Mrs. Lennox

Mrs. Lennox, the mother of Mary Lennox, is a figure defined by her beauty, her social ambitions, and her profound neglect of her only child. She is described as a "great beauty" who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people, and she had not wanted a little girl at all. When Mary was born, she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, with instructions to keep the child out of sight as much as possible. Mary, who often called her "Mem Sahib," saw her mother primarily from a distance, admiring her tall, slim figure, her curly silk-like hair, and her lovely clothes that were "full of lace." This distant admiration was not reciprocated with affection or attention; Mrs. Lennox scarcely ever looked at her daughter, and many people never even knew she had a child at all.

Life and Death in India

Mrs. Lennox's life of leisure in India was cut short by a cholera outbreak. On the morning of the crisis, Mary saw her mother on the veranda with a fair young officer, looking scared rather than laughing. Mrs. Lennox wrung her hands and cried out, "Oh, I know I ought! I only stayed to go to that silly dinner party. What a fool I was!" She had ignored advice to go to the hills two weeks earlier. The cholera had already broken out among her servants, and soon after, she and her husband died in the night. Mary was left alone in the bungalow, forgotten by everyone in the panic.

Narrative Role and Significance

Mrs. Lennox's role in the story is primarily that of a catalyst. Her death, along with her husband's, creates the orphaned state that sends Mary from India to Misselthwaite Manor. More importantly, her neglect during Mary's early years is the root cause of Mary's sour, disagreeable, and contrary nature. Mary had never been loved or attended to by her mother, and as a result, she grew up without knowing how to love or be loved in return. Mrs. Lennox's absence is a void that shapes Mary's character, a void that is only filled later by the nurturing influences of the moor, the secret garden, and the Sowerby family. Her memory also haunts Archibald Craven, whose grief over her death has locked him in a decade of misery and caused him to abandon his son and his home.