A "tussie-mussie" is a small bouquet of flowers and herbs. In a scene set in October 1866, one of my characters, Mexico City resident Mrs. Yorke, uses it to describe her visitors, an unlikely mix of the respectable and outré — and an oyster-eating dog named Jimmy. Herewith a cast of characters* from the novel: *Why so many? Read more about the novel's unusual architecture in the Reader's Guide. See also my guest-blog post for the Book Drunkard Blog, "Top 5 of the Tussie-Mussie"

Iturbide Family (see genealogies)
Agustín de Iturbide (The Liberator)
Emperor of Mexico; executed 1824.

Ana (Madame de Iturbide)
Empress of Mexico; d. Philadelphia, 1861.

Agustín Gerónimo de Iturbide
Eldest son of the Emperor Iturbide.

Sabina, daughter of the Emperor Iturbide
A nun in Philadelphia.

Josefa (Pepa; Princess Iturbide)
Daughter of the Emperor Iturbide; aunt, godmother, and after September 1865, governess of Prince Agustín.

Angel (Angelo) de Iturbide
A diplomat, second son of the Emperor Iturbide and father of Agustín de Iturbide y Green.

Alice (Alicia) Green de Iturbide
Wife of don Angel de Iturbide and mother of Agustín de Iturbide y Green.
(View a portrait of Alice and her son.)

Agustín Cosme de Iturbide
Youngest (posthumous) son of the Emperor Iturbide

Agustín (Atín; Agustinito; Prince Agustín) de Iturbide y Green
Son of Angel and Alice de Iturbide, b. Mexico City 1863; grandson of the emperor Agustín de Iturbide; "adopted" by the Emperor Maximilian in September 1865. (View his carte-de-visite, circa 1865)



Salvador (Salvo) de Iturbide
Grandson of the Emperor Iturbide, an orphan, also "adopted" by the Emperor Maximilian in September 1865.

José Malo
A cousin.

Others in Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Green
Alice Green de Iturbide's mother. She inherited Rosedale, the country estate in Washington, D.C. founded by her father, General Uriah Forrest.

John Green
Alice Green de Iturbide's father, who saw action in Tripoli with Decatur.

Commodore Decatur
U.S. Naval officer, Hero of the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.

Aunt Sally
The Green's cook (a slave).

General Juan Nepocumeno Almonte
Illegitimate son of Morelos; a protegé of Santa Anna's; Ambassador to the United States; later one of the Mexican delegation to go to Trieste to formally invite Maximilian to the throne; after the French occupation of Mexico City, chief executive of the Regency; in 1866, Mexico's ambassador to France.

Madame Almonte
General Almonte's wife, later a lady of honor to Empress Carlota.

Baron de Bodisco
The Czar's Ambassador to Washington.

Mr Seward
U.S. Secretary of State.

Thomas Corwin
U.S. Senator for Ohio; later U.S. Minister to Mexico.

In Austria

Maximilian
Archduke of Austria; Emperor of Mexico. (Visit the Maximilian web page, many links)

Carlota (Charlotte)
Princess of Belgium; Archduchess of Austria; Empress of Mexico.

Franz Joseph (the Kaiser; All-Highest)
Kaiser or Emperor of Austria, Maximilian's older brother.

Sissi
Empress of Austria.

Rudolph
Crown Prince of Austria.

Sophie
Archduchess of Austria; Maximilian's mother.

Karl Ludwig
Archduke of Austria; Maximilian's younger brother.

Dr Jilek
Maximilian's doctor in Miramar.

In Paris

Louis Napoléon (Napoleon III)
Emperor of France.

Eugénie
Empress of France.

Louis (The Child of France)
Prince Imperial of France.


John Bigelow
U.S. Minister to the Court of Louis Napoleon III. (Pictured right)

Mrs Bigelow
Wife of John Bigelow.

Grace Bigelow
Oldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Bigelow.

Dr Evans
American dentist; confidant to both Mr Bigelow and Louis Napoleon.

E. Gould Buffum
Paris correspondent for the New York Herald.

Drouyn de Lhuys
French Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Don José Hidalgo
Maximilian's ambassador in Paris.

General Almonte (see above, in Washington)

Madame Almonte (see above, in Washington)

Madame de Iturbide (see Alice, or Alicia de Iturbide, above)

Count Karl Bombelles, "Charlie" (see below, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Count Del Valle
Mexican Court Chamberlain.

Madame del Barrio
Mexican lady-in-waiting to the Empress Carlota in Paris.

The Murat Princes
Descendants of Joaquin Murat and Napoleon Bonaparte's sister (see Joaquin Murat, below).

French Historical Figures Mentioned

Marie-Antoinette
Archduchess of Austria; Queen of France;executed 1793.

Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon; Bonaparte)
Emperor of France, uncle of Louis Napoleon.

Josephine
Empress of France, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Marie-Louise
Archduchess of Austria, second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Joaquim Murat
Brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, and King of Naples; executed 1815.

Louis-Philippe
King of France; Charlotte's father; abdicated in 1848.

In England

Queen Victoria
Queen of England; Charlotte's first cousin; niece of King Leopold.

Prince Albert
Consort of Queen Victoria.

Marie Amélie (Grand-maman)
Ex-Queen of France living in exile in Claremont; Charlotte's maternal grandmother.

Prince Joinville
Charlotte's maternal uncle.

In Belgium

King Leopold
King of the Belgians; Charlotte's father; died December 1865.

King Leopold II
King of the Belgians; Charlotte's eldest brother.

Count of Flanders
Charlotte's brother Philippe.

In Mexico's Imperial Residence and Palace

Advisors, Officials, Senior Staff, and Palace Guards:

Herr von Kuhacsevich
Purser of the Imperial Household.

(Señora) Frau von Kuhacsevich
Mistress of the Imperial Household.

Schertzenlechner
A chancellor.

Count Karl de Bombelles (Charlie)
Head of the Palatine Guard.

Professor Billimeck
Maximilian's naturalist; a Capuchin friar.

Monsieur Eloin
Belgian advisor to Maximilian and Charlotte.

José Luis Blasio
Maximilian's secretary.
(Blasio was the author of a splendid memoir, Maximiliano íntimo.
Click on the link from his name to read more him and this work.)

Father Fischer
German priest; advisor to Maximilian.

Lieutenant Horst Weissbrunn
Austrian volunteer assigned to the Palatine Guard.

Monsieur Langlais
(Jacques Langlais), a financial expert sent by Louis Napoleon to oversee the Mexican finances.

José Fernando Ramírez
Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Baron Stefan Herzfeld
Maximilian's aide de camp and later Consul General in Vienna; came to Mexico summer 1866.

Dr Semeleder
Maximilian's doctor in Mexico.

Dr Basch
Maximilian's last doctor in Mexico; began work in September 1866.

Servants:

Mathilde Doblinger
Carlota's wardrobe maid.

Olivia
First nanny of Prince Agustín (after Lupe).

Tere
Second nanny of Prince Agustín.

Tüdos
Hungarian chef.

Grill
Maximilian's valet.

Others in Mexico

In the Gómez Pedraza Household:

Doña Juliana de Gómez Pedraza
Landlady of don Angel de Iturbide; widow of Manuel Gómez Pedraza, one of the Emperor Iturbide's closest friends.

Don Manuel Gómez Pedraza
Mexican general and president 1832-33; died 1851.

Lupe
Kitchen maid and later nanny of Agustín de Iturbide y Green.

Chole
Cook.

Bandits:

El Mapache
A bandit, lately a Juárista guerrilla.

El Tuerto
Leader of the bandits in Río Frío.

In Society:

Mrs. Yorke
An American resident in Mexico City.
P.S. For a bit more about Mrs Yorke, see my guest-blog post for bookreporter.com

Sara Yorke
Daughter of Mrs York; a young girl. She later married, and as Sara Yorke Stevenson, wrote a classic memoir, Maximilian in Mexico. Read her fascinating biography on-line here.

Don Eusebio
The richest man in Mexico.

Count Villavaso
Neighbor of Doña Juliana de Gómez Pedraza.

Prince Felix Salm-Salm
A Prussian mercenary.

Princess Salm-Salm
Wife of Prince zu Salm-Salm; an American from Vermont by way of Washington, D.C. Read her fascinating bio on-line here. She was not a circus-rider, as gossips claimed, but she was related to President Lincoln. There is ample dispute about her attempts to help Maximilian near the end of the Second Empire. Her version of the story does not match others's.

Mexican Officials and Their Wives:

General Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, (see above, in Washington)

Madame Almonte, (see above, in Washington)

French Military Officials and Their Wives:

General Achille Bazaine
Supreme Commander of the French Imperial Forces in Mexico.

Madame Bazaine (Pepita de la Peña)
Niece of Doña Juliana de Gómez Pedraza; second wife of General Bazaine.

Captain Charles Blanchot
General Bazaine's aide-de-camp. Author of the memoir L'Intervention Française au Mexique.

Madame Blanchot
Wife of Captain Blanchot; daughter of Mrs. Yorke.

Vicountess de Noue
Wife of a French officer.

Pierron
A captain.

Ambassadors

Marquis de la Rivera
Spanish ambassador to the Court of Mexico.

Count Guido von Thun
Austrian ambassador to the Court of Mexico.

Baron Frédéric Victor d'Huart
Officier d'ordonnance of the Count of Flanders and member of the party of Belgian envoys to the Court of Mexico in 1866.

Other Mexican Political Figures:

General Uraga
General in the Mexican Imperial Army.

Gutierrez d'Estrada
Mexican exile; leader of conservative party that brought Maximilian to Mexico.

Benito Juárez
President of the Mexican Republic.

Antonio López de Santa Anna
Leader of the rebellion that overthrew the emperor Iturbide; President of Mexico on eleven past occasions, including during the U.S.-Mexican War of 1848; in exile on St Thomas during most of the Second Empire.

In Rome

Count Karl Bombelles (see above, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Count del Valle (see above, in Paris)

Madame del Barrio (see above, in Paris)

José Luis Blasio (see above, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Herr von Kuhacsevich (see above, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Frau von Kuhacsevich (see above, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Mathilde Doblinger (see above, in Mexico's Imperial Residences and Palace)

Cardinal Antonelli
The Vatican's Secretary of State

Pope Pius IX (Pio Nono)
Pope from 1846-1878.

Dr Bohuslavek
The Empress Carlota's doctor.

Velázquez de Leon
Mexican Empire's acting consul in Rome.