Names bear significant meaning in this novel. Mary, for example, can be connected both to the Virgin Mary and to Mary Magdelene (the saint and the repentant whore). Consider these two name associations in connection with the character of Mary Dempster.

Dunstan sees Mary Dempster as an angel. She is married Reverend Amasa Dempster, and when she submits to the vagrant who is about to rape her, she becomes embroiled in a scandal (Mary Magdalene) that causes her son to leave town, and also causes Dunston Ramsay to enlist. Ramsay believed that Mary had performed two miralces.... she appeared to save his brother William, and he saw her face on the statue of the Madonna he saw when he was injured in Paschendale.