Bailey Clarke’s quiet life on his family’s farm makes him dream of adventures far beyond the rows of apple trees and fields of sheep. Bailey is brave but reserved about his ambitions, as demonstrated by the fact that he will break into the circus but won’t admit that he wants to run away with it. Bailey’s imagination is one of his defining characteristics, but it’s limited by his self-doubt and persistent sense of obligation. Bailey is affable and quickly makes friends with other people who share his interest in the circus, like the rêveurs. From the moment he meets her, Bailey’s feelings for Poppet are unshakeable. By end of the novel, it’s the combination of his love for the circus and the possibility that he could be with Poppet that helps him overcome his self-doubt to become the proprietor of Le Cirque des Rêves.