Anne de Larmessin

Anne de Larmessin is Kitsey Barbour's godmother and the imperious, socially prominent organizer of Kitsey's wedding to Theo Decker. She seizes control of the wedding arrangements after Mrs. Barbour's withdrawal, managing the guest list, church, dress, and honeymoon with a grim sense of ceremony that reflects her barely concealed disapproval of Theo as a match for her goddaughter.

Role in the Wedding

Anne de Larmessin is the host of the engagement party for Theo and Kitsey, held at a private club that even Hobie has never entered but knows for its history, architects, and stellar membership. The party is a large affair, with a couple hundred guests including the mayor, both senators, and Prince Albert of Monaco. Anne de Larmessin has "seized high command" of the wedding in what she calls the "crisis" of Mrs. Barbour's indifference. She negotiates for the right church and minister, works out the dazzling guest lists and seating charts, and has final say on everything from the ringbearer's cushion to the cake. She manages to secure the designer for the dress and offers her estate in St. Barth's for the honeymoon. Kitsey phones her whenever a question arises, multiple times per day.

Attitude Toward Theo

Anne de Larmessin is so disturbed by Theo that she can hardly stand to look at him. She considers him worlds from the match she had hoped for her goddaughter. Even his name is too vulgar to be spoken; she refers to him only as "the groom." The pomp and spectacle of the wedding arrangements carry a grim sense of ceremony, as if Kitsey were some lost princess of Ur to be feasted and decked in finery and paraded down in splendor to the Underworld. At the engagement party, Anne de Larmessin wears a stiff taffeta dress with a wrinkled neckline that does not match the tautness of her chiseled face. When a family photograph is taken, she clearly does not consider Theo anything even approaching family.

Narrative Significance

Anne de Larmessin embodies the social world that Theo has entered through his engagement to Kitsey—a world of immense wealth, rigid propriety, and unspoken judgment. Her barely concealed hostility toward Theo underscores the class and cultural distance between him and the Barbour family, even as she orchestrates the elaborate public ceremony that will unite them. Her presence at the engagement party, where she is seen talking with Havistock Irving, also connects Theo's personal drama to the wider social network that includes his antagonist Lucius Reeve.