Character Analysis
Mrs. Welland is May's mother and essentially the guardian of May's chastity. Creepy. While Archer would like to have the wedding sooner rather than later, Mrs. Welland constantly pushes a long engagement. She wants the engagement to be long enough for her to embroider a lot of handkerchiefs and sheets for her daughter's trousseau, which is what they did back in the days before wedding registries.
Socially conservative Mrs. Welland is also the perfect society wife. She tends to Mr. Welland's every need at the same time she gets him to do whatever she wants. There are multiple times in the novel when Archer is overwhelmed with terror every time May does something that reminds him of her mother.