Lewis Rycroft

In the novel Sad Cypress, Sir Lewis Rycroft was married to a woman who was confined to a mental asylum. He was the lover of Laura Welman, herself a widow. The affair resulted in a daughter, Mary, but he died in the Great War before she was born.

Sir Lewis was depicted in a photograph which Mrs Welman kept in the tallboy in her bedroom. Nurse O'Brien later saw the same photograph on the piano at Laborough Court, and learned from the butler that Sir Lewis was Lady Rattery's brother, and had lived not far from there.

According to Mrs Slattery, Sir Lewis lived at Forbes Park, and had served in the War in the 17th Lancers.