Sophia (Sophy) Stanton-Lacy - the eponymous heroine, 20. Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy - a diplomat, father of Sophy. Charles Rivenhall - hero, 26, heir to Matthew Rivenhall's fortune. Lady Elizabeth Ombersley - long-suffering mother to Charles and wife to Lord Ombersley. Lord Ombersley - Charles' father, who spends most of his time at his club. Miss Eugenia Wraxton - Charles' fiancée, daughter of Lord Brinklow, a viscount. Lord Bromford  Goldhanger - A Jewish moneylender. The passage with Goldhanger is criticised as anti-semitic, and has been cut from some editions. Cecilia Rivenhall - Charles' sister, 18, a debutante. Lord Charlbury - 30, succumbed to mumps while courting Cecilia. Augustus Fawnhope - a handsome poet. Hubert Rivenhall - Charles' teenage brother, up at Oxford. Amabel Rivenhall - a schoolroom miss, 10  Gertrude Rivenhall - a schoolroom miss, 12  Selina Rivenhall - a schoolroom miss, 16  Theodore Rivenhall - at Eton  Miss Adderbury - the Rivenhalls' governess  Alfred Wraxton - brother of Eugenia  Sancia - a Spanish Marquesa betrothed to Sir Horace  Dassett - The Rivenhalls' butler  Jacko - a pet monkey  Tina - Sophy's dog, an Italian greyhound, who inexplicably likes Charles Rivenhall  Salamanca - Sophy's horse, with which Sophy commits the solecism of riding at a gallop in the park