Captain Harry Hardinge
The first-person narrator, a Welsh Fusiliers officer shaped by romantic disappointment and the Crimean War.
Winifred Lloyd
Harry's steadfast friend and eventual wife, whose affection he recognizes only after war.
Sir Madoc Lloyd
The aging head of Craigaderyn and center of its family world.
Dora
A member of the Craigaderyn circle whose own romantic future contributes to the domestic resolution.
Lady Estelle
Harry's glamorous early love, whose rejection and later life expose the limits of his idealization.
Phil Caradoc
Harry's loyal fellow soldier and Winifred's admirer, killed during the war.
Guilfoyle
A treacherous antagonist in the Welsh and military intrigue.
Valerie Volhonski
The Russian woman whose connection with Harry complicates his Crimean experience.
Tolstoff
A Russian figure involved in Harry's danger and escape.
Corporal Mulligan
A wounded veteran who later serves Harry and reconnects domestic life to the war.