Abena
An orphaned girl who lives in the Louisiana swamps with her brother, Caimon.
Jacques Paul André
A French artist seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold. The young man had traveled from Paris so he could paint pictures in the United States.
Annie
The Gardners' former maid, who quit her job after having an argument with Mrs. Curtis. She was only mentioned in Marie-Grace and the Orphans.
Monsieur Antoine
A carriage driver who is mentioned several times in the books. He often drives Cécile and her family.
Sister Beatrice
An elderly nun who runs the Holy Trinity Orphanage. Marie-Grace describes her as kind, and Sister Beatrice invites Marie-Grace to come play with the children whenever she wants. Sister Beatrice is a good friend of Aurélia Rey and Octavia Rey because she helped them after their parents died.
Sylvia Bell
The prima donna of Foxcroft's London Opera Company.
Monsieur Bernard
The driver of a hired carriage. He is seen taking Luc Rousseau and Marie-Grace to Canal Street in Meet Marie-Grace.
Jack Bold
A man seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold. He works by selling jewelry up and down the Mississippi River.
Bridget
A seamstress who was seen in The Haunted Opera making costumes for the chorus members of Foxcroft's London Opera Company.
Monette Bruiller
A free girl of color who is close friends with Cécile Rey. She has black hair. Cécile sees her at her Mardi Gras ball, where Monette wears a pink princess dress. Maman suggests a similar pink dress for Cécile, who vetoes it because she does not want to dress like another girl at the ball.
Cécile and Monette do not have any sisters, which is part of the reason they have bonded. Monette has multiple brothers. After Armand gets sick with yellow fever, Monette stops by the house with her father and gives Cécile a jar of preserves as a gift. In Cécile's Gift, the girls reconnect after the fever epidemic is dying down.
Monsieur and Madame Bruiller
The parents of Monette Bruiller. Richard Bruiller is described as tall and husky, and he runs a tailor shop. Richard and Monette stop by the Rey household to bring meats and vegetables from Richard's brother's farm because all of the markets are closed by August 1853. He plans to bring the rest of the food to nearby orphanages and hospitals.
Caimon
An orphaned boy who lives in the Louisiana swamps with his sister, Abena.
Sister Catherine
A nun seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold. Sister Catherine is described as bring tiny and talkative.
Charlie
A young orphan at Holy Trinity Orphanage who enjoys playing with Marie-Grace.
Mrs. Curtis
Mrs. Curtis.
A widow who works as the Gardners' housekeeper. She eventually flees New Orleans due to the outbreak of yellow fever.
Mrs. Curtis is friendly but strict. She is also superstitious. When yellow fever breaks out in the city, she encourages Marie-Grace to wear a head of garlic on a string to ward away the fever.
Anna Day
A woman of color and a dressmaker. She fits Mardi Grass silk ball gowns for Aurélia Rey and Octavia Rey. Cécile is eager to share the details of Anna's stitching and fitting with Marie-Grace at her voice lesson.
Roberto DiCarlo
A member of Foxcroft's London Opera Company. Though his real name is 'Robert Carlo', he is known as 'Roberto DiCarlo' due to the popularity of Italian opera stars.
Monsieur Dupont
The owner of a pharmacy around the corner from Jackson Square. Dr. Gardner often picks up medications from Monsieur Dupont. Marie-Grace says she often likes to look around the shop while her father is talking.
Perrine Dupree
An orphan and a friend of Cécile Rey's. Her parents were killed in the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853, and after their deaths she moved into the Children of Mercy Orphanage in New Orleans.
Perrine was around seven or eight years old when her parents were killed, and she has dark hair and eyes. Perrine has a brother, Villaire, who was in the hospital with the fever.
Cécile was the first to meet Perrine, and she grows attached to her and visits her to cheer her up. Perrine likes Cécile the best of all the people at the orphanage. Cécile decides to write her own poem to perform at the fever benefit event, because she realizes that another poem does not resonate with the children the event is for. Perrine and her brother are in the front row at the event.
Perrine is only seen in Cécile's Gift.
Villaire Dupree
The older brother of Perrine Dupree. Their parents died, and when he falls sick with the yellow fever, his sister enters the Sisters of Mercy orphanage. However, he feels well enough in late November 1853 that he is able to leave the hospital and attend the fever benefit event with Perrine. He is described as thin with curly brown hair.
Ellen
Ellen
An Irish girl who immigrated to America and works as a maid in the Rey household. She has nine brothers, two in Boston and the rest back in County Mayo, Ireland. In Meet Cécile, she tells Cécile about how she felt jealous when her older brother Eamon returned from sea and got a big welcome like Armand is receiving upon his return. Ellen also is skilled at arranging Cécile's hair, and she often cheers up those around her with a smile or kind words.
Ellen looks after Armand Rey when he becomes ill with yellow fever. She herself becomes infected and eventually succumbs to the disease despite Dr. Gardner's efforts. The Rey family writes to her brothers and to her parents, and they send her locket and prayer book to her family.
Emmeline
A nurse seen volunteering at an infirmary in Marie-Grace Makes a Difference.
Mrs. Finch
A wealthy woman who volunteers at Holy Trinity. She grows to like the abandoned baby left at the Gardners', Philip, and offers to take him to an orphanage in Illinois in her travels. This would take Philip away from the yellow fever outbreak.
Charles Foxcroft
The owner and director of Foxcroft's London Opera Company.
Frances
An Irish girl in Marie-Grace's class. Her father is a construction worker who moved his family to New Orleans for two weeks to assist in repairing the stable at St. Teresa's.
She's described with having curly brown hair and is an avid reader.
Sister Frederica
A nun seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold. Sister Frederica is described as being tall and quiet.
Gabrielle
A friend of Océane Rousseau's who helps arrange the invitation for Marie-Grace to attend the opera ball. In Marie-Grace and the Orphans, Océane learns that Gabrielle is sick and she must pause her lessons to take care of her friend.
Daniel Gardner
Marie-Grace's late younger brother. He and Mama died in the 1849 cholera epidemic that swept through New Orleans.[1]
"Mama" Gardner
Marie-Grace's late mother. She and Daniel died in the 1849 cholera epidemic.[1] People say that Marie-Grace looks the image of her mother. Her maiden name was "Rousseau". She was the one who had given Marie-Grace her nickname Ti-Marie.
Greta
Sylvia Bell's personal maid.
Mr. Halsworth
The father of Lavinia Halsworth.
Hannah
The Reys' new maid, hired after Ellen's death. She is acquainted with Monsieur Lejeune.
Carson Hearst
The manager of the Rigby Plantation, which is located just outside of New Orleans. In Marie-Grace and the Orphans, he claims that an abandoned baby, Philip, was the child of a slave who recently ran away. As the child of a slave, Philip would be the plantation's legal property. Dr. Gardner promptly shows Mr. Hearst a medical bill and describes the baby as sickly so Mr. Hearst does not pursue this any further.
Zachariah Hopkins
A man seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold.
Ida
A free woman of color who works as a seamstress. Ida is renowned for being one of the best seamstresses in New Orleans, and she also makes costumes for the leading performers at the Royal Music Hall.
Madame Irène
An elderly woman who works as a seer.
Isabelle
A girl who begins attending classes at St. Teresa's Academy after Marie-Grace's arrival. She is mentioned in Marie-Grace and the Orphans. Isabelle is friendly, unlike many other girls in her class.
Her family flees New Orleans before the school term is over due to the yellow fever outbreak.
Janie
Greta's younger cousin.
Madame Jeannette
A free woman of color who works as a nurse in New Orleans. She is known as an excellent nurse, and she assists Océane Rousseau when she has the yellow fever.
Katy
A young orphan at Holy Trinity Orphanage. She has coppery hair styled in braids, and she enjoys playing with Marie-Grace.
Mrs. Lambert
A close neighbor of the Gardners. She is described as cheerful woman with a large family of five children, and she earns money by cleaning and doing laundry for neighbors. When the Gardners find an abandoned baby, Philip, on their doorstep, Dr. Gardner suggests that Mrs. Lambert might be willing to nurse him along with her own baby.
When Mrs. Curtis flees the city during the yellow fever outbreak, Dr. Gardner hires Mrs. Lambert to clean and cook for them. Mrs. Lambert's son Raoul had gotten the fever and Dr. Lambert had taken care of him.
Monsieur LaPlante
The owner of a small hotel on Canal Street.
Monsieur Lejeune
Cécile and Monette's[2] tutor. Cécile gets frustrated with Monsieur Lejeune because he wants her to do more grammar work instead of reciting plays and sonnets. In Cécile's Gift, he helps her select a passage to recite for the benefit event.
Great-Aunt Lisette
Marie-Grace's maternal great-aunt who lives in Belle Chênière. She is only mentioned in Marie-Grace Makes a Difference and Cécile's Gift. Dr. Gardner mentions sending Marie-Grace to stay with her during the yellow fever outbreak.
Louis
An elderly watchman who works at the Royal Music Hall. He looks after and gives Argos treats during Marie-Grace's singing lessons with Océane Rousseau. During the yellow fever outbreak, he stops working to help care of his baby granddaughter, who is sick with the fever.
Sister Louise
A nun who runs the Children of Mercy Orphanage for girls of color.
Mathilde
Mathilde.
The Reys' housekeeper and cook. Cécile sometimes accompanies her to the French Market, and she assists her around the household during the yellow fever. Her specialities include gingerbread and tea cakes. She sells cakes during the fever benefit event, and they're advertised as "Tilde's cakes." Mathilde also comforts Cécile when she worries about reciting a poem at the fever benefit event. She tells Cécile that practice helped her become a good cook, but she also sees cooking as her gift because it makes people happy. Cécile feels reassured after this conversation.
The Metoyers
A wealthy family of color. There are three children, Agnès, Fanny, and an unnamed son around Armand's age.[3] Unlike the Reys, the Metoyers own a slave, a boy who accompanies the Metoyer sisters on their shopping trips. Cécile does not have a high opinion of either Agnès or Fanny, nor does she share their interest in fashion and gossip. Agnès and Cécile make rude remarks to each other about their costumes at the Mardi Gras ball.
The Metoyers flee New Orleans when news of yellow fever begin to spread and return once the epidemic is over. Cécile feels frustrated when she interacts with the girls after the epidemic, because they continue to discuss fashion and tea as if nothing else in the city has changed.
Reginald and Mrs. Montjoy
A married couple seen traveling aboard The Liberty in The Hidden Gold. They're known as "The Magnificent Montjoys" and were traveling to perform at a theater in Chicago.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marie-Grace and the Orphans, Looking Back, pg. 77: The need [for orphanages] was especially great after the cholera epidemic of 1849 - the same epidemic that took the lives of Marie-Grace's mother and baby brother.
- ↑ The Cameo Necklace, pg. 6: [Monsieur Lejeune] and his sister, Mademoiselle Lejeune, had taken Cécile and Monette to the circus as their reward for doing well in their studies.
- ↑ Troubles for Cécile, pg. 12: "Merveilleaux! Armand just scored," Cécile said, clapping her hands. "Who is that boy who tried to knock him down? Is it Agnès Metoyer's brother?"