# Bunty Hayes — Hudson River Bracketed character guide

> Bunty Hayes in Hudson River Bracketed by Edith Wharton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bunty, the Hayes, Hayes

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

A stout, dominant Euphoria boy made good, now throned behind a vast desk at Storecraft, hawking fiction as a fashion accessory.

## Who they are

Bunty Hayes has turned hometown brashness into commercial empire, leaning across polished wood to pitch Vance a 'Storecraft' series of foreign novels tied to the Paris Department — read the book, buy the scent, take the facial. He is coarse, friendly, and utterly without aesthetic shame, and his reverential curiosity about a real novelist is both comic and humiliating. He represents the market Vance must either court or refuse, and their encounter forces the question of what a writer will swallow to eat.

## Relationships

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_friendship_

Bunty is a childhood friend and later a rival in love, sharing a bond of shared history and competition with Vance.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_romantic_

Bunty Hayes is a suitor to Laura Lou after her separation from Vance, creating a love triangle.

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_friendship_

Bunty is a childhood friend and later a rival in love, sharing a bond of shared history and competition with Vance.

### [Vance Weston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/vance_weston)

_friendship_

Bunty is a childhood friend and later a rival in love, sharing a bond of shared history and competition with Vance.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_romantic_

Bunty Hayes is a suitor to Laura Lou after her separation from Vance, creating a love triangle.

### [Laura Lou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/laura_lou)

_romantic_

Bunty Hayes is a suitor to Laura Lou after her separation from Vance, creating a love triangle.

## In the story

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xii)

Provides tickets to the game, invites Vance and Upton to the Crans', part of the crowd that leads to the extended absence.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xv)

Referenced as a newspaper man whose approach to writing Vance dislikes.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xviii)

Revealed to be engaged to Laura Lou and paying for her schooling, causing conflict with Vance.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxi)

Mentioned as the lender of a thousand-dollar loan to Mrs. Tracy, which Vance is anxious to repay.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxv)

Referenced in Vance's thoughts about the past, specifically the love letter and the scene in the office.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxvi)

Visits Vance at Paul's Landing demanding money and asking to see Laura Lou; shows sympathy for her illness.

### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxxv)

Manager of Storecraft; publicly boasts about knowing Vance as a boy and claims credit for his success.

### [XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xxxviii)

Representing 'Storecraft,' he treats Mrs. Scrimser's religious movement as a product to be marketed, offering to organize a lecture tour.

### [XLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xliv)

Manager of Storecraft, offers Vance a job in publicity, shows friendliness but represents the commercialism Vance despises.

### [XLVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/chapters/xlvi)

Mentioned as a figure in Vance's past and as someone who offered him a place to stay after Laura Lou's death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters/bunty_hayes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hudson_river_bracketed_se/characters