Lady Farrier

Lady Farrier is a co-leader of the Checquy Court, a powerful figure able to enter and alter another person’s mind, and one of the people whose judgment shapes Myfanwy Thomas’s position as Rook. Her story links the Court’s internal crisis to its new leader’s precarious inheritance: Farrier initially permits Myfanwy to take the office out of obligation to her predecessor, but ultimately endorses the decision as right for the Checquy.

Position and Capabilities

Farrier stands among the heads of the Checquy. At the formal reception for Croatoan envoys, she and Sir Henry Wattleman greet Bishop Morales, after which the Court members introduce themselves. The reception’s carefully maintained civility gives way to violence when some Retainers turn against their Court members. Farrier’s own bodyguard attacks her, making her one of the leaders directly endangered by the betrayal.

Myfanwy considers Farrier a possible source of the threat to her memories because Farrier can enter another person’s mind and alter it. That ability makes her a plausible suspect, but not, in Myfanwy’s assessment, a proven conspirator. Myfanwy’s research has found no indication that Farrier’s actions serve anything other than the Checquy, and she reasons that Farrier has little cause to turn against her after Myfanwy recently protected her family.

The Reception Attack

At the reception, the apparent courtesies conceal an attack within the organization. Farrier’s bodyguard turns on her, and Farrier later emphasizes how disturbing it is that Retainers were willing to attack their own Court members—and that so many did so. She asks whether the remaining Retainers should be escorted out, reflecting the immediate breakdown of confidence between the Court and its staff.

Myfanwy argues against treating the surviving Retainers as disloyal simply because others betrayed their principals. She points to their willingness to put themselves in danger to protect the Court. Her concern is personal as well as institutional: she and Ingrid Woodhouse have found Anthony dead after the attack, and Farrier’s proposal could have separated Myfanwy from the assistant she trusts. Farrier remains doubtful and asks whether the Retainers have been searched for weapons, a practical response that shows the crisis is not resolved by an appeal to loyalty alone.

Suspicion and Political Judgment

After the attack, Myfanwy searches for whoever might be able to erase her memories. Farrier’s mental power places her under suspicion, but Myfanwy weighs that possibility against the history she has uncovered: Farrier owes her a debt, and Myfanwy has recently acted to protect Farrier’s family. The suspicion remains a question rather than a revelation. Myfanwy finds no evidence that Farrier has joined the treachery, and the reader is not given grounds to identify her as the person behind the threat.

Farrier’s authority is also visible in her capacity to make decisions about the Rook’s appointment. In the aftermath of the confrontation with Conrad Grantchester, she tells Myfanwy that she had initially worried that honoring her debt to Myfanwy’s predecessor might have been a serious mistake and might have endangered the realm. She had been prepared to terminate Myfanwy if her performance harmed the Checquy. Her judgment therefore combines personal obligation with institutional scrutiny: the debt opened the door, but Myfanwy’s conduct determines whether Farrier considers that choice justified.

Recognition of Myfanwy

Farrier eventually tells Myfanwy that she believes she did the right thing by permitting her to take the place of Rook Thomas. The judgment marks a change from fearful, conditional acceptance to an expressed willingness to work with the new Rook. She shakes Myfanwy’s hand and looks ahead to their future collaboration, even suggesting that Myfanwy may rise beyond the rank of Rook.

The exchange is not uncomplicated reassurance. Farrier laughs without humor before leaving, while Myfanwy watches her go. The moment presents recognition as a political and personal concession rather than effortless warmth: Farrier has accepted Myfanwy’s performance and affirmed her place, but the history of the appointment remains tied to obligation, danger, and the possibility of failure. In the novel’s treatment of inherited identity, Farrier is a consequential judge of whether Myfanwy can occupy a role that began as a substitute for someone else.