Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth

Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth glides through London's moneyed elite as its brightest, silliest ornament — an aristocrat with a title, a fortune, and seemingly not a care to match either. She's engaged, endlessly cheerful, prone to malapropisms and champagne, and welcomes the mysterious new American into her circle without a flicker of suspicion.

Tilly Keeper plays the posh dimwit so committed to the bit that you almost miss the loneliness underneath it — Phoebe's chatter is a performance for people who've never once asked how she's actually doing. The writing uses her as comic relief, then keeps quietly proving there's a real person being underestimated in the room.