# Charles Bradford Raye — Short Fiction character guide

> Charles Bradford Raye in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Charles Bradford, Raye, Charles

**First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak

## Snapshot

A man whose delayed marriage and silent hesitations in Venice leave two women waiting, and whose freedom becomes the most dangerous thing about him.

## Who they are

Charles Bradford Raye drifts through Venice, avoiding letters and postponing the marriage that would settle his fate, while Caroline and Alicia circle him with mounting anxiety. When Caroline refuses him outright, his freedom arrives not as relief but as a claim on Alicia, who has nursed her sister and loved him in secret. His passivity and his inability to address the women he has entangled make him the still center of a story about how indecision can wound more than any decisive cruelty.

## In the story

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii)

Not present in this chapter.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii)

A schoolmaster who meets Baptista by chance in Pen-zephyr; criticizes her decision to marry Heddegan and proposes they marry immediately.

### [VI: Her Ingenuity Instigates Her](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi-her-ingenuity-instigates-her)

The man who left Caroline and is now returned; he agrees to the fake marriage ceremony under the narrator's persuasion, but is conflicted about losing the narrator.

### [On the Western Circuit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/on-the-western-circuit)

A man involved in the romantic entanglements of the story.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/i)

A London barrister on the Western Circuit, detained in Melchester; he is the idle spectator who becomes infatuated with the girl on the roundabout.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii)

A gentlemanly young Londoner who kisses Anna's hand and later accidentally clasps Mrs. Harnham's hand in the crowd.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii)

Reflects on his impulsive affair with Anna, feeling both fondness and regret. He corresponds with her under a pseudonym and is struck by her dignified letter.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv)

The young barrister corresponding with Anna, unaware that Edith is the true author of the letters.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/v)

Moved by Anna's letter, he resolves to marry her and writes to propose.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi)

Bridegroom who discovers the deception of the letters and feels trapped in his marriage to Anna.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/charles_bradford_raye
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters