Who is Daphne Manners from The Jewel in the Crown and what is their importance?

Daphne Manners is a young British woman and niece of a former governor of India. Daphne lives with her aunt Ethel Manners before moving to Mayapore to live with Lady Chatterjee, a friend of the Manners' family. She is a very shy person who works at being outgoing. She volunteers at the hospital in Mayapore as well as at a facility for the dying called the Sanctuary.