Diane de Tremontaine

Diane de Tremontaine (not to be confused with Diane Roehaven) is a trendsetting noblewoman with a political mind working to prevent her house’s decline. She was known in the past as a maid called Louisa, but has long since shed this identity, fully embracing her new place as Duchess Tremontaine. Descended from the last queen, who was the sister of the King Killer, and named after the queen who united the North and South.

## Personality

Diane believes that she can control everything, although she prefers to work secretly and through other people. She also believes that everyone is like her, on some level, in terms of personal, public, and political choices, and this often blinds her. She has a history that no one around her suspects. At her core, and understandably, given her secrets, Diane is somewhat fueled by fear, even at her best.

Diane is not universally loved among the nobles, particularly the noble women, many of whom resent her influence on fashions of all kinds. Nor does she like all the nobles, having a particular dislike for the Duke of Karleigh and for the Lindleys. But although Diane is capable of taking Lindley down with one carefully chosen sentence, her power rests on its concealment.

Diane has spent a great deal of time creating a persona that appears unaware of many things of which she is fully cognizant and uninterested in many things in which she is fully invested. However, Diane keeps many secrets. One of these is that, at the beginning of Season 1 of Tremontaine, she is in desperate need of money to pay off a mortgage on Highgate, a Tremontaine property which is of particular importance to her husband, who knows nothing about this. Her hope is to make an alliance with the Balam family of chocolate traders, bartering her influence over the Council of Lords via her husband, which she plans to use to lower the chocolate tax in return for money.

## Background

Louisa served in a penitent hospital, then came to be a young maid serving Diane Roehaven. The two looked extremely alike, save for their eye color. Louisa recognized their similarities, and as a result was rubbed severely by the difference in their stations. Diane Roehaven was 10 when her parents died. She was taken in by Lord Hemmynge and his wife, and betrothed to William when she was 16, by whim of his father, the old Duke Tremontaine, who valued her pure bloodline.

On the way to Tremontaine House, Diane's carriage was attacked by highwaymen, leaving only she (badly wounded) and Louisa as survivors. Louisa could not bear to think of what would happen were Diane Roehaven to recover. Knowing that she was now alone, Louisa killed Diane and continued on to Tremontaine House to wed Duke William in her place.

Diane and William have a daughter, Honora, whom Diane had hoped would marry well at the end of her season, bringing much needed money into the Tremontaine household. But, Honora ran off with a minor country nobleman and cartographer, Raymond Campion. Given the timing, Honora was 14 or 15 at the time. As Season 1 of Tremontaine begins, she has had her second child. William wishes that she would reconcile with Honora, but Diane has not forgiven her.

## During Tremontaine

As Season 1 begins, Diane and William have been married for seventeen years. She runs the household and manages William's public appearances at events like meetings of the Council of Lords.

## People Diane Knows

### Friends

* Basil Halliday
* Gregory (also Lord Davenant, “the Dragon Chancellor” and “Master of the Exchequer”)
* Helena Karleigh
* Humphrey Devize

### Household

#### Named

* Alfred
* Andrew
* Daisy
* Duchamp
* Jack
* Lucinda
* Matilda
* Reynald
* Samuel
* Sapperton
* Thea
* Tilson
* Tolliver
* Wickfield

#### Unnamed

* Violist at the Swan Ball
* Wife of Sapperton

### Enemies

* Asper Lindley
* Aurelia Halliday
* Ben
* Frederick (Duke of Karleigh)
* Horace Lindley
* Rafe Fenton