Henry Lennox

Henry Lennox is a rising London barrister, sharp-tongued and self-assured, who arrives at the Hales' door with obvious affection for Margaret and little doubt about his own prospects. He is charming in the way of a man used to being liked, quick with a compliment and quicker with an opinion, confident that ambition and wit will carry the day.

John Light plays him with a polish that never curdles into villainy — Lennox is the sensible, socially correct choice, and the performance makes his self-assurance likeable even as the story quietly argues against it. He works as a foil: everything Thornton isn't, delivered with enough genuine warmth that his disappointment stings rather than satisfies.