Mildred Bentham

In the novel Nemesis, Miss Mildred Bentham is a member of the tour group, travelling with the Famous Houses and Gardens tour. She lives in the County of Simerset, with Miss Lumley, and they go on the tour together.

Miss Marple puts Miss Bentham and Miss Lumley down as about seventy years old. She observes that one of them is "very definitely the complaining type", although she does not specify which of them it is. She describes them as old pussies, "but definitely not stay-at-home old pussies", as age and ailments cannot prevent them from enjoying life while they still have it.

Miss Bentham and Miss Lumley have travelling rugs, knitted scarves, and "quite an assortment of guidebooks" with them. They enjoy talking to Miss Marple about topics such as arthritis, rheumatism, doctors, tours they have been on, and the difficulty of getting suitable gardeners.

After the accident in which Miss Temple is injured, Miss Lumley suggests to Miss Bentham that perhaps they should go home. She had made arrangements with a neighbour to look after her cats, and if their return was delayed, it might cause difficulty for everyone.

However, in the end Miss Lumley and Miss Bentham decide to continue with the tour, as they had paid highly for it, and it seemed a pity to miss anything because of the accident. They telephoned to a neighbour at home, who agreed to see to the cats.