In “The Outcasts of Poker Flats”, by Bret Harte, the character of the Duchess develops from being ungrateful and selfish to being caring and motherly. In this short story, a group of rejects are exiled from the town of Poker Flats, California and are forced to travel across the Sierra Mountains to a town called Sandy Bar. In this group there is the Duchess and Mother Shipton, who are both prostitutes, Uncle Billy, a drunkard and a thief, and John Oakhurst, a gambler. When the outcasts first begin their journey to Sandy Bar, John Oakhurst lends his riding horse to the Duchess in exchange for her mule. After this trade happens, both Mother Shipton and Uncle Billy express their want to ride on the horse as well, but the Duchess is selfish and
