Mrs Lennox
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Mrs Lennox is a rich lady living in Bath. She is also the owner of Starecross Hall and, later, the patroness of Mr Segundus. She is very wealthy - we are told that she was "born rich" and became richer by her marriage - a widow, about Mr Segundus's own age and somewhat stout.
When Mr Segundus first meets her she is wearing a violet gown, an Indian shawl, nursing a little lapdog and rather bored for lack of occupation[41]. She is very kind (though a little overbearing) when Mr Segundus swoons. She at once invites him to dine with her and her companion Mrs Blake, and in conversation over the meal is very quick to realize the excellent commercial prospects of a school for magicians. Indeed she at once proposes to lend Mr Segundus money to set up such a school; and when he demurs at the thought of becoming a borrower overcomes his objection by offering to go into partnership with him instead.
In short Mrs Lennox is a woman who both makes up her mind quickly and is swift to act on her decisions. She well merits the description of her which John Childermass later gives: "an excellent woman for business". But we are also told that not only is she "famed for her bold, decisive temper" but also "her many charitable activities and the warmth of her friendship"; so her motives in funding the setting-up of a school may not be purely governed by the hope of profit. It is clear from her first conversation with Mr Segundus that she likes him very well, and esteems his character as much as many who have known him longer: "I do not believe you have ever given your friends a moment's anxiety - except for worrying that this wicked world would quickly take advantage of someone so honest."
Mrs Lennox, we hear, spent many happy days at Starecross when she was a little girl. It may be she was a connexion of the family that first built the Hall (or that indeed since we are told she was "born rich", that she was its last descendant and heiress.)[41].
When Mr Segundus first meets her she is wearing a violet gown, an Indian shawl, nursing a little lapdog and rather bored for lack of occupation[41]. She is very kind (though a little overbearing) when Mr Segundus swoons. She at once invites him to dine with her and her companion Mrs Blake, and in conversation over the meal is very quick to realize the excellent commercial prospects of a school for magicians. Indeed she at once proposes to lend Mr Segundus money to set up such a school; and when he demurs at the thought of becoming a borrower overcomes his objection by offering to go into partnership with him instead.
In short Mrs Lennox is a woman who both makes up her mind quickly and is swift to act on her decisions. She well merits the description of her which John Childermass later gives: "an excellent woman for business". But we are also told that not only is she "famed for her bold, decisive temper" but also "her many charitable activities and the warmth of her friendship"; so her motives in funding the setting-up of a school may not be purely governed by the hope of profit. It is clear from her first conversation with Mr Segundus that she likes him very well, and esteems his character as much as many who have known him longer: "I do not believe you have ever given your friends a moment's anxiety - except for worrying that this wicked world would quickly take advantage of someone so honest."
Mrs Lennox, we hear, spent many happy days at Starecross when she was a little girl. It may be she was a connexion of the family that first built the Hall (or that indeed since we are told she was "born rich", that she was its last descendant and heiress.)[41].