Lord Teddie Haftenravenscher

Character Analysis

At first glance, Lord Teddie's a "tall, thin young gentleman" (10.30) wearing an "offensively green bow tie" (10.38), who has "curly hair" (19.22) and "hazel eyes" (19.28). Because he's from a neighboring country, he speaks with "a strong Delchastrian accent" (10.37), which mostly means a lot of Britishisms like hulloa and toodle pip.

He seems irrepressibly cheerful, too, and willing to cheer others up as well. When Azalea still believes that Keeper has captured her mom's soul, "Lord Teddie did his best to cheer her up. He handed her a candy stick, recited limericks, guessed at all her favorite dances and told her which ones he liked best" (19.36). That's some pretty legit effort he puts in to try to cheer our main girl up.

Since he comes from a rich background, he's sometimes insensitive to how poor the royal household is. When he misses tea and asks for a snack, he requests "a bit of ham and a sweetmeat or two" (19.46). Problem is, the royal household is too poor to afford those things. When Bramble points out that they only have bread and cheese, "his grin flickered. It was back immediately. The tips of his ears shone pink" (19.49). And then he responds:

"I love bread! […] I love bread and cheese, cheese and bread! I eat them all the time! I'll probably turn into a great wheel of cheese, I like it so much!" (19.50)

Good save, Lord Teddie. We have to give him points for enthusiasm in trying to make up for his social faux pas of assuming that everyone has as much money as he does—and for recognizing it as a faux pas, instead of looking down on Azalea's family.

He's got a generous heart, which is why he treats the girls to a nice Delchastire breakfast of flat cakes with fruits and jams. He's also trying to impress Bramble, who he has a thing for, but she retorts, "I don't want your stupid charity!" (21.196). Bramble misses the point, though: he's doing this because he cares for her, not because he pities her. And when he bursts through the palace windows on horseback to help rescue her, he proves this point once and for all, and she agrees to be with him. Yay.