Agatha Ponsonby
Fictional character
Agatha is an older childhood friend of Richard’s, evacuated to The Priory during the war and treated by the Warren family as a combination of playmate and governess. She is “two or three years” older than Richard and has remained close to him despite their divergent sexualities and a period of reduced contact (“Puttenham Junction”).
Agatha is brisk, practical, socially confident and often commanding. She is comfortable with domestic management, sexual frankness, deception and operational authority. Her speech is more direct than Richard’s and less mannered than Smallwood’s. She frequently takes charge without waiting for permission.