Mrs. Patricia Peacock: A social "butterfly," Mrs. Peacock dabbled in the theatre and dreamed of a career on the stage. She was forced to leave England after her involvement in a messy romantic triangle with two important political figures. While traveling in the United States, she befriended Margaret Boddy, mother of John Boddy. Widowed thrice, she has one daughter Miss Josephine Scarlet. Because of Peacock's lavish lifestyle, her late husband's fortune is now nearly exhausted.