# Christine Everard — Short Fiction character guide > Christine Everard in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Miss Christine Everard, Christine Everard, Miss Everard, dear Christine, the fair Christine **First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak ## Snapshot A gentle-nurtured beauty whose wavering heart pushes her lover toward self-imposed exile, leaving her quietly unfettered and unspoken for. ## Who they are Christine Everard moves through the Froom valley as the object of Nicholas Long's devotion, a woman whose refined sensibility makes her acutely alive to the humiliation of a match beneath her. Her growing coldness — read in a glance, a mood hardening into a fixed one — is the quiet engine that drives him to slip a farewell note beneath her garden door and vanish. Whether she will ever call him back is the ache the story leaves hanging. ## Relationships ### [Nicholas Long](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/nicholas_long) _romantic_ Christine and Nicholas are lovers, their relationship fraught with emotional intensity and societal obstacles. ### [Nicholas Long](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/nicholas_long) _romantic_ Christine and Nicholas are lovers, their relationship fraught with emotional intensity and societal obstacles. ### [Nicholas Long](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/nicholas_long) _romantic_ Christine and Nicholas are lovers, their relationship fraught with emotional intensity and societal obstacles. ## In the story ### [Fellow-Townsmen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/fellow-townsmen) A character whose relationships are pivotal to the chapter's themes. ### [Second Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/second-night) The Duke, who hides in the hut, kills Captain Fred, and later confronts his wife about the assignation. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii) Not present in this chapter. ### [II: News Interesting and Serious](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii-news-interesting-and-serious) The narrator and elder sister, who stays home to manage affairs while her father travels to their ill mother. ### [IV: She Beholds the Attractive Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv-she-beholds-the-attractive-stranger) The narrator of the journal, Caroline's sister; she feels agitated and perturbed by M. de la Feste's attention and her own reactions. ### [VI: Her Ingenuity Instigates Her](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi-her-ingenuity-instigates-her) The narrator, who orchestrates the fake marriage to save Caroline and struggles with her own feelings and future with Charles. ### [VII: A Surprise Awaits Her](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vii-a-surprise-awaits-her) The narrator, Christine Everard, is tormented by guilt over the mock marriage she arranged. She struggles with whether to tell Caroline the truth and is torn between her own feelings for Charles and her sense of duty. ### [The Waiting Supper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/the-waiting-supper) Central figure in the unfolding romantic and emotional tensions. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/i) Meets Nicholas secretly in the garden; agrees to a private marriage despite her fears. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii) Determined to marry Nicholas Long secretly, she confronts the rector and later arranges a second attempt. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii) Attends the christening feast at Athelhall, dances with Nicholas Long, and is conflicted about their secret relationship. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv) Christine is conflicted about her relationship with Nicholas, feeling regret and pressure from rumors and her father's demands. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/v) Publicly snubs Nicholas after hearing murmurs of 'Mrs. Nicholas Long,' then regrets her behavior. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi) Now a widow after marrying Mr. Bellston, living in part of her former home. She meets Nicholas on the downs and agrees to discuss their future. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vii) Christine prepares for her wedding to Nicholas but is confronted by the return of her husband Bellston. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/viii) Lives in suspense, waiting for Bellston's return, and grows old with Nicholas's faithful companionship. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii) The son's wife, a gifted sculptor who uses the abbot's skull as a model for her allegorical tomb design. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/christine_everard - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters