Chitterleigh, Eudora

Supporting character seen in both The Winterbough Saga and The Ballad of Adler Young.

Born Eudora Eichelgruber, she is depicted as a rather attractive, gentle-hearted and romantic squirrel femme, who is skilled in music, dance and Elven literature. At a dinner held in the mess of the Household Cavalry, early in "The Thin Line," she meets Sir Jasper Chitterleigh, and the two almost immediately fall passionately in love with one another. Their relationship is barred by Sir Jasper's father, the odious Lord Twelveoaks, but their respective servants, Meadow Grainmaster and Westersloe Winterbough V openly conspire to help the duo evade this ban.

When Sir Jasper is badly wounded in a (successful) effort to foil the assassination of Crown Prince Gawain and Marshal Roland, Eudora pleads with King Adler to be allowed to wed Sir Jasper. This boon is granted, much to the fury of Lord Twelveoaks. In the interval between Sir Jasper's recovery, and his posting to the United Cities, the two are shown to be very much in love with one another; thus, when Sir Jasper is mortally wounded in the United Cities, and comes back to die in his love's arms at Persoc Tor, it causes her much grief. A sympathetic King Adler grants her the title of Dame in her own right, and she is given a sinecure as a teacher of dance and music in the Court.

In some of the subsequent adventures, she is shown to be flirting, gently, with Winterbough, whom she considers to be a close friend (the affection and respect are mutual). Her knowledge of literature and lore does come into play in "Speaking Volumes," when her collection of poetry forms part of the plot.

In "The Ballad of Adler Young," she is first seen teaching the young Adler Fitzgawain (as he was then known) music and dance. Later on, she has an affair with Adler (owing to his use of Wiles), something that would have been sanctioned by her late husband, who had told Grainmaster and Winterbough that he did not want his love to be chained to a ghost. Later on, she appears to have been framed as a participant in a plot against the Crowns, though Adler Gawainsson comes to her defense.