What kind of person is Delphin Slade in “Roman Fever” and what does his character tell us about Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade?

Delphin Slade was the husband of the now-widowed Alida
Slade.  We know from the conversation between Alida Slade and Grace Ansley that he must
have been a very attractive man, since both of the women were interested in him, when
they were younger.  We also know that he was a charming and successful man. Alida Slade
has found out that since his death, her social life has almost disappeared and has now
realized that Delphin, as a corporate lawyer, was the one who people wanted to associate
with.

When later we find out Grace and Delphin had had a
triste while he was engaged to Alida, we know that Delphin was not necessarily the most
faithful of men.  Yet, the fact that he follwed through with the engagement to Alida
without ever betraying Grace shows that he had some honor.  When we later learn that
Babs is actually his daughter by Grace (from that one-time meeting at the Colleseum), we
can gather a bit more about his personality from Alida's description of Babs--lively,
vivacious, charming, daring. 

What we can deduce from
Delphin's personality tells us quite a bit about the female characters.  Alida
underestimated her husband as she underestimated Grace.  She unintentionally set the two
up, and when they secretly met, there were fireworks.  But neither Grace nor Delphin
pushed for Delphin to break off his engagement, and they each carried their secret for a
long time--Delphin to his grave, and Grace until Alida pushes the issue.  Delphin shows
us how intense feminine jealousy, such as Alida's, can be,  and how some women, like
Grace, sometimes fail to play by the rules but will always maintain a sense of
propriety.