# Gillian Hardress — The Cords of Vanity character guide > Gillian Hardress in The Cords of Vanity by James Branch Cabell. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Hardress, the Hardress **First appearance:** 0010-i-he-sits-out-a-dance ## Snapshot Jasper Hardress's sharp-tongued wife, whose wit and habitual untruths draw Townsend into a year of ambiguous intimacy at Negley and Aix-les-Bains. ## Who they are Gillian Hardress presides over the Hardress household with a wit Townsend never quite fathoms, having learned early that she rarely tells him the truth about anything. Her husband, who dotes on their daughter Gladys while privately grieving the lack of a son, never suspects Townsend, seeing him only as an amusing boy of twenty-two. Her jealousy of John Charteris's influence over Townsend, and her loathing of the novelist, quietly shape the hero's drift through a year of sponging and self-indulgence. ## Relationships ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _social_ Gillian is a social acquaintance, possibly related to Jasper, who moves in the same circles as the narrator. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _social_ Gillian is a social acquaintance, possibly related to Jasper, who moves in the same circles as the narrator. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _social_ Gillian is a social acquaintance, possibly related to Jasper, who moves in the same circles as the narrator. ## In the story ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vi) Mentioned as a dangerous influence; Charteris warns the narrator about her habit of making experiments and her rudeness toward him. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vii) Mentioned as the one who welcomed the narrator but is seen only from a distance afterward. ### [X: He Samples New Emotions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/x-he-samples-new-emotions) Gillian becomes infatuated with the narrator after he plays with her daughter, leading to a possessive and dramatic relationship. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Gillian is infatuated with the narrator, causing emotional scenes and disrupting his work. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Gillian is described as abominably rouged and groveling; she claims to love the narrator despite his harsh words. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/v) Mentioned as having just left the narrator's room before the postcard was written. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vi) Openly pursues the narrator with daily letters and demands, flaunts her affection before her husband, and seeks to amuse him by beguiling other men. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vii) Loathes John Charteris, rarely tells the truth, and is jealous of Charteris's influence over the narrator. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/viii) Gillian confronts the narrator about his departure, expressing her love and desperation, but ultimately masks her emotions to join a dance. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Gillian Hardress is mentioned as a character the narrator had portrayed reasonably well in his earlier work 'Afield.' ### [He Plays the Improvident Fool](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xix-he-plays-the-improvident-fool) Referenced as the source of the nickname 'Jaques,' which the narrator dislikes because it reminds him of her. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Mentioned indirectly as the source of the narrator's discomfort with the nickname 'Jaques.' ### [He Cleans the Slate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxii-he-cleans-the-slate) Confronts the narrator about ending their affair; reacts with bitter dignity and sarcasm, accusing him of selfishness and hypocrisy. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Confronts the narrator about their ended affair, expressing anguish and self-loathing. ### [He Gilds the Weathervane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxx-he-gilds-the-weathervane) Gillian is deceased; her dying confession revealed Charteris as the father of her child, prompting her husband's revenge. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Deceased; her delirium confession about Charteris drives the conflict. ### [The Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/the-epilogue) Referred to as 'the Hardress woman' who badgered the narrator into possibly causing three homicides. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/gillian_hardress - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters