The principal scenes in this novel are two neighboring plantations, Portobello and Montrose. This list of the principal characters is therefore grouped under the names of these two estates:
PORTOBELLO
(HOME OF THE BEDFORDS)
MALCOLM BEDFORD (“Darlin’,” “Mac”)
MRS. SARAH TAIT BEDFORD, his wife (“Sallie,” “My Dumplin’ ”)
DUNCAN, their son, 21, absent at the University of Virginia
JULIA VALETTE SOMERVILLE, their adopted daughter, child of a friend in New Orleans
ROSA TAIT, Mrs. Bedford’s sister (“Auntie,” “Rosie,” “Aunt Piggie”)
HENRY FAIRFAX TAIT, senile brother of Mrs. Bedford
MISS GILBERT, the governess
MIDDLETON, 5, Malcolm Bedford’s nephew, child of his dead sister
DUNCAN’S MAMMY (Aunt Tildy)
UNCLE THORNTON, her husband; the four Celies; Abner; Billy McChidrick; Dock, the Indian; and other family servants
VISITORS AT PORTOBELLO
CAPTAIN RUFFIN a United States senator, and MRS. RUFFIN
MONTROSE
(HOME OF THE MCGEHEES)
HUGH MCGEHEE, brother of Malcolm Bedford’s first wife, Mary Hartwell McGehee
AGNES BEDFORD MCGEHEE, his wife, sister of Malcolm Bedford
EDWARD, their son, 18, absent at the Louisiana Military Academy
LUCINDA, their daughter (“Lucy”)
MISS WHIPPLE, seamstress, from Iowa
WILLIAM VEAL, the family butler
VISITORS AT MONTROSE
SHELTON TALIAFERRO, a cousin, and his son, Charles
MRS. CYNTHIA EPPES, a cousin from New Orleans, and her son, Francis
EDWARD MCGEHEE, a brother, and his wife, Mary, from Woodville
MILES MCGEHEE, a brother
MR. MUNGER and MR. TRIPPLER, invalids from the North, guests at Montrose for the climate
VISITORS AT PORTOBELLO AND MONTROSE
MARY CHERRY, a spinster of 60, who has no kin of her own in the State, but moves from house to house for long or short stays, as the case may be
ELIZA TURNER QUITMAN, of Monmouth, widow of a famous Mexican War general