Meet the Wellington Cross Series Characters
This is where you can learn more about my Wellington Cross characters.
Wellington Belle
Belle Wellington: If you've read Wellington Rose, you've already met Annie Belle Wellington. She is the third daughter and fifth child of Madeline and Ethan Wellington, who live at Wellington Cross Plantation. When last we saw Annie Belle, she had been a 10-year-old young girl who could often be found spying on her sisters, especially in the company of men. She became known as a tattle-tell, but she was just trying to look out for her sisters and keep them safe. She was also curious about their interactions with boys. In this book, Wellington Belle, Annie has grown up to the age of 20 and now goes by her middle name, Belle. She has been working at a boarding house called Adams House for two years now, and the proprietor, Amanda Adams, has asked if she would like to move into the boarding house to help her be more involved and to be available to prepare an evening meal for the guests. In the first chapter, we see her arguing with her parents at Wellington Cross about moving to the boarding house, and she finally succeeds. Once she becomes a resident of Adams House, she starts seeing a man around the house that she has never seen before who is both annoyingly rude and annoyingly handsome. After some unfortunate events in the house, Belle finds herself relying on this man, Jason Adams, although she questions his innocence and his motives. She eventually falls in love with him after dancing with him at her family's annual Spring Ball, and they end up running the house together and trying to solve some mysteries.
Jason Adams: Jason is a man with secrets. We first see him sneaking around the boarding house, and Belle suspects he is a lover of the proprietor, Amanda. Jason ignores Belle and is rude to her until one night when he asks for her help with Amanda, who is found curled up on her bed, blood on her gown and scratches on her face. As Jason and Belle try to figure out what happened to her, a guest is found dead, and Jason has to take over running the house. It is later discovered that Jason had lost both his parents in a fire shortly after he was born, he was raised by his aunt, and he lost his wife in a carriage accident a couple of years ago. He has endured a lot of loss and pain. Belle soon realizes that she wants to be the one who makes him happy again.
Amanda Adams: Amanda has her own secrets. She is the proprietor of Adams House, a boarding house she runs with her cousin and Belle Wellington. She is a red-haired beauty with a pleasant smile for everyone, but she hides many secrets. She is found one night curled up on her bed in the fetal position, whimpering, with blood on her gown. She accused a man of raping her, and then that man ended up dead that very night. As she tries to recover, she eventually goes out to the country to live on her aunt's plantation, where she starts taking walks and spending time with Belle's brother, Bertie Wellington. Eventually her secrets cost too much to hold onto and she must let them go before someone else is hurt.
Amanda Adams: Amanda is a character you met in Wellington Belle, if you've read that book. Wellington Beaus picks up right where W. Belle left off. In Wellington Beaus, Amanda starts the story out waiting for her friends and family to arrive at her birthday party, at Adams House. Belle has finally healed up from her gunshot injuries, and she and Jason are getting ready to leave for their honeymoon. Amanda gets a surprise proposal from Bertie Wellington, which she accepts, but they have a rocky engagement, due to an old fiancee of Bertie's: Millie Harrison Tucker. She hires Millie to be the boarding house's housemaid, but Amanda soon finds out a secret between Bertie and Millie that makes her decide to break off the engagement. An impromptu trip to North Carolina changes the relationship between Amanda and Bertie. Will they eventually find happiness?
Bertie Wellington: Albert "Bertie" Wellington is the second son to Madeline and Ethan Wellington. He is the deputy sheriff for Charles City and lives in a small house close to the sheriff's office. At 26 years old, he is single but soon to be engaged to Amanda Adams. Their relationship seems perfect until Bertie's ex-fiancee, Millie, comes to town. She had broken off their engagement years ago for another man. Millie now moves into the boarding house with her two children as a widow. Bertie assures a jealous Amanda that there is nothing between him and Millie, but a mysterious man follows her to town who just might have something to do with the death of Millie's husband. Bertie feels like he needs to protect her for her own safety. But Amanda finds out a secret between Bertie and Millie that makes her think twice about marrying him. Will they be able to mend their relationship?
Godfrey Wellington: Godfrey is the oldest son of Madeline and Ethan Wellington. He followed in his father's footsteps by getting into the cotton business. He owns his own plantation, Wellington Manor, which is located in City Point, Virginia, at the point where the James and Appomattox Rivers meet. He is happily married to Cecilia and expecting his first child. A tragedy occurs when Cecilia goes into labor...a tragedy that will change his life forever. He wants to forget everything but decisions need to be made. A family cousin he didn't know existed threatens to take something important away from him. He soon comes to rely on Malynn Selman, a woman who has also had grief in her life. What will he decide to do?
Malynn Selman: You have already met Malynn if you've read Wellington Belle. She was involved with a dastardly man, whom she followed to Charles City and helped Deputy Bertie bring to justice. Malynn has been working at the boarding house, Adams House, as the housemaid, but Madeline Wellington unexpectedly invites Malynn and her baby girl into her plantation home. Malynn tries various ways to help Madeline's son Godfrey with his unexpected grief, including a Navajo ritual she learned while living in Colorado. Malynn soon teams up with Godfrey against a cousin who tries to manipulate a situation that resulted from Godfrey's tragedy. Before she knows it, she develops feelings for Godfrey that she knows he could not reciprocate, but he surprises her with a business proposition that causes her to leave Wellington Cross.
Mildred "Millie" Harrison-Tucker: Millie was engaged to Bertie Wellington many years ago but broke it off to marry another man, Martin Tucker. She finds herself in a predicament when Martin is shot by another man, and she moves back to Charles City with two children. She becomes the new housemaid for Adams House, a boarding house in town. She soon discovers that she has been followed to the boarding house by the very man who shot her husband: Billy Trentworth. Bertie gets involved in trying to keep her safe, but she soon finds herself falling for Billy, despite her best efforts not to. When she discovers a secret of his, will it change how she feels about him?
Billy Trentworth: Billy is a man who shoots Millie Tucker's husband, Martin Tucker, for having his brother wrongly hung. Martin was an attorney in Williamsburg, Virginia, who wrongly accuses Howard Trentworth of a murder, and Howard ends up getting hung for the crime. Billy is sure Howard is innocent and therefore finds Martin and shoots him dead. He then followed the man's wife, Millie, to Charles City, to Adams House. He decides to book a room at the boarding house for two weeks and see what happens next. He felt the need to keep a close eye on Millie, though she is suspicious of him immediately. He finds himself falling in love with her, despite thinking she could not possibly fall for a man like him.
Wellington Letters
Judy Wheeler-Morehouse: Judy Wheeler is a cousin of Dr. William Brown. Her mother Patsy and William's mother were sisters. Judy was just fifteen years old when the War Between the States began in 1861. By 1863, her father, two brothers, and cousin William had all gone off to war, and she and her mother lived alone at their family home in Petersburg, Virginia. They had a two-story brick home on the Appomattox River with several dependencies. One fateful day in June 1864, a lone soldier stumbled onto their front porch steps carrying a letter that he was unable to deliver. Judy takes it upon herself to put the letter into the hands of Confederate Colonel Jackson. First, she must get away from the Union soldiers who have invaded her family home. She and her mother end up in Colonial Heights tending to wounded soldiers at the Dandridge home where they see many deaths. Somewhere along the way, Judy falls in love with kind, blue-eyed Benjamin Morehouse, a Union soldier, much to the dismay of her family. If you're read Wellington Grove and A Wellington Christmas, you've already met Judy. This book will delve into her past.
Benjamin Morehouse: Benjamin was a kind, strong man who had dark wavy hair, full beard and mustache, and long lashes surrounding green eyes. He was a corporal in the Union Army in 1864 during the Civil War. Originally from New York, he was one of a small band of men leftover from the Battle of Cold Harbor. His group had discovered a spy in their midst who had escaped with a bullet wound but carried a secret letter he was determined to deliver to a Confederate colonel. Ben's leader, Sergeant Warren, was a crude man who had no regard for how to treat a woman and tried to force himself on the pretty red-haired Southern woman they had just met while looking for the spy. Judy had caught Ben's attention and he soon found himself protecting her from his own sergeant. He helped her and her mother escape to a safe place but ended up getting shot in the process. He eventually gets caught by the Confederates at Baylor's Farm where he realizes he has fallen in love with Judy. If you've read Wellington Grove and A Wellington Christmas, you know that Ben and Judy got married.
Dr. Liam Brown: Liam Brown is the oldest child of Ginny and Dr. William Brown. Liam was born in 1874 and is twenty-four years old in this book. He lives at the boarding house in town, Adams House, which is owned by his cousin Belle Wellington-Adams and her husband Jason. Liam works in his parents' Medical Clinic and Apothecary, which he runs by himself on the weekends when his parents travel out to their plantation, The Forest Plantation. Liam is sweet on the new housemaid at Adams House, a Spanish lady named Isabel, but she won't give him the time of day. War has broken out in Cuba with Spain, and Liam joins Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders and heads to Texas for training. He eventually finds himself in the jungles of Cuba where he encounters exhaustion, death, disease, and surprisingly, love. The war is brief, but troubles follow him on the ship back to America. He hopes to end up with the woman he loves, if he survives.
Isabel Martinez: Isabel is a twenty-two-year-old woman who works as a housekeeper at Adams House, the boarding house in Charles City, Virginia. She is three-quarters Spanish and one-quarter Cuban and was separated from her sister and grandmother when she was twelve. She missed her family dearly and still pined for someone from her homeland of Spain who promised his love to her. Yet when she met Dr. Liam Brown, she felt a spark of attraction. When he went away to join the Spanish-American War in Cuba, she asked him to write her. She was hoping he would find her family. Through their letter writing, she finds herself falling for him. Yet when he returns, he is on the arm of another woman! Will she be able to have the man she loves?