| Portia Ponsonby | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General | |
| Inspiration: |
Fengxian |
| Status: |
Alive |
| Aliases: | Dame Portia (official title; by everyone) Callithyia Whistledown/Aidonis (real name) Lady Portia (by the Highest Ton) |
| Occupation: | Dame of Court |
| Affiliation | The Muse House Whistledown Family Ponsonby Family Featherington Family |
| Biographical Information | |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age: | 36 (1813) 37 (1814) |
| Date of birth: | 15th of May, 1777 |
| Country of birth: | England |
| Zodiac sign: | Taurus |
| Physical Description | |
| Hair color: | Ginger |
| Eye color: | Green |
| Height: | 167 cm |
| Portrayed by: | Polly Walker |
| Familial Information | |
| Grandparents: | -- |
| Parents: | Earl of Bessborough (father) Eunice Whistledown (mother) |
| Siblings: | Cordelia Whistledown (younger sister) |
| Romance: | Archibald Featherington (former lover) |
| Children: | Penelope Whistledown (twin daughter) Felicity Whistledown (twin daughter) |
| Grandchildren: | -- |
| Story Information | |
| First Appearance: | Chapter 04 (Debut) |
| Latest Appearance: | Chapter 04 (Debut) |
| Last Appearance: | -- |
Callithiya Whistledown/Aidonis (also known as Portia Ponsonby) is a Dame of Court of the Royal Crown under the protection of the Queen of England. She is the daughter of the Earl of Bessborough and Madam Eunice, as well as the older sister to Cordelia Whistledown and mother to Penelope and Felicity Whistledown.
History
Portia was born in Mayfair, daughter of Eunice and the Earl of Bessborough. When she was merely months old, her father adopted her from her mother and brought her to the Ton, planning to make her a lady in the future under the guise of being his ward, and a distant relative.
Portia had never cared for the disguise, since young knowing what the Ton would think if they found out about her origins. She grew up with her father's protection and her stepmother's spite, but she survived fine, even if she was forbidden of visiting her mother.
When she was eighteen years old, she met Archibald Featherington, an important baron for the Royal Crown as he is also a tactician. Thinking him a good choice for a husband, she accepted his courtship, even though her father was certain she could do better. Still, Portia rejected many suitors just to stay with him, and ended up giving herself to the Baron before their marriage.
However, after his sudden change of mind, Portia was left ruined. She found out about her pregnancy weeks later and reluctantly told her father, who decided to hide her away and later send her to Mayfair so she could give birth. The lie was that she was in the countryside with his family to practice more.
Portia only discovered about her sister after she went back, surprised about her existence. Her mother asked Portia to keep it a secret from her father, and she granted it. The sisters became somewhat friends during the period in which Portia stayed in Mayfair to give birth.
After Penelope and Felicity were born, Eunice offered Portia to stay and raise the twins there, but she refused. She received a letter from her father where he explained that she could be a Dame of Court for the Queen, and she wanted the praise that would come with it. Ambitious of her life in the lux, she left her children to be raised by their grandmother and aunt.
Portia had never forgiven Archibald for leaving her abandoned, ruined and pregnant. He later found out about her pregnancy after her father confirmed it, and she heard about him trying to buy the twins, threatening him if he ever tried to do them harm. In the following years, she had a complicated relationship with the tactician, her unforgiven character making it hard for him to get her back--it hasn't happened yet.
Not to mention her most prominent problem, Jack Featherington, the younger brother of her supposed-to-be-husband. For years, he's been constantly trying to get her in his bed, with empty flatter and false love declarations. However, now she knew better than to believe any of them.
When she found out that her daughter was in the Highest Ton, and she was close to a titled man, Portia's protectiveness kicked in, even if Penelope was reluctant to forgive her, as she imagined it would happen. She knew that the scarce of care or visits would come back to bite her someday, but the disgrace of giving oneself to a titled man has happened twice in the family now. She would be damned if it happened a third time.
Personality
Portia is a product of the Ton. She was raised by her father to be prim and composed, even if her ambitions still showed through small cracks of the composed product, like the ambition of becoming the wife of an important member for the Royal Crown, even if he is just a baron.
She differs considerably from her sister, being a little more serious, practical and too much aware of her space and limitations in the world and environment. However, this doesn't stop Portia of trying to use the system to her favor. She is mostly someone who plans and execute, calculating her next steps carefully while taking care to maintain everyone underestimating her.
As the royal tactician that actually helped them in evading and win wars, Portia thought Archibald to be the best match for her due to his close proximity to the Crown. She always hoped to be close to the Queen, a Dame of Court, and Archibald was her pass to this world. However, after the betrayal, and finding out she didn't even need him to be a Dame of Court, she decided to never forgive him.
Archibald's younger brother. Since the end of her relationship with the Baron, Jack has been trying to get her to have an affair with him, even though she has showed time and time again that she's not interested. Archibald doesn't know about his obsession with his ex-bethroted, but Jack has had this obsession to her since the first time he put his eyes on her.
She is Portia's elder twin daughter. Even though she gave birth to the twins, she had never been particularly close to neither. Hardly came to visit them in Mayfair and basically chose high society instead of her blood. However, when she finds out about her daughter's proximity to an Earl, she goes into protective mode, fearing her to commit the same mistake she and her mother did.
Felicity Whistledown — The Third Princess, Macaria
She is Portia's younger twin daughter. Different from Penelope, who still didn't find in her heart how to forgive Portia, Felicity says that she has forgiven Portia for abandoning them, but she doesn't forgive her for the pain that she caused in her sister for her absence.
Cordelia Whistledown — Princess Nerina
She is Portia's younger sister. Prior to her pregnancy of the twins, Portia had no idea of her existence, but decided to keep her a secret from her father at her mother's request. Though reluctant at first, they sparked a somewhat close friendship, exchanging letters in the first years that Portia couldn't be close to them in Mayfair.
Eunice Whistledown — Madam Eunice
She is Portia's mother. They were separated from each other when Portia was only months old, but she always knew about Eunice's existence and how highly her father would speak of her. She tried to understand her mother's side, but in the end she resented both her parents for how they didn't fight harder for each other.
Jacob Ponsonby — Earl of Bessborough
He is Portia's father. The Earl is highly ranked in the Ton, so his reputation must stay intact. He was forced to marry another debutante due to political reasons, even if he did loved Eunice. However, when he found out about his daughter, he wanted to have a small piece of their history always with him. Decided to treat her like a lady even if she would be considered a bastard, Jacob did his best to actually protect her by inventing a different background. To the Ton, she's his niece who he raised as a father, and that was noble enough for the Ton to ignore that they weren't "blood-related" as far as they knew.
FRIENDSHIPS
Violet Bridgerton — Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton
Portia's closest friend. She was a helping hand when Portia became a Dame of Court, guiding her through her new role. Violet is the only one who knows about Portia's origins, and only because she ended up finding out for herself. Still, she isn't aware of Portia's children.
Araminta Cowper — Dame Araminta
Portia's second close friend. As the head of the Dames of Court of the Queen, she was also great help in her new role. However, their friendship is considered shallow at best, with them getting together mostly for gossip and other royal-related topics of conversation. Portia does not hate the same care for Araminta she does for Violet, for example.
Virginia Smythe-Smith — Countess of Winstead
Portia's friend. Virginia is one of the most easygoing people to converse, so their friendship is a few layers deeper than with Araminta. Still, Portia admires Virginia for her strong beliefs and her neverwavering love for her husband and family. Deep down, Portia would say she envies Virginia's life, but she isn't nasty about it.
Mary Sharma — Dame Mary
Portia's friend and fellow Dame of Court. They aren't really close, but they're still amicable to each other. Though Mary focus all of her attention on her two daughters and that leaves little to no space for idle gossip. As the only Dame of Court without children--as far as they know--Portia ends up being stuck in the middle of maternity dilemmas she had never had to deal about, but she tries her best to not sound bothered by the topics. It was her choice to not marry after all.
RIVALS
Lauren Ponsonby — Countess of Bessborough
Portia's stepmother. She was never accepting of Portia, leaving her entire upraising to her father. Lauren always knew who Portia was and her origins, especially her mother's existence, so she could not find it in her heart to appreciate the girl. Lauren was never mean, just negligent and distant, which was fine to both Portia and her. Lauren resents Portia because she is the reason her husband never desired any children with her.
Appearances
| Chapter 01 | Absent | Chapter 02 | Absent | Chapter 03 | Absent | Chapter 04 | Mentioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 05 | Debut | Chapter 06 | N/A | Chapter 07 | N/A | Chapter 08 | N/A |
| Chapter 09 | N/A | Chapter 10 | N/A | Chapter 11 | N/A | Chapter 12 | N/A |
| Chapter 13 | N/A | Chapter 14 | N/A | Chapter 15 | N/A | Chapter 16 | N/A |
| Chapter 17 | N/A | Chapter 18 | N/A | Chapter 19 | N/A | Chapter 20 | N/A |
| Chapter 21 | N/A | Chapter 22 | N/A | Chapter 23 | N/A | Chapter 24 | N/A |
| Chapter 25 | N/A | Chapter 26 | N/A | Chapter 27 | N/A | Chapter 28 | N/A |
| Chapter 29 | N/A | Chapter 30 | N/A | Chapter 31 | N/A | Chapter 32 | N/A |
| Chapter 33 | N/A | Chapter 34 | N/A | Chapter 35 | N/A | Chapter 36 | N/A |
| Chapter 37 | N/A | Chapter 38 | N/A | Chapter 39 | N/A | Chapter 40 | N/A |