In which we're talking Marches

Reader Melissa posted a few questions about the Marches. She wanted to know how long they've been naming their children after Shakespearean characters and what they'll do when they run out of names. She also wanted to know what sort of green their eyes are. Okay, last one first. It never occurred to me to specify what shade of green! In my mind they are a sort of bottle green, so dark you might look at a March quickly and think, "Brown eyes, brown hair," but once you look closely, you realize there is a tinge of red to the hair and the eyes are actually green. Having said this, I think that your picture of the Marches is perfectly accurate. If you see them with bright emerald eyes, so be it.

As far as the names, the Marches were patrons of Shakespeare and started naming their children after his characters immediately. They won't ever run out because Shakespeare was tremendously prolific and because the aristocracy loves to repeat family names. (Look at any noble English family tree, and your eyes will cross from trying to keep them all sorted!) I particularly like pulling obscure names for some of the minor characters--I always love "naming day" where I spend hours combing  through the plays to choose just the right name. A smarter girl would note the names when she's reading and just keep them on hand, but alas, I'm apparently not that bright...

Thanks for the questions, Melissa!