Eugenia
Technically speaking, she is Baroness Eugenia-Camilla-Dolores Münster. The title comes from her marriage to Prince Adolf of Silberstadt-Schreckenstein who is seeking Eugenia’s signature on a document which will officially dissolve the marriage under the peculiar aristocratic rules known as a Morganatic marriage. The actual state and circumstances of her marriage will prove to be quite significant as it is ambiguously conveyed to other characters throughout the narrative.
Eugenia has arrived in America ostensibly to visit her distant cousins, but the trip has actually been made for a completely different purpose. She has, quite specifically, made the voyage across the Atlantic in order to “seek her fortune.” That is secret code for looking for a wealthy new husband the replace the prince so that she and her young brother can continue living in the style to which they have grown accustomed.
Her demeanor toward her American family is unmistakably haughty. While a few dismiss this attitude as archaically aristocratic, the bulk interpret it as exotically European. Ultimately, however, it will not be Eugenia’s confident feelings of superiority to her democratic family that undoes her attempt to seek her fortune, but the qualities of deceit she tries to more eagerly to disguise.
Felix Young
Felix is Eugenia’s slightly younger brother (she is 33 and he is 28) who accompanies her to America. He is an aesthete with a gift for painting portraits. He is also something of a conniver lacking any outright malevolent intent in his manipulation of people in order to secure marriage to Gertrude Wentworth, whom he genuinely loves.
Felix is a surprisingly complex character. He exudes a sense of frivolity and lack of seriousness yet winds up being the most determined and focused character in the story. He also exhibits for the reader to see—if not necessarily the characters with whom he interacts—a Mephistophelian drive to urge other people to join him in his devilish deals intended to manipulate deep emotional motivations toward his own benefit.
That Felix is not above lying, cajoling, and even a certain brand of pimping in order to attain his goals is beyond question. What makes him so fascinating is that he not only manages somehow to remain in good standing with all those around him, but most readers will likely find him charming as well. In another type of story, Felix Young could easily become the villain.
Gertrude Wentworth
Gertrude is the younger daughter of the wealthy Wentworth family who are the American cousins Eugenia uses as justification for coming to America in search of a husband. Gertrude has an older sister named Charlotte who is not just more conventionally attractive but more conventional in every sense. Thus, the family sees no difficulties in marrying her off to a suitable suitor. Gertrude, on the hand, labors under the burden of expectations to marry local minister, the bland Mr. Brand.
The manner in which many readers will view Felix is replicated to an extent in the way that Felix views Gertrude. She is underestimated by every member of her family. The one person who pays her any attention at until the arrival of Felix is Mr. Brand. Unlike Felix, however, Brand’s attention is based not Gertrude’s self-identity, but upon the identity constructed for her. His self-esteem is low enough that he is willing to marry the second best that the Wentworth’s have to offer.
Gertrude’s true value and beauty is recognized only by Felix. She will come to blossom from the “folded flower” by which Felix characterizes into the full magnificent glory that everybody else misses. Also benefiting from arrival of Felix will be Mr. Brand who learns he need not settle for the second-best Wentworth daughter when he turns his attention to Charlotte.
Robert Acton
Robert Action is another cousin of the Wentworths and he finds himself strangely attracted to Eugenia. Almost alone among the American characters, Acton is not impressed by Eugenia’s haughty aristocratic demeanor, but finds himself falling for her all the same. When he discovers that her husband, the prince, is requesting her signature on the document which will dissolve their marriage and that she is hesitating over signing it, he becomes gripped within an internal conflict over loving Eugenia and trusting Eugenia.
Felix attempts to pit Action against the Wentworth family scion, Clifford, in his foray into high society pimping by suggesting to Mr. Wentworth that Eugenia is just the person to get Clifford to end his drunken ways. Acton will briefly be manipulated into viewing the younger Wentworth as a viable rival for Eugenia but that will come to quick end when Clifford actually mistakes Acton for his father, giving up the charade, and running making it clear he only has eyes for Acton’s younger sister, Lizzie.
Acton spends part of the book trying not to give in to his attraction to Eugenia. Once it is clear that path is out of his control, he then expends his energy trying to find a reason why he should trust Eugenia enough to pursue the logical endgame of having fallen in love. Eugenia’s inability to disguise her deceitful qualities any better than she disguises her aristocratic haughtiness ultimately conflicts with the one attribute fueling Acton’s entire personality: an obsession with honesty and trust.
