the truest. She is rewarded for her good-heartedness when she falls in love with Tim Linkinwater. Hannah: Miss La Creevy's faithful but noticeably stupid maid. Mr Snawley: An oil merchant who puts his two stepsons into Squeers's "care". He pretends to be Smike's father to help Squeers get back at Nicholas, but, when pursued by the Cheerybles, cracks under the pressure and eventually confesses everything. Mr and Madame Mantalini: Milliners, Kate's employers. Alfred Muntle (he changed his name to Mantalini for business purposes) is a handsome man with a large bushy black mustache who lives off his wife's business. He is not above stealing from his wife and dramatically threatens to kill himself whenever he does not get his way. Madame Mantalini is much older than her husband and equally prone to dramatics. She eventually gets wise and divorces him, but not until he has ruined her with extravagant spending and she is forced to sell the business to Miss Knag. Mantalini is seen again at the end of the book living in much reduced circumstances, romantically tied to a washerwoman, but still up to his old tricks. Miss Knag: Mrs Mantalini's right-hand woman and the chief assistant in the showroom. Miss Knag is well into middle age but is under the impression that she is exceptionally beautiful. When Kate begins her employment with the Mantalinis, Miss Knag is quite kind to her because the younger woman is clumsy, making Miss Knag look more accomplished by comparison. But when she is insulted by a disgruntled customer who prefers to be served by Kate, she blames Kate and ostracizes her. She takes over the business when the Mantalinis go bankrupt, immediately firing Kate. A spinster, she lives with her brother Mortimer, a failed novelist. The Kenwigs family: Newman Noggs's neighbours. Mr Kenwigs and his wife Susan are dependent on the latter's wealthy uncle Mr Lillyvick, and everything they do is designed to please him so he will not write their children (including their baby, named Lillyvick) out of his will. Their daughter Morleena is an awkward child of seven. The family and their acquaintances are described by Dickens as "exceptionally common." Mr Lillyvick: Mrs Kenwigs's uncle. He is a collector of the water rate, a position which gives him great importance among his poor relatives. They bend over backwards to please him, and he is completely used to getting his way.