Lady Carbury

Lady Carbury, a aspiring writer trying to arrange favorable reviews for her book Criminal Queens. Since the death of her abusive husband, she has sought literary fame and friends for herself, but she also anguishes over the wasted life of her son Felix, the one human being to whom she is devoted. She also is irritated by her daughter Hetta’s insistence on making her own marriage choice. Lady Carbury finally has to accept Felix’s failure and Hetta’s romantic marriage to Paul Montague, as well as her own inadequacies as an author, but she finds happiness in a second marriage to Mr. Broune, an editor.

Sir Felix Carbury

Sir Felix Carbury, a dissolute young gentleman who enjoys a run of luck at gambling but reluctantly acquiesces to his mother’s urging that he pursue marriage with Marie Melmotte. With little effort, he gets Marie to fall in love with him, but he is able neither to impress Marie’s father into acceptance of their engagement nor to follow through on Marie’s plan that they elope. His luck at cards changes, and he loses so badly that his friends will no longer play with him. He is beaten by the fiancé of a working-class girl he tries to seduce, and he is forced to leave England and live quietly in Germany.

Hetta Carbury

Hetta Carbury, Lady Carbury’s daughter, who is wooed by Roger Carbury. Although she increasingly recognizes and admires his wisdom and probity and thinks she ought to be able to love him, she knows she prefers Paul Montague. Although their engagement is threatened when she learns about Paul’s relationship with Mrs. Hurtle, she forgives him and they marry.

Roger Carbury

Roger Carbury, a country gentleman who wants to marry his cousin Hetta but is unable to persuade her to accept him. Although Roger believes that Paul Montague’s relationship with Hetta is a betrayal of their friendship, he works to prevent Paul from a renewed entanglement with Mrs. Hurtle, whom Roger regards as a completely unsuitable match for an English gentleman. He finally becomes reconciled to Paul’s marriage to Hetta, and he promises to make their son his heir.

Paul Montague

Paul Montague, Roger’s friend and his rival for Hetta’s love. Paul had met and become engaged to Mrs. Hurtle during a trip from America, where he had worked for a while, back to England. Roger had persuaded him that Mrs. Hurtle’s reputedly wild past would make her an unsuitable wife, and Paul had ended the engagement. When Mrs. Hurtle appears again in London hoping to resume their relationship, Paul finds it impossible to stay away from her, even though he believes she is a dangerous woman, capable of violence, and he knows he loves Hetta Carbury. He manages to extricate himself both from his relationship with Mrs. Hurtle and from his involvement with Augustus Melmotte’s America-to-Mexico railroad scheme.

Winifred Hurtle

Winifred Hurtle, a beautiful American who had become engaged to Paul Montague and who believes her only hope for happiness is to renew their engagement. An independent, spirited woman, she has survived marriage to an abusive former husband and an episode in Oregon in which she found herself forced to shoot a man. Although she dreams of a safer life in England, she also scorns the rigid English code of propriety and regard for family origins that make Roger Carbury oppose Montague’s relationship with her.

Augustus Melmotte

Augustus Melmotte, an unscrupulous financier who is the talk of upper-class London for what people believe to be his fabulous success at making money. He knows his continued success depends on his...