# Margaret Tucker — Short Fiction character guide > Margaret Tucker in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Margery, Miss Margery, Miss Margery Tucker, Little Margery, Miss Tucker **First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak ## Snapshot A frank, quick-witted milkmaid whose chance kindness to a brooding stranger sets in motion desires she can neither name nor control. ## Who they are Margery Tucker moves between two worlds: the candid, teasing ease she shares with her soldier Jim, and the strange, dissolving power the melancholy Baron holds over her. Country-bred but instinctively tactful, she notices what others miss — a pistol, a sleepless night, a face transformed by a single letter — and her wilfulness hardens only where Jim is concerned. Her divided heart, and the small compromises she makes with her own honesty, drive the story's central collision between loyalty and longing. ## Relationships ### [Jim Hayward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/jim_hayward) _romantic_ Jim and Margaret share a deep, passionate romantic connection, marked by frequent and intense interactions. ### [Sir John Grebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/sir_john_grebe) _social_ Margaret and Sir John Grebe are acquaintances moving in the same social circles, with no deep personal bond. ### [Jim Hayward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/jim_hayward) _romantic_ Jim and Margaret share a deep, passionate romantic connection, marked by frequent and intense interactions. ### [Sir John Grebe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/sir_john_grebe) _social_ Margaret and Sir John Grebe are acquaintances moving in the same social circles, with no deep personal bond. ### [Jim Hayward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/jim_hayward) _romantic_ Jim and Margaret share a deep, passionate romantic connection, marked by frequent and intense interactions. ## In the story ### [The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/the-romantic-adventures-of-a-milkmaid) The milkmaid at the center of the romantic adventures. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/i) The young milkmaid who delivers butter to her grandmother and later attempts to go shopping, taking a shortcut through private grounds. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii) Margery encounters the Baron in the fog, inadvertently interrupts his moment of despair, and agrees to keep his secret. She is curious, sympathetic, and innocent. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii) Margery eagerly awaits the Baron, requests to go to the Yeomanry Ball, and learns a new dance step from him. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv) Margery is the protagonist of this chapter, showing determination and naivety as she secretly meets the Baron to attend a ball. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/v) Attends the ball with the Baron, dances the polka, and is devastated when he burns her dress and accessories afterward. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi) Margery meets Jim by the river but is distant and preoccupied. She speaks of luxurious goods beyond his means, hinting at changed aspirations, possibly influenced by her encounter with the Baron. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vii) Margery is initially skittish and ambitious, but is amazed by Jim's possessions and agrees to marry him under pressure from her father. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/viii) Shows reluctance toward her wedding; obediently responds to the Baron's summons on her wedding morning. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ix) Returns the locket to the Baron, faces her father's wrath, and retreats to her grandmother's house. ### [The Baron's Illness and Jim's Discovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/x) Living at Rook's Gate with her grandmother, she is startled by the chalked name 'The Baron' on her gate and later receives a note from the dying Baron summoning her. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xi) Margery prepares herself for what she believes will be a deathbed marriage to the Baron, feeling excitement and trepidation as she goes to Mount Lodge. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xii) Margery is the central figure, experiencing a crushing disappointment as her dream of marrying the Baron is replaced by a forced marriage to Jim Hayward, which she accepts with hidden distress. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xiii) Regrets the marriage, feels betrayed by the Baron, and insists on being called Miss Tucker. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xv) Margery is the central figure, grappling with jealousy and devising a plan to attend the Review to confront Jim and Mrs. Peach. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvi) Believing Jim has left her, she departs with a mysterious baron in a grand coach. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii) Waits at home for Jim; later confesses her past temptation to go with the Baron but affirms her commitment to her child. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/margaret_tucker - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters