Sarah

As the main protagonist of the story, Sarah is the older of the two housemaids who has been living under the care of housekeeper Mrs. Hill since she was 6 after being left an orphan when her parents and her brother pass away from cholera. She is regarded as beautiful by James, but she does not believe so herself. She is gray eyed and small framed but has a strong independent streak. At first, Sarah is extremely suspicious of new servant James Smith, but she grows to care for him gradually, especially after finding his bag of seashells one night while snooping through his room. She strikes up a friendship with a servant from a neighboring house, Ptolemy Bingley, but it is stopped short by Mrs. Hill when Sarah is found to be smoking cigarettes with him. Mrs. Hill believes that Sarah has romantic interests in Ptolemy, and she...