Nannie Arjonte: The Loyal Guardian Behind Gabriella Johan's Secret

Overview

Nannie Arjonte is the unnamed nursemaid who raises Gabriella Johan from infancy and becomes the most trusted confidante in her life. Though the novel Behind Every Good Man focuses on Gabriella’s inner world and her romance with Lord Alvert, Nannie Arjonte appears in key flashbacks that establish the emotional foundation for Gabriella’s lifelong gender disguise. She is the first adult Gabriella turns to when she decides to become “Gabriel,” and she remains the logistical backbone of the ruse into Gabriella’s adulthood. Nannie Arjonte represents quiet, sacrificial love—the kind that asks for nothing in return and enables another person’s freedom.

Plot Role

Nannie Arjonte’s role is almost entirely confined to the pre-duel flashback that Gabriella narrates in her letter to Lord Alvert. She is present at two pivotal moments:

• Gabriella’s first meeting with her father (age two): Nannie leads the toddler into the study, and when the grieving father breaks down at how much she resembles her dead mother, Nannie immediately ushers her away. When Gabriella runs back to comfort him, Nannie waits and later carries her out again. This scene establishes Nannie as the primary protector who buffers the child from her father’s overwhelming sorrow.
• Gabriella’s decision to become a boy (age five): After the five-year-old announces she wants to “make his sorrow go away,” Nannie is the one Gabriella instructs to get Christian the gardener’s son’s clothes. When Nannie returns with the clothes and sees that Gabriella has cut her own hair, she is “horrified” but is quickly calmed by the child’s plan. From that day forward, Nannie enforces the new name “Gabriel” and never calls Gabriella by her birth name again.
• Later support: Gabriella mentions that as she grew older, “Nannie and Nurse” helped bind her developing breasts and dress her each morning. Nannie also instructs Crenshaw’s nephew—Stephans—on how to serve Gabriella at university. Though Nannie disappears from the narrative after Gabriella leaves for school, her early training ensures the secret survives.

Motivations and Traits

The evidence shows only Nannie’s actions, not her internal thoughts, but we can infer her motivations from her consistency and loyalty.

Traits demonstrated through action:

• Protective: She immediately removes Gabriella from the father’s distressing presence and later, although horrified, does not forbid the disguise plan but instead helps execute it.
• Obedient to the child’s will: Despite being an adult servant, she treats Gabriella’s commands seriously. When five-year-old Gabriella says “never call me Gabriella again; I am to be Gabriel,” Nannie complies.
• Resourceful: She secures the boy’s clothes without argument and later organizes the binding and domestic arrangements.
• Emotionally steady: She does not panic at Gabriella’s impulsive haircut; she listens and then acts.
• Loyal beyond duty: She stays with Gabriella through the entire childhood and adolescence, never revealing the secret.

Possible motivation: Nannie likely feels maternal love for the motherless child. She has raised Gabriella from birth, and when the girl takes on an enormous burden to ease her father’s grief, Nannie chooses to support rather than correct. She may recognize that the disguise gives Gabriella a purposeful identity and access to education and freedom that no girl of that era could have.

Chronological Arc

1. Before age two: Gabriella is raised at a distance by “nannies and nurses.” Nannie Arjonte is the primary caregiver, though the story never explains how long she had been in service. She is the one who dresses Gabriella for the second-birthday audience with her father.
2. Age two: Nannie leads Gabriella into the study, steers her away when the father breaks down, and later confirms to the child that the weeping man is her father.
3. Age five to adolescence: After the study scene where Gabriella promises to repay the “debt” of her mother’s death, Nannie becomes the instrument of the disguise. She fetches the clothes, accepts the haircut, and helps Gabriella pass as a boy at home. Over the years, she binds Gabriella’s chest and teaches her male mannerisms.
4. Before university: Nannie and Nurse instruct Crenshaw’s nephew, Stephans, on how to care for Gabriella at school. This suggests Nannie is still directly involved when Gabriella leaves home, though she does not accompany her.

Nannie does not appear in the present-day duel aftermath, but Gabriella’s survival and her future with Lord Alvert rest on the foundation Nannie helped build.

Relationships

With Gabriella: The bond is one of unconditional trust. Gabriella never hesitates to involve Nannie in her most dangerous secret. Nannie’s presence is so constant that Gabriella can recall her hand on hers at age two and her horrified face at age five with equal clarity. There is no mention of a mother figure in Gabriella’s life; Nannie fills that role in every practical sense.

With Gabriella’s father: Nannie is a servant who understands the father’s grief. She does not question his distance from the child, but she also does not leave Gabriella to fend for herself. There is a silent collaboration: he cannot look at Gabriella, so Nannie raises her entirely.

With Stephans: Nannie transfers her knowledge to the young manservant, making him the next guardian of the secret. This implies she remains involved even when Gabriella is away.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision to help the disguise: When five-year-old Gabriella cuts her hair and demands boy’s clothes, Nannie could have refused, informed the father, or summoned a doctor. Instead she goes along. The consequence is that Gabriella’s plan succeeds; the father accepts “Gabriel,” and the long-term ruse begins. Without Nannie’s complicity, the disguise would likely have been discovered in its first hour.

Decision to stay silent for years: Nannie never tells the father, never hints, and never tries to dissuade Gabriella from continuing. The consequence is that Gabriella grows up believing the mask is sustainable, which gives her a career, financial independence, and eventually the audacity to fall in love with Lord Alvert.

Decision to instruct Stephans: By preparing a male servant for university life, Nannie ensures the secret can survive outside the manor. This directly enables Gabriella’s education and legal career, and ultimately the letter and duel that drive the plot.

Themes and Symbolic Connections

• Gender Identity and Disguise: Nannie is the first person to actively assist Gabriella in constructing a male identity. Her willingness to bind a girl’s breasts and call her “Gabriel” shows that gender performance is a collaborative act—it requires a community of believers. Read more about gender identity and disguise.
• Sacrificial Love: Nannie sacrifices any chance of a conventional life with her own family to remain dedicated to Gabriella. Her love is invisible, unrewarded, and absolutely necessary. Explore the theme of sacrificial love.
• Freedom Versus Societal Expectations: By helping Gabriella escape the confines of womanhood, Nannie enables a life of freedom—but it is a freedom built on deception. Nannie embodies the tension between personal liberation and the cost of that liberation. See freedom versus societal expectations.
• Guilt and Redemption: Gabriella’s deep guilt about her mother’s death drives her to sacrifice her own identity. Nannie’s silent support can be seen as an attempt to give the child a path toward redemption. Visit the guilt and redemption page.
• Honor and the Duel: While Nannie does not participate in the duel, her early training in secrecy made the duel possible. Without her, Gabriella would never have been “Gabriel,” and thus never have faced the honor challenge that becomes the climax. Learn about honor and the duel.

Nannie also serves as a symbol of the invisible labor of women who enable men’s success—but in this case, she enables a woman disguised as a man. Her name “Arjonte” is never given a backstory, making her a quiet archetype of maternal care in a patriarchal world.

Frequently Asked Questions about Nannie Arjonte

1. Does Nannie Arjonte ever speak directly in the novel?
Yes, but only once in a line of dialogue: when Gabriella asks who the crying man was, Nannie whispers that it is her father. All other mentions of Nannie are filtered through Gabriella’s narration, describing her actions and reactions.

2. Why did Nannie agree to help a five-year-old become a boy?
The novel does not state her internal reasons. Based on her actions, she likely felt that the disguise would ease the father’s grief and give Gabriella a purpose. She may also have recognized that raising a girl in that household would be difficult, while raising a “son” would bring the family closer.

3. Did Nannie face any consequences for her role?
The story does not show any punishment. Because Gabriella’s father tacitly accepts the disguise and never speaks of it, Nannie is never blamed. She remains in the household’s employ and is mentioned with gratitude years later.

4. Is Nannie based on a real person?
No evidence suggests a historical counterpart. She is a fictional character created by Sara Goodman Confino to provide Gabriella with a maternal figure who enables her unusual upbringing.

5. What happened to Nannie after Gabriella left for university?
The novel does not reveal her fate. She likely remained at the manor or retired. When Gabriella returns for her father’s funeral, Nannie is not mentioned, possibly because the focus shifts to the duel and the train journey.

For more character insights, visit the main book page or explore the ending explained. If you have further questions, check the questions and answers page.