A lawyer working for Andromeda Wilkes.

James Redcliff always knew he wanted to work in law. Born into a comfortably middle-class family, he grew up in London and went to school there, then used his father's money to attend Cambridge. After graduation he took an apprenticeship in the firm of Perkins, White, and Goodman, and after several years earned the right to call himself a solicitor, if a low-level one.

The firm having been engaged for many years to handle the legal affairs of the Barons Merrifield, upon the death of Baron Ezekiel Wilkes he was assigned to research the family and locate the next in line. After exhausting all other lines of descent he determined the heir to be the Baron's youngest son, Solomon Wilkes, who had left many years before for the West Indies.

Once there, James discovered that Solomon had died just a few weeks prior to his arrival, leaving all his holdings and incomes to his only daughter, Andromeda. As he had discovered in his research that the Merrifield title was one of the few not restricted to males, and indeed the old Baron's grandmother had held the title as had several of her foremothers. And so, he offered the possibilty to Miss Wilkes, prepared to argue that her sex was no object but never realizing that as the daughter of an Englishman and his mulatto wife, her color might be.

Upon returning to London with the lady and her household, he discovered that his superiors did not share his opinion of her suitability, and refused to support her claim. In fact, he was strongly encouraged to leave and find employment elsewhere. He quickly found it in the service of Miss Wilkes herself, acting as her personal solicitor and advisor on the unfamiliar customs of Britain and the upper classes there.