Moira DeFrees

Moira DeFrees is a dealer in nineteenth-century watercolors and one of the closest friends of James Hobart, the antiques restorer who becomes Theodore Decker's guardian. A fixture in the New York art and society world, she is a warm, physically affectionate woman who, despite her stiff clothes and strong perfumes, is a hugger and a cuddler, with the old-ladyish habit of liking to hold a listener's arm or pat a hand while talking. She is a regular presence at Hobart and Blackwell, the shop on West Tenth Street, and her townhouse on East Sixty-Third Street serves as an uptown analogue to Hobie's downtown home, packed with antiques and featuring frightening Bengal cats that dig their claws into visitors' knees.

Role in Theo's Life

Mrs. DeFrees is one of the first people Hobie introduces to Theo after the boy arrives on his doorstep, and she immediately enfolds him into her circle. She is present at celebratory dinners, such as the one marking Theo's acceptance into an early-college program, where she links her arm through his and chirps with delight. She also accompanies Hobie and Theo to showings at Christie's and Sotheby's, where Hobie pores over every piece while she and Theo wait. Her manner is consistently warm and approving; she remarks that Theo is a "socially alert little creature" and, on another occasion, tells him he looks "bien élégante." She is also a source of information about Welty Blackwell, Hobie's deceased business partner, explaining that Welty was an "agoramaniac" who loved people and the marketplace, and that he had the "antiquaire's gift" for knowing what belonged with whom.

Relationship with Hobie and Welty

Mrs. DeFrees's friendship with Hobie is deep and long-standing. She is often present at the shop and at dinners, and she is the person Hobie turns to when he needs information about a troubling figure like Lucius Reeve, asking her if she knows the man. She is also a link to Welty's past, and she understands the significance of Welty giving Theo his ring, interpreting it as a deliberate act meant to bring Theo to Hobie. Her relationship with Hobie is a subject of some mystery to Theo; she is married to a man named DeFrees, whom Theo never sees, but she and Hobie are together constantly, and she has a house in Connecticut where they sometimes go for weekends. Hobie calls her by her first name, Moira, and she is a regular at his dinners, which include a mix of New School and Columbia professors, opera-orchestra and preservation-society ladies, and various dealers and collectors.

Social Position and Character

Mrs. DeFrees moves comfortably in the same social circles as Samantha Barbour, though her manner is far warmer and more demonstrative. She is a dealer in nineteenth-century watercolors, and her own home is packed with antiques. She is perceptive and sharp, noting Theo's social alertness and his discomfort. Despite her formal clothes and strong perfumes, she is physically affectionate, a trait that contrasts with the more reserved Mrs. Barbour. She is also a source of comfort and stability for Theo, a constant presence in the world of Hobie's house that he comes to rely on after his chaotic years in Las Vegas.