A maternal relative and close family friend of Nathan Fox, the dowager Lady Breckenridge owns a great deal of land, wealth and shipping interests. These are, however, contingent on her following the terms of her husband's will, especially in the matter of providing 'due care and entertainment' for his bastard son Cyrus. She is herself dying of the syphilis that his mother gave him in the womb, but still has her wits and as much steely dignity as she can muster.