A brief description of Bea, one of the Mardlingham Saga's prime characters.  I would be most interested if readers would suggest an actress, either current, recent or classical, who they feel would most suit the part.  Please Note that the image shown a couple of paragraphs below is of Bea's MOTHER, although Bea does take after her in many ways.

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Beatrice, generally known as Bea (pronounced ‘Bee’ not ‘Bear’) is the Landlords daughter at the Crossed Arms Inn, Little Mardlingham.  She is medium height, well built, a bit buxom without being fat, with a sunny disposition and a good head for business.  Since her mother died when she was ten years old, she has been more or less in charge of the inn.

From the inn customer's point of view, Bea is seen mainly running the bar in the tap-room, while her father spends most of his time wandering about being back-clappingly Landlordish or playing cards, dominoes or draughts with his cronies in the seclusion of the snug-bar.  She also runs the household generally, including dealing with the various kitchen and stable employees.  Despite still being a year short of twenty-one, she receives all the respect due to someone with her responsibilities.

Miniature portrait of Beatrice's mother at about the same age:
Enlarged from the locket Bea always wears round her neck:
Bea's Mother

Romantically, Bea favours Jimma as ber beau, but is not averse to flirting with passing soldiers or anyone in uniform.  She can't make up her mind whether to marry him or not, mainly because she is very much aware of the disturbing impact another male would have on the relationship with her father.  In fact, whilst her father does approve of young James (Jimma) and turns a blind eye to the more intimate aspects of his daughter's courting habits, he is also somewhat unsure of how he would react to having him as a bona-fide son-in-law.