Elizabeth is good. She’s moral. She’s upright. She’s composed. And she’s also colder than Salem, Massachusetts, in early February.

In a neat literary twist, Elizabeth’s positive qualities are also her negative ones. She is a virtuous woman who is steadfast and true—but these traits also make her a bit of a cold fish. When we first meet her, she’s especially cold…and thinks she smells something fishy. She’s got good reason to be suspicious and kind of distant, though: her husband has recently had an affair with their housekeeper, Abigail Williams.