# Caroline — Short Fiction character guide > Caroline in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Poor little Caroline, dear Caroline, the Lady Caroline, Lady Caroline, Carry **First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak ## Snapshot A young noblewoman waiting on a brilliant, absent artist's letters, whose childlike impatience and stubborn grief over mourning clothes unsettle her household. ## Who they are Lady Caroline is engaged to the celebrated M. de la Feste, and her days are spent in the suspended animation of waiting — for letters, for April, for May, for him. Her sister, who narrates, watches her heartsickness with affectionate exasperation, noting that Caroline is usually yielding yet intractably set on one point: she will not be married in half-mourning. That small defiance, and the household's fluttering preparations, give the story its tender, anxious pulse before the expected arrival. ## Relationships ### [Charles de la Feste](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/charles_de_la_feste) _family_ Caroline and Charles are married, their relationship defined by duty and underlying tension. ### [Sir John Grebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/sir_john_grebe) _romantic_ Caroline and Sir John Grebe are involved in a romantic affair, causing scandal and conflict. ### [Charles de la Feste](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/charles_de_la_feste) _family_ Caroline and Charles are married, their relationship defined by duty and underlying tension. ### [Charles de la Feste](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/charles_de_la_feste) _family_ Caroline and Charles are married, their relationship defined by duty and underlying tension. ### [Sir John Grebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/sir_john_grebe) _romantic_ Caroline and Sir John Grebe are involved in a romantic affair, causing scandal and conflict. ### [Sir John Grebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/sir_john_grebe) _romantic_ Caroline and Sir John Grebe are involved in a romantic affair, causing scandal and conflict. ## In the story ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii) Not present in this chapter. ### [I: She Misses Her Sister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/i-she-misses-her-sister) The narrator's beloved younger sister who has gone to Versailles with their mother; her letters reveal a growing interest in M. de la Feste. ### [II: News Interesting and Serious](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii-news-interesting-and-serious) The narrator's younger sister, engaged to M. de la Feste, heartbroken after their mother's death. ### [III: Her Gloom Lightens a Little](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii-her-gloom-lightens-a-little) Grieving the loss of her mother, postpones her wedding to M. de la Feste, and gradually regains her spirits and love for him. ### [IV: She Beholds the Attractive Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv-she-beholds-the-attractive-stranger) The narrator's sister, betrothed to M. de la Feste; she writes to him to fix the wedding date and prepares her trousseau, but grows heartsick over his delays. ### [V: Her Situation Is a Trying One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/v-her-situation-is-a-trying-one) Alicia's sister, whose betrothed has fallen in love with Alicia; she grows despondent and loses health as hope fades. ### [VI: Her Ingenuity Instigates Her](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi-her-ingenuity-instigates-her) The narrator's sister, dying of a broken heart due to Charles's departure; she is the recipient of the fake marriage ceremony and shows improvement afterward. ### [VII: A Surprise Awaits Her](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vii-a-surprise-awaits-her) Caroline, believing she is married to Charles, recovers from illness but grows distressed by his absence and cold letters. She eventually runs away secretly to find him in Venice. ### [VIII: She Travels in Pursuit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/viii-she-travels-in-pursuit) Arrives in Venice ahead of the narrator; confronts the narrator about the deception of her marriage; reacts with bitter haughtiness and refuses Charles. ### [IX: She Witnesses the End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ix-she-witnesses-the-end) Caroline forgives the narrator and marries Charles, but is left widowed and grieving after his drowning. ### [X: She Adds a Note Long After](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/x-she-adds-a-note-long-after) The narrator's sister, who has married Theophilus Higham after a persistent wooing. ### [Dame the Third](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/dame-the-third) Lady Caroline, the Marchioness of Stonehenge, secretly marries the assistant steward and later forces Milly to pose as his widow. ### [Dame the Tenth: The Honourable Laura](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/dame-the-tenth) The young woman who accompanies Stephen Reynard to the hotel. She is timid and appears to be much younger than him. ### [The Fiddler of the Reels](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/the-fiddler-of-the-reels) Referred to as Car'line, she is the protagonist who returns to Stickleford as a London wife and is overwhelmed by Mop's fiddling. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/caroline - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters