts an interesting light on Sylvie’s dislike of Mayne’s kisses.
Godwin, Countess—Helene Holland—Your Wicked Ways, Much Ado About You, The Taming of the Duke, Kiss Me, Annabel, Pleasure for Pleasure
The Earl of Mayne once believed himself in love with the countess, Helene. Just a few months prior to Much Ado About You she rejected Mayne for her scoundrel of a husband. Eloisa says that she had no intention of bringing Mayne forward from Your Wicked Ways, but after the Helene debacle, he had a large fan club that wanted him to find true love at last.
Godwin, Earl—Rees Holland—Your Wicked Ways, Much Ado About You, The Taming of the Duke, Kiss Me, Annabel, Pleasure for Pleasure
Once an adulterous husband to Helene, who lived with strumpets and caused scandal after scandal, in Your Wicked Ways, a novel that Eloisa wrote before the Essex Sisters series, he changed his ways and swept his wife off her feet . . . and into his bed.
Graystock, Lord—Pleasure for Pleasure
Lord Graystock is a shaggy fellow with a cheerful face and a sharp nose, a possible spouse for Griselda. Darlington points out that Lord Graystock “resembles nothing more than an amiable badger, given that white streak in his hair.” He says that if Griselda married Graystock, the two of them could settle in the country and set up a badger run. As always when it comes to rudeness, Darlington has a sound motive: he wants Griselda for himself.
Gregory—Kiss Me, Annabel
Gregory is eleven years old and the Earl of Ardmore’s adopted son. His character changes somewhat from the published version of Kiss Me, Annabel to the unpublished, alternate ending.
“He’s up at the crack of dawn, singing lauds at the top of his lungs. And believe me, while I’m well aware of the existence of boy choirs, Gregory would not be a happy addition to such a group.”
Kiss Me, Annabel
Grimaldi, Joseph—The Taming of the Duke
Joseph Grimaldi (1778–1837) was a famous London clown who performed in pantomimes. Rafe apparently watched his performance of “Hot Codlins” and said he believed that his rendition could give Imogen and the lovely Cristobel a run for their money.
Grone, Harry—Pleasure for Pleasure
Harry is a journalist who had been pensioned off by The Tatler, who said they weren’t doing his sort of journalism any longer. But suddenly, out of the blue, they need someone to find the author of The Earl of Hellgate, or Night Scenes Amongst the Ton. Harry succeeds, naturally.
H
Hawes, Miss Loretta—The Taming of the Duke
Loretta is an actress, whose father left her all the profits of a lifetime’s worth of thievery. She wins a place at the Covent Garden Theatre, until Gabe accidentally knocks her down with his carriage (an incident that Eloisa took from historical record, as noted in Part Three). When she loses her spot due to the injury, she is promised a lead role at the Holbrook Theatre.
“Her father was a wealthy burglar who left her his fortune. She was raised by an aunt, but the moment Loretta turned eighteen years of age . . . she set up her own household. . . . She has a fierce passion for the stage.”
The Taming of the Duke
Holbrook, Duke of—Raphael (Rafe) Jourdain—Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Rafe is a tall man with a messy shock of brown hair falling over his brow, making him look a bit like a wild man. His eyes are a curious sort of a gray-blue with a bit of sadness. He doesn’t look or act like an aristocrat—being unkempt and dressed in thread-worn clothes. He refuses to be called anything but his Christian name and not by his title because he believed it belonged to his deceased brother. His lingering sense of survivor guilt is integral to understanding his character and his addiction to alcohol.
Hunks, Harry—The Taming of the Duke
Harry doesn’t appear in the series, except in Gabe’s memory. Gabe was six years old when Harry pointed out the obvious in the schoolyard, that Gabe’s mother was light-frigate, a doxy, and a drab.
Gabe had promptly knocked Harry to the ground. He stood over him, knuckles stinging and his right knee bleeding, feeling rather triumphant because Harry had at least a stone’s weight on him. Then Harry looked up at him through a rapidly swelling right eye, and said: “I don’t care. Your mother’s no better than a chipper. My da said so.”
The Taming of the Duke
J
Jersey, Lady—The Taming of the Duke
Lady Jersey, Sarah Villiers (1785–1867), had the nickname “Silence” because she was such a gossip. Imogen tells Josie you can’t expect every woman to be as slim as Lady Jersey.
Jourdain, Luke—Future Duke of Holbrook—(b. 1820)
Son of the Duke and Duchess of Holbrook.
K
Kettle, Mr. and Mrs. (Peggy)—Kiss Me, Annabel
The Kettles are a young couple whom Annabel and Ewan meet on their way to Ewan’s home in Scotland. The couple is expecting their first child. Interestingly enough, they exist only in the published version of the book; Eloisa’s first manuscript goes in a completely different direction, and Annabel and Ewan spend no time in the Kettles’ cottage.
L
Langham, Baby—(due Christmas 1831)
Baby of Lord and Lady Mayne.
Langham, Lady Cecily (deceased)—Pleasure for Pleasure
Mayne’s Aunt Cecily had been born too early, so she was lame from birth and had weak lungs. She loved nothing more than to read books and she fancied herself a princess. Unfortunately, she died before Mayne was born, but even so she had a tremendous effect on his life. He maintains the glass fairy balls that hang in his back garden in her memory.
Langham, Lady Cecily—Pleasure for Pleasure (b. 1821)
Daughter of Lord and Lady Mayne, named after Mayne’s Aunt Cecily.
M
Maclean, Mr. “Mac”—Kiss Me, Annabel
Mac is a slight, bespectacled man with sweet brown eyes and an eternally harassed expression. He is the Earl of Ardmore’s factor; on the way to Scotland, Mac travels ahead of the caravan and arranges details at each stop. Mac and Ewan have been together for years. (A reminder, Eloisa points out, of the incredible importance of servants in supporting the way of life of a Regency aristocrat.) r />
Maitland, Lady Clarice (deceased)—Much Ado About You, The Taming of the Duke
Lady Clarice’s land runs parallel to the Duke of Holbrook’s estate. She is the widowed relic of a baron, and the force behind the engagement of her son, Draven Maitland, to Miss Gillian Pythian-Adams. Clarice is heartbroken when Draven passes away and she herself dies soon thereafter. Doctors say that people can’t die of grief, but parents know better.
Maitland, Lord Draven (deceased)—Much Ado About You, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Draven had been betrothed for over two years to Miss Gillian Pythian-Adams without ever progressing to the altar. He is singularly beautiful, with a wide square jaw, a little cleft in his chin, and almond eyes. More pertinent, perhaps, he’s not only horse-mad, but a rabid gamester. One of his better qualities (of which he has few) is that he doesn’t take offense quickly—a trait that had probably kept him alive during a lifetime crammed with well-earned insults. But in the end, his reckless nature leads to his demise.
Marge, Aunt—Kiss Me, Annabel
Imogen’s smile has a dangerous resemblance to that of Ewan’s aunt Marge, who once broke half a set of Spode china. Against his uncle’s head.
Margery, Lady—Much Ado About You
Lady Margery is Lucius’s mother. Her father was the Earl of Devonshire, but she rarely uses the title Lady Margery. She is not a nice woman.
Mayne, Earl of—Garret Langham—Your Wicked Ways, Much Ado About You, Kiss Me, Annabel, The Taming of the Duke, Pleasure for Pleasure
Garret Langham, the Earl of Mayne, is a typical English lord: sleek and faintly dangerous, with exquisite manners. His face has the graceful, sweet lines of an aristocrat, with the beauty of an altar boy grown to full adulthood. At the beginning of Much Ado About You, Mayne is experiencing a slow burn due to the astonishment of being rejected by the Countess Godwin (see Your Wicked Ways). He continues in a black mood throughout the book, but has cheered up considerably by Pleasure for Pleasure, when he marries Miss Josephine “Josie” Essex.