DEBORAH ST. JAMES
I got this info from the first three novels (A Great Delivery, Payment in Blood and Well-schooled in murder). More info and details may (and will) be added as I read more books.
Name: Deborah (Cotter) St. James
Nickname: Deb
Age: 24 (at the start of the series)
Spouse: Simon Allcourt St. James
Father: Cotter
Mother: ?? (deceased)
Hair color: red
Profession: photographer
SHORT BIO
Deborah is the daughter of St. James' butler. I believe Simon Allcourt St. James and she have known each other for all of her life and she was always fond of him. St. James is a bit older than Deborah but that doesn't really matter.
St. James and Thomas Lynley have known each other from Eton, and that's how Deborah came to know Tommy Lynley as well. The guys are best friends.
Deborah was having a fling with St. James right before she went to America to study. Once she was in the USA she didn't hear from him and this made her upset. Thomas Lynley came to visit her a couple of times to comfort her. This is when she and Tommy became involved. Whilst she was still in America she became pregnant with Lynley's child. Being only 18 at the time she decided to abort. Lynley nor St. James knew anything about this. She came back to England and never told anyone.
Eventually Tommy and Deborah broke up and St. James came back into her life. A good five years after her adventure in America she married St. James. She was then 24 years old and he was 34. Lynley had a hard time with their marriage, even though they were his best friends. He had chosen not to go further with Deborah and regretted it. A few months later Lady Helen Clyde caught his attention and he accepted the union between his friends.
Even though St. James was handicapped, Deborah offered him her undying devotion. She loved him dearly and it seemed that their happiness would never end. They wanted to have children badly and after having one miscarriage after another, Deborah fell into despair. She saw how she and St. James drifted apart. She kept him away from her because she knew why she couldn't have children. The abortion had been six years ago. It was the big secret, the only thing she had ever kept from him. She couldn't bear tell him the truth. It would hurt him deeply for St. James had always known that she and Tommy had a history together.
When she realised that they couldn't go on like that she finally decided to tell him the truth. He didn't accuse her of anything. He understood. For now at least, they didn't tell Tommy.
How will her story continue? I will find out when I read the next novel.