Mrs. Rathbone once helped her husband as a lifesaver on the Unmarked River. After he was maimed by a Markless criminal, she, like he, turns against the Markless and turns their home from an anchor station into a trap.
Biography[]
Mrs. Rathbone grew up in what once was Great Britain, where she married Mr. Rathbone and weathered the European War at his side. During the war she bore their only child, Winston. When the war ended, she and Mr. Rathbone recognized that Dominic Cylis, the chancellor of the reformed European Union, would bring his Marking program to Great Britain, despite how strongly most British citizens opposed it. The Rathbones decided that they might as well benefit by being the first to be Marked, so they became among the first in Britain to Pledge. Their subsequent unpopularity forced them to leave Great Britain, but Cylis provided them with diplomatic immunity, a private mansion in the American Union, and more luxury foods than Cylis himself ate.
Mrs. Rathbone, however, disliked some of Cylis's policies, and so she and her husband joined the Unmarked River, offering food and shelter to Markless travellers. The arrangement seemed to work well at first, with the Rathbones benefitting from the government while acting against it in secret. Unfortunately, the Rathbones made the mistake of offering shelter to a Markless criminal who cut off Mr. Rathbone's hand and wrist, presumably in order to make a purchase of some kind. Mrs. Rathbone was furious about the betrayal, and she, with her husband, began contacting the IMPS whenever Rivergoers stopped at the Rathbone home.
Sneak[]
“So how does a family like you end up in a mansion like this in the middle of nowhere?”
“We’d hate to bore you with the details.”
—Tyler and Mrs. Rathbone
Mrs. Rathbone helps her husband greet the Dust and make them feel comfortable, offering them luxury foods that they had never seen in their lives. With her husband, however, Mrs. Rathbone is secretly planning to entrap the Dust. When Winston tackles his father to allow Eddie to escape, Mrs. Rathbone fights to subdue her son. Fortunately for the Dust, she arrives at the fight after Eddie was already out the door. Mrs. Rathbone helps free her husband, but not fast enough for them to catch the Dust as well.
Personality[]
Mrs. Rathbone is, at least, loyal to her husband. In general, however, she is a very self-serving person. She has no core belief that she is not willing to compromise for her own benefit.
Family and Relationships[]
Mrs. Rathbone seems to have a close relationship with her husband, but their closeness may stem more from their mutual conspiracies than any normal marital bonds. Any relationship she may have had with Winston had disintegrated by the time the Dust met the Rathbone family. Winston resented his parents' deceit, but--since he could not openly voice his opinion--he frequently compensated with rudeness and sarcasm.