Character Analysis
Archer first meets Monsieur Rivière at Mrs. Carfry's on his honeymoon in London. Archer enjoys chatting with Rivière, who is personally acquainted with some of the great French novelists Archer admires. What Archer doesn't know until much later is that Rivière is Count Olenska's secretary. Yep: thesecretary that helped Madame Olenska escape and possibly became her lover.
Rivière is no sleazeball, however; he seems to genuinely have Madame Olenska's best interests in mind, and resigns from his job when he realizes how much Madame Olenska has changed.
Rivière, like Ned Winsett, is a failed novelist who has had to turn to odd jobs (such as being the secretary to a Count) in order to support his family. Unlike Winsett, Rivière is the son of a diplomat and closer to Archer's social class. Both Winsett and Rivière remind Archer of the sacrifices that need to be made in order to pursue a literary life.