John Barrymore—Selden

Barrymore’s connection to Selden turns the household’s suspicious nighttime signals into an act of concealed family loyalty. Selden is the younger brother of Barrymore’s wife, Eliza Barrymore; at her urging, Barrymore helps the escaped convict hide and brings him food on the moor, though the secrecy initially makes the household’s conduct look threatening to Sir Henry Baskerville.

Kinship and divided loyalties

Eliza explains that Selden is her younger brother, once a boy she had nursed and played with, but now a notorious criminal whose crimes had broken their mother’s heart and brought shame on the family. Her account holds those identities together: to the authorities he is an escaped convict, while to her he remains the little brother she cannot abandon. That attachment draws Barrymore into the concealment, despite the danger and the moral weight of protecting a fugitive.

Signals and practical aid

The nighttime light at the window is a signal that food is ready for Selden; a light from the moor indicates where it should be taken. Barrymore carries bread and meat to him, and the couple check every second night whether he is still hiding nearby. Selden had first come to them weary and starving, with prison warders close behind; once he chose the moor as a safer hiding place, the repeated signals and deliveries sustained him there.

Confession and its significance

When the secret comes to light, Eliza insists that the assistance was not a scheme against Sir Henry. Barrymore confirms her account, explaining that he had withheld the truth because it was not his secret to tell. Eliza accepts the blame herself, saying that her husband acted for her sake and because she asked him. The disclosure recasts the suspicious lights and nocturnal journeys: they had concealed aid to Selden, not an attack on the Baskerville household. Barrymore’s role is therefore defined by a conflict between secrecy and duty on one side, and loyalty to his wife and her brother on the other.