The Mr. Cowden is a character mentioned in King's Quest 4 and its novelization. He was a sea captain, and Betty Cowden's husband.
Background[]
He was a descendent of Lord Coningsby.
He was husband of the young nineteen year old Betty Cowden, and was her lover who perished at sea. The lost lover was a sea captain who never returned from one of his voyages. Betty kept a locket with photos and pictures of her lover. Inside was both a photo showing her youthful lover without beard[1][2], and on the outside was engraved the image of a black-bearded sea captain-her husband.[3].
The tale of her lost lover that lead to her own death in grief is engraved on her headstone in the Whateley graveyard.
Personality and traits[]
He was dashing young man with a handsome face both shaven or as her husband, he grew a long black beard.
Behind the scenes[]
The Perils of Rosella: From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part IV suggests that the lover looks like a younger Lord Coningsby. Or at least someone related to Coningsby, maybe their son or grandson, a nephew through a sister or niece, or maybe a cousin from another member of the family?
Lord Coningsby (1559-1626) was from an earlier era than the lost lover. Betty Cowden was from 1650-1669. So more than likely if related to the Coningsbies, her lover had to have been Coningsby' grandson or grand-nephew.
That he is just described as a lover in the games may suggest they were not married, though in Companion they are married, and she is described as the weeping widow. As married his last name would be Cowden by normal naming conventions, thought to be related to Coningsby he would either have to be a bastard child through elder Coningsby's son or through Coningsby's daughter.