Afterward characters

Appears from the start

An American woman who returns to England with her husband after years abroad. Mary wants an old country house with a history and is intrigued, rather than alarmed, by the possibility that their chosen home may be haunted. Her practical confidence is tested when an ordinary-looking visitor enters her settled life at Lyng.

Appears from the start

Mary's husband, an American businessman who has made enough money for the couple to retire to England. He is absorbed in arranging his papers and in unresolved affairs connected with a mining venture, though he initially treats the promised ghost at Lyng as part of the house's charm.

Appears from the start

A cousin of the Boynes who helps them search for an old English house. She knows Lyng and repeats its peculiar reputation: the place has a ghost, but those who encounter it understand what they have seen only later.

First appears in chapter 3

A man associated with Ned's troubled Blue Star mining business. His claims and financial ruin are among the American matters that continue to disturb Ned after the Boynes have settled in England.

First appears in chapter 4

A quiet, plainly dressed man whom Mary sees approaching Lyng. Because Ned appears to receive him, she assumes he is an expected caller connected with the American business papers. His visit is followed by Ned's unexplained absence.

First appears in chapter 5

A visitor from America who brings Mary a fuller account of Robert Elwell's dispute with Ned. The facts and an image he supplies allow her to connect Ned's disappearance with the unidentified man who came to Lyng.