Regency/Gothic: Thornshire - The Brightmores

(Spoiler-free for Robin)

The Brightmores of Brinry Manor (near Polborn Bottom)

Within the last few years, a plague struck Thornshire and carried off several members of the older generation of the Thornshire gentry.  Sir Peter Brightmore, a dutiful physician who had aided mad King George III through one of his earlier fits, did his best to comfort the families of the ailing, but died himself when his curricle rolled over in the treacherous crossing at Polborn Bottom.

His heir, William Brightmore, is broad-shouldered, handsome, and wicked.  He disdains the country life and spends most of his time in London where he is rumored to be a habitué of gambling hells and bordellos.  William’s mother, Isabel, seems to live in fear of him though she continues to be a busy member of the Thornshire social scene (and is astonishingly lucky at cards).  His younger brother, Dominick, is an affable, sharp-witted hussar lieutenant who is attracted to the gossipy Melissa Griffith.