Portia Allenby is a recurring character in Cat Sebastian’s Regency Imposter’s series as the mother, step-mother and lover of several leads.
The notorious Mrs. Allenby, the official mistress to the Marquess of Pembroke and mother of his daughters, is a canny political operator. Knowing it would take some work to force society to accept her children as respectable, marriageable young ladies, she’s dedicated her life to achieving that ever since her eldest, Amelia was born. From governesses to dresses to hosting salons to cleverly using those who want to flirt with scandal to pull her family closer to respectability, she’s largely succeeded. Especially once her honorary stepson decides to publicly acknowledge his half-sisters, turning the prospect of marriage with one of her girls into a desirable political alliance overnight.
Polished, elegant and highly intelligent, Portia is a guarded, hard-to-read person that can seem cold and calculating to outsiders. Once through her shields, however, she’s warm and deeply loving, and willing to do just about anything for the people she cares about. Though careful to never actually state her political opinions where they can be repeated, she hosts Radical speakers at her salons and seems sympathetic to the goals of her ex-lover and close friend Verity Plum and the host of political dissidents constantly in and out of her bookshop.
Pragmatic above all else Portia’s ambitions for her daughters, and fixed image of what a desirable future looks like, can sometimes blind her to what the people she cares about actually want or need. This causes a rift between her and Amelia, who feels horrendously stifled by the life her mother built her but can’t bear to tell her what the problem actually is. However, her ability to grasp Verity’s wants and needs, for all that they’re nothing she can personally understand, bodes well for her eventual reunion with Amelia once she’s ready to come home.