Birdie (1844-1862), the ghost who inhabits Birchwood Manor, is a protagonist of the novel and the first-person narrator of the chapters marked with Roman numerals. She was born in July 1844 to Antonia, the eldest daughter of Lord Albert Stanley, and Peter Bell, a clockmaker. Her given name was Albertine but her parents called her Birdie. They lived in Fulham, a suburb of London, when she was young. Her mother died of tuberculosis when she was four, and after that her desolate father fell under the influence of a dishonest man named Jeremiah. Like another of the female protagonists in the novel, therefore, Birdie deals with The Influence of Grief from a young age.

Jeremiah sold Birdie to Mrs. Mack. Birdie is told that her father went to America without her. While other characters spend the novel solving mysteries about Birdie, Kate Morton gives Birdie a mystery to solve about her own life that is resolved at the end of the novel. Birdie shows the resilience in her character when she adapts to life with Mrs. Mack, though remains hopeful about reuniting with her father. Birdie shows no fear when she accompanies the orphaned Lily Millington on her errands around Covent Garden (Lily is a sex worker).