Alida Slade: Middle-aged widow of Delphin Slade. Because so much of her identity is wrapped up in her relationship to her husband, "it was a big drop from being the wife of Delphin Slade to being his widow."
Delphin Slade: "[A] famous corporation lawyer," and the late husband of Alida. Delphin's "big coup in Wall Street" allowed him to move his family from East 73rd Street to the more fashionable "upper Park Avenue."
Grace Ansley: Middle-aged widow of well-to-do Horace Ansley. She is "smaller and paler" than Mrs. Slade and "evidently far less sure than her companion of herself and of her rights in the world."
Horace Ansley: Late husband of Grace. He and his wife are variously described as "Museum specimens of old New York. Good-looking, irreproachable, exemplary."
Barbara Ansley: Daughter of Grace Ansley. In the opening paragraphs of the story, we hear her "mocking voice in the stairway" as she and Jenny Slade depart. While the girls' parents contend that they're both "angels," Mrs. Slade suggests that Grace's daughter has "rainbow wings."
Jenny Slade: Daughter of Alida Slade. Younger than Barbara, she is "that rare accident, an extremely pretty girl who somehow made youth and prettiness seem as safe as their absence." Mrs. Slade wishes "that Jenny would fall in love--with the wrong man, even; that she might have to be watched, out-manoeuvred, rescued. And instead, it was Jenny who watched her mother, kept her out of draughts, made sure that she had taken her tonic. . . ."
Headwaiter: Supervising waiter at the terrace restaurant overlooking the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and other ancient ruins. After receiving a gratuity from Alida Slade, he invites Alida and Grace to remain at the restaurant to enjoy the view. Notably, the headwaiter has no dialogue in the story—his ideas are communicated secondhand by way of the narrator.
Son of Alida Slade: Child who "inherited his father's gifts," but "died suddenly in boyhood."
Harriet: Deceased great-aunt of Grace. According to a story handed down, Harriet and her sister loved the same man. To get rid of her sister, Harriet supposedly tricked her into exposing herself to Roman fever. She later died of the disease.
