I recently received a reader email asking the ages and heights of the characters in the Lady Wynwood’s Spies series, and I realized I had never really mentioned it in the books. I have the details in my own series bible, but since I don’t like to add too much detail when I’m writing a scene, I simply never mentioned it.
But for those of you who might be wondering, here are the specs for the main characters as well as a little bonus background information.
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 1-6!
Laura Glencowe, Lady Wynwood
Height: 168 cm tall (5’ 6.1”) (same as Keriah)
Age: early 40s (a lady never tells!)
Blonde hair, dark gold eyes. She has a white streak of hair at her left temple that grew that way after an injury.
Glencowe is her surname, but she is referred to by her title, Lady Wynwood. Her husband was Terrence Glencowe, 8th Viscount Wynwood, Baron Marcley (his subordinate title). The current Lord Wynwood is Terrence’s second cousin (Terrence’s father’s cousin’s son), Newland Glencowe, 9th Viscount Wynwood, Baron Marcley (his subordinate title). The primary seat is Glencowe Castle, but the family owns several other estates, some entailed but some not. When Newland inherited the title, Laura sold to him all the unentailed estates except for her London townhouse and one or two remote cottages that he had no use for. She is very well off thanks to her husband’s business acumen, but she is not extravagant in her spending.
Solomon (Sol) Drydale
(I just realized that I may not have ever mentioned Sol’s full name in the series! But yes, everyone calls him by his shortened name.)
Height: 5’ 7” (170 cm) (a little shorter than Michael)
Age: early 40s (a couple years older than Laura)
Slightly wavy brown hair, chocolate-brown eyes. Dimple only on his left cheek.
Sol is eldest son of his father, who was the 3rd son of the previous Viscount Purcombe. However, after his father died, the 2nd son (Sol’s uncle) also died leaving only daughters. The eldest son's son (Sol’s cousin) Frederick Drydale became the next Viscount Purcombe, and he had 2 young sons, but with their deaths, Sol is now heir apparent. Viscount Purcombe has an estate, but Sol does not own a country estate. Sol’s wife Priscilla died in 1799 from complications in childbirth.
Phoebe Sauber
Height: 172 cm tall (5’ 7.7”)
Age: 22 years old, almost 23
Dark brown hair, seafoam green eyes
Her father is Denholm Sauber and the estate is Sauber Hill. Phoebe’s mother was Rachel (nee Cambrook) Sauber, Laura’s younger sister. Her mother died 8 years ago, right after giving birth to her brother. Phoebe’s younger brother is Corbin Sauber, 14 years old and still in school. She debuted in London when she was 18 years old, sponsored by her Aunt Laura, but she did not “take.” However, she joined several botanical associations in London. In her 3rd Season, her father arranged a marriage for her with a much older man, but he died in the middle of the Season and she felt obligated to go into mourning for him for a year, appearing in London for only the latter half of her 4th Season. This is her 5th Season. Her stepmother is Audry Sauber, and Audry has two daughters from her previous marriage, Alice Lambert and Barbara Lambert. Alice is 16 and will have her comeout next year.
Michael Coulton-Jones
Height: 177 cm tall (5’ 9.6”)
Age: 29 years old
Very fine coffee-brown hair, glass-green eyes
His mother is Belle (nee Foremont) Coulton-Jones (she is the younger sister of Gerard’s father (from The Spinster’s Christmas). Michael is 5 years older than his sister Isabella. He knows fluent Spanish thanks to his Spanish grandmother, whom he was close to. He also has many French cousins through his maternal grandmother and picked it up quickly. As the younger son, Michael was encouraged to join the army when he was 17 years old. With his ability to don disguises and speak French and Spanish, he was assigned missions to retrieve information. He was eventually recruited by the Foreign Office for missions. His father died in 1803, when his older brother Richard took over the estate, Blakewood Hearth. He first met Sep when Sep rescued him from a French prison in 1804. Richard was murdered in 1810. Michael's uncle, Sir Arthur Coulton-Jones, has no children, and so Michael is the heir apparent to his uncle’s baronetcy now that Richard is dead.
Septimus (Sep) Ackett
Height: 175 cm tall (5’ 8.9”)
Age: 26 years old
Straight blue-black hair, dark hazel eyes
His father is Ammon Ackett, 3rd Viscount Ammler, Baron Revitt (his subordinate title). His father is referred to as Lord Ammler. The family has a large and rich estate. Sep is the 3rd son of 6 surviving children (2 children died). He is part French through his paternal grandmother and speaks French quite well.
I may not ever refer to this in the series, but here is Sep’s family. Their father named them, but their mother calls them by nicknames that she gave to them:
1st child, Primus, died as an infant
2nd child, oldest living son, Secondus (goes by nickname Skand)
3rd child, Tertia (nickname Teresia) Ackett, married
4th child, 2nd living son, Quartus (nickname Curtis) Ackett, sickly after his carriage racing accident, he’s in his early 30s
5th child, Quinta (Quin) Ackett, married
6th child, Sexta (Settie), died sometime in childhood
7th child, 3rd oldest living son, Septimus Ackett, he’s 26 years old
8th child, Octavia (born late), she’s 17 years old
Keriah Gardinier
Height: 168 cm tall (5’ 6.1”)
Age: 22 years old
Golden-brown hair, gray eyes
Her father is Irwin Gardinier, grandson of the previous Earl of Starley, and he owns a seaside estate, Chateau Gardinier (in book 1, I mistakenly placed their estate on the west but their estate is actually on the east coast of England). Her eldest sister is Lissa, Lady Stoude, who is 5 years older than Keriah, and she has a second older sister Miriam who also made a brilliant match in her debut Season (Miriam lives in the country). Keriah’s younger twin sister is deceased. She has a younger brother, Henry, who is 17 years old. She met Sep when she was 11 years old. When she was 12 years old, she and her sister were attacked and her sister died while Keriah’s leg was badly injured, and she now walks with a limp. When she was 13 years old, she met Phoebe at Seminary (a finishing school for young ladies, not a school for pastors). The two of them began training in knife fighting with the gypsies whom Keriah’s father allows to camp on his land in the summers. She also began training in medicine under her father’s younger brother, her Uncle Janan Gardinier, a surgeon. She also trained in chemistry under his wife Carmelia, an herb-woman/apothecary whose father, a respected chemist, had trained her. Keriah was rather old when she debuted at 19 (a year after Phoebe’s debut Season). This is now her 4th Season.
Isabella, Lady Aymer
Height: 153 cm tall (5’) Isabella says she is five feet in height, but she always seems shorter when she disguises herself as a child. Also, she secretly wears platform heels under her long gowns when no one is likely to notice.
Age: 24 years old
Very fine reddish-brown hair, just like Richard’s, and glass-green eyes, same color as Michael and same color and shape as Richard
She calls Michael “Smelly” and he calls her “Ugly.” She married Sir Walter Aymer when she was 17 years old in a marriage arranged by her father just before his death. However, Sir Walter died about 18 months after they married. That is also around the time she becomes a spy for the Ramparts, where she is tasked with missions that utilize her skill at disguises. Walter’s cousin inherited the title and lands, but she had a generous portion thanks to her father’s attorney looking over the marriage contract. She lives with her mother, who does not know she is a spy. She was often sent on missions with Michael as her guard and assistant. She has also sometimes gone on missions with Thorne helping her. She is at the highest level of security in the Ramparts, with few knowing that she is a spy or what she has done for the Ramparts.
Thorne Rosmont
Height: 183 cm tall (6’)
Age: 29 years old (same as Michael)
Green eyes, dark brown hair
His father was Kane Rosmont, a grandson of the Earl of Essedon. His estate is Thornesby (the reason why his mother named him Thorne), which is next to the Coulson-Jones estate, Blakewood Hearth. Thorne’s father was, quite frankly, a piece of work, but as a child, Thorne found solace with the Coulton-Joneses and became like one of the family. He joined the army when he was 17 despite being the only son and heir to his father’s estate (although they have no title). However, his right shoulder was badly injured in his first battle and he was sent back to England, anticipating a convalescence of a few months. When he recovered, Michael suggested he work for the Foreign Office, and he was sent on missions mostly to the Iberian Peninsula. Thorne’s father arranged a marriage with Drusilla when he was 18 years old, but they are estranged. She gave birth to their son, Timothy, who is now 5 years old. She remains in the country with Timothy, while Thorne mostly remains in their townhouse in London. He only occasionally returns to the country to take care of estate business.
And there you have it, the specs for the main characters (so far). I thought about including some of the villains, too, but I didn’t want to give away too much since there’s so much about them still shrouded in mystery. I might do a character spec blog post about them at a later date, though.
If you have any questions for me, just leave them in the comments!
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