The Talisman Ring - Characters

Characters

Sir Tristram Shield - Great-nephew to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Basil and Ludovic Lavenham and Eustacie de Vauban. A connoisseur of fine craftsmanship and a collector of works of art, Sir Tristram is summoned to Lavenham Court only to be informed that he is expected to marry his cousin Eustacie de Vauban in the place of Ludovic Lavenham. The idea does not please him, for she is too fanciful and romantic for his liking. He is one of the suspects in Sir Matthew Plunkett's murder case, suspected for having done it to add the talisman ring to his collection. However, although he is not a romantically minded man, being past the age of fancifulness at 31, he becomes enmeshed into the mystery and the responsibility of protecting Ludovic Lavenham from arrest. His is the voice of reason that controls Eustacie, Ludovic and Sarah Thane's high flights of fancy and absurd plans, but he is by no means a stultifying influence, being as keen as anyone to clear Ludovic's name following the discovery that he does not have the talisman ring on him (therefore, he cannot be the murderer of Plunkett)

Miss Sarah Thane - Sister to Sir Hugh Thane. One of Heyer's more striking early heroines, Sarah Thane is an enchantingly perverse and very humorous lady of twenty-eight, who scandalises her relations by accompanying her brother everywhere he goes, and in recent years, leaving her chaperone behind. A very candid woman, who would probably remain unsurprised by anything life threw at her, she is quite capable of looking after herself, and blends an incredibly romantic imagination with common good sense and charming sensibility. When Eustacie de Vauban brings the wounded Ludovic Lavenham to the Red Lion, Sarah Thane is only too delighted to take part in this exciting adventure coming her way. Well aware of her short-comings, with a very skilled talent for acting as if she were perfectly silly, she makes a perfect foil to Sir Tristram from the very moment they are brought together. Despite being, in her words, "a creature of no importance at all", she is, on the contrary a very important character and the forerunner of Heyer's later heroines Abigail Wendover (Black Sheep) and Hester Theale (Sprig Muslin).

Mademoiselle Eustacie de Vauban - Grand-daughter to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Sir Tristram Shield and Basil and Ludovic Lavenham. Comparisons to Léonie de Saint Vire of These Old Shades spring to mind instantly, although other than their French descent, youth and a similar volatility, there is very little in common between Léonie and Eustacie. Eustacie, the dark-haired, beautiful heroine is more romantically minded and less bloodthirsty. Disgusted by the idea of being married to the unromantic Sir Tristram Shield, she runs away and falls into the hands of Ludovic Lavenham, the wicked cousin who has much intrigued and fascinated her. Her appetite for adventure is satisfied in the excitement of keeping him out of the hands of the Bow Street Runners and Excisemen, and of helping to prove his innocence. Perhaps closest in character to Amanda Smith in Sprig Muslin, she set the mould for many of Heyer's romantically minded and unrealistic young beauties such as Lady Letitia Merion in April Lady and Miss Tiffany Wield in The Nonesuch, although she is nowhere near as annoying or irrational as either of those two.

Ludovic Laverham - Grandson to Sylvester, Lord Lavenham, cousin to Basil Lavenham, Sir Tristram Shield and Eustacie de Vauban. Accused of murdering Sir Matthew Plunkett to retrieve an heirloom talisman ring which was won from him in a rigged game, Ludovic Lavenham fled the country two years before the book's period with the assistance of his grandfather and cousin Tristram. Since then, he has taken up free-trading and smuggling, using The Red Lion inn as a headquarters. When Eustacie de Vauban runs away from home and falls into his hands, it triggers off a sequence of events during which he is shot, has to evade the Bow Street Runners whilst invalided, and prove his innocence of Sir Matthew's murder with the assistance of Eustacie, Sir Hugh and Sarah Thane and Sir Tristram. Although something of an incorrigible rogue, Ludovic is a very romantic character who fascinates Eustacie, and whatever his flaws, he is no brutal villain. His chivalry in preventing Ned Bundy from killing Eustacie from the start, his bravery and somewhat reckless spirit make him rather a devil-may-care fellow but he is a typical example of a wronged romantic hero with a name to clear, a role which is most comparable to that of Jack Carstares in Heyer's first novel, The Black Moth

Lavenham, Basil. "Beau Lavenham" - Great nephew to Lord Sylvester Lavenham, cousin to Eustacie de Vauban, Ludovic Lavenham and Sir Tristram Shield. Basil Lavenham, a typical dandy with his coquelicot-striped waistcoats and spotted silk coats; is not particularly liked by any of his relations. He is an exquisite of the first degree, composed of delicate mannerisms and niceties of dress; with a languid manner and a soft voice. One of Eustacie de Vauban's suitors, she does not like him in the slightest. Despite his apparent ineffectiveness, however, Beau Lavenham is a devious man capable of almost anything.

Sylvester Laverham - Grandfather to Ludovic Lavenham and Eustacie de Vauban, great-uncle to Sir Tristram Shield and Basil Lavenham. An eighty-year old man on his deathbed at the start of the novel, Sylvester used to be a rake in his day, but is now a frail, garrulous old man who still insists on being bewigged and patched despite his invalid status. He has also refused to lie back and wait to die, having summoned Sir Tristram Shield to be married to his great-niece Eustacie. At the last moment, having forbidden his grandson's name to be mentioned in the house, Sylvester has doubts about Ludovic Lavenham's guilt. The most telling note of his character is that it is clearly appropriate that his last words should be a vulgar oath aimed at his doctor.

Sir Hugh Thane - Brother of Sarah Thane. A Justice of the Peace, he decides to stay at The Red Lion en route to London due to the excellence of their smuggled brandy. He is a placid, rather easy-going gentleman, who often travels around Europe with his sister Sarah. Due to his contracting a severe cold, he and Sarah are compelled to prolong their stay at the Red Lion, and this allows him to be a severe hindrance to the Bow Street Runners and a great help to the efforts to prove Ludovic Lavenham's innocence. His connections with Bow Street and the courts of law do not make him a strict upholder of the law, and he is an implicit approver of smuggling. Although he states he will tell the truth, he also remarks that nobody will ask him.

Sir Matthew John Pluckett - The person who won Ludovic Lavenham's precious ring in a rigged game, and was later shot, of which crime Ludovic Lavenham stands accused. It is his murder that forms the mystery of the book.