Lucilla Drake

In the novel Sparkling Cyanide, Mrs Lucilla Drake (née Marle) is the aunt of Rosemary and Iris. She is the widow of Caleb, and is the mother of Victor. If Iris dies before turning 21, Lucilla stands to inherit her fortune.

Lucilla was almost forty when she met Caleb, and he had passed fifty. After having been married only two years, Caleb died. Although it's about twenty years since her husband died, she still wears crêpe.