# Emily Gaunt — The House by the River character guide > Emily Gaunt in The House by the River by A. P. Herbert. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Emily, Gaunt **First appearance:** 0002-iii ## Snapshot A young woman whose death near Barnes leaves a muddy sack, a baffled inquest, and a family of sly, grasping relatives demanding compensation. ## Who they are Emily's disappearance and the discovery of her body set the local faction against John Egerton and bring her avaricious kin to his door, where they assume his guilt and press for money to heal their wounded affections and accounts. Her fate haunts the early chapters as an unresolved scandal everyone in The Chase has an opinion about. She is the absence around which the novel's suspicions quietly gather. ## Relationships ### [Stephen Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/stephen_byrne) _psychological_ Emily is a manipulative and obsessive figure who exerts a sinister psychological hold over Stephen, exploiting his guilt and weakness. ### [John Egerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/john_egerton) _psychological_ Emily and John share a dark, manipulative alliance, each using the other to achieve their own ends against Stephen. ### [Margery Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/margery_byrne) _rivalry_ Emily and Margery are rivals for Stephen's attention and loyalty, with Emily actively undermining Margery's position. ### [Mrs. Bantam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/mrs_bantam) _social_ Emily and Mrs. Bantam have a tense, wary acquaintance, as Mrs. Bantam distrusts Emily's influence over Stephen. ### [Stephen Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/stephen_byrne) _psychological_ Emily is a manipulative and obsessive figure who exerts a sinister psychological hold over Stephen, exploiting his guilt and weakness. ### [Stephen Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/stephen_byrne) _psychological_ Emily is a manipulative and obsessive figure who exerts a sinister psychological hold over Stephen, exploiting his guilt and weakness. ### [Margery Byrne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/margery_byrne) _rivalry_ Emily and Margery are rivals for Stephen's attention and loyalty, with Emily actively undermining Margery's position. ### [John Egerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/john_egerton) _psychological_ Emily and John share a dark, manipulative alliance, each using the other to achieve their own ends against Stephen. ### [Mrs. Bantam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/mrs_bantam) _social_ Emily and Mrs. Bantam have a tense, wary acquaintance, as Mrs. Bantam distrusts Emily's influence over Stephen. ### [John Egerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/john_egerton) _psychological_ Emily and John share a dark, manipulative alliance, each using the other to achieve their own ends against Stephen. ## In the story ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/ii) The housemaid, fresh from her bath, encounters Stephen and is killed during a struggle. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/iii) Lying dead on the hall floor, half-naked and strangled, her body being stuffed into a sack by Stephen. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/iv) Mentioned as the victim; Stephen blames her for his troubles and shows no pity. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/v) Dead; her memory haunts John, and Stephen has spread rumors that she was a 'hussy' to explain her disappearance. ### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/vi) Emily's body is the object of the search, drifting down the river in a sack. She is referred to indirectly throughout the chapter. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/vii) Her body is drifting in the river; her discovery is implied by the police returning the sack. ### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/ix) Her body continues to drift in the river, a source of past terror for Stephen; her death is the central secret Stephen is hiding. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/x) Her family pressures John for money, assuming he caused her death. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/xiv) Referenced in the poem as the slain maiden and in the newspaper article as the murder victim. ### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/xv) Emily's murder is the central secret; her body's disposal and discovery are contrasted with the idyllic scene in Stephen's poem. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/chapters/xvi) The victim of Stephen's confessed murder; her name appears in the confession he writes and then burns. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters/emily_gaunt - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_by_the_river_se/characters