Dark brown hair; blue eyes. Only son of James Locke. Entrusted with his father’s life savings to invest in a tea-trading enterprise.

Baroness. Brown hair; brown eyes. Age 25; fair complexion. Deceased husband: George Carlyle, Lord Delacroix. Feels responsible for her two younger sisters. Lives primarily in Trenton House, which she inherited from her father.

Sarah’s youngest sister. Beautiful but silly. Ample feminine curves and features equally sumptuous. Her olive green eyes seem to fill her whole face, and her lips wear a natural pout.

Brown hair. The middle Watson sister. Hosts balls, grand dinners, and other affairs. Fashionable among London society. Likes money. Petite. One year younger than Sarah.

Baron. Sarah’s nephew-by-marriage and the last living heir to the Delacroix family legacy. Upon Sarah’s husband’s death, Henry inherited the title “Lord Delacroix,” the London house, and the country manor. A foolish and reckless cad. Handsome; curly blond hair; cleft in chin; nearing 30.

Blond hair, handsome. Charles’s friend; son of Laurent and Beatrice Chouteau, the elderly Duke and Duchess of Marston. Engaged to Gabrielle Duchesne, a Frenchwoman and daughter of the comte de la Roche. Has an elder brother, Ruel. Charles, Alexander, and Ruel attended school together as boys and were classmates at Cambridge.

22 years old, brown eyes; brown hair. Friend and lady’s maid to Sarah Carlyle and later Prudence Watson. Well educated and well mannered. Her father, a noted rector, helped his parishioners smash lace machines that threatened their livelihood. He is now in prison. Family from Nottingham.

Born 1790. Age 25. Coal black, curly hair, gray-green eyes. Arrow-shaped nose, deep-set hooded eyes. Strong hands.