# Miss Averies — The Nature of a Crime character guide

> Miss Averies in The Nature of a Crime by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** little Miss Averies, Averies

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

A fair, slight girl with dilating eyes, led like a frightened fawn into the temple of law to claim a cheque she has, in some sense, already paid for.

## Who they are

Miss Averies is Edward Burden's fiancée, brought to the narrator's office to secure the money for a motorcar and a wedding journey to Italy. Unlike her confident betrothed, she appears as a rather frightened fawn before an anthropomorphic deity, and the narrator finds himself silently confessing that he has wronged her. She matters because she embodies the story's argument about women, gamblers, and the coin of fragile beauty paid for a right to wealth—and because the narrator believes she, of all people, might have it in her power to atone.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_romantic_

The narrator's romantic feelings for Miss Averies are unrequited, leading to jealousy and internal conflict.

### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden)

_romantic_

Edward and Miss Averies share a mutual romantic interest, but their relationship is strained by external pressures and the narrator's interference.

### [Annie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/annie)

_social_

Annie and Miss Averies have a single, likely trivial interaction, indicating they are barely acquainted.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_social_

Miss Averies views the narrator as a mere acquaintance, unaware of the depth of his feelings or obsession.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_romantic_

The narrator's romantic feelings for Miss Averies are unrequited, leading to jealousy and internal conflict.

### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden)

_romantic_

Edward and Miss Averies share a mutual romantic interest, but their relationship is strained by external pressures and the narrator's interference.

### [Edward Burden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/edward_burden)

_romantic_

Edward and Miss Averies share a mutual romantic interest, but their relationship is strained by external pressures and the narrator's interference.

## In the story

### [The Nature of a Crime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/the-nature-of-a-crime)

The object of the narrator's obsession, though she remains unnamed in this chapter, her presence looms over the narrator's actions.

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

The beloved to whom the narrator addresses his confession, though not directly present.

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

Edward's fiancée, described as fair and slight with dilating eyes; the narrator feels regret for wronging her.

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

Referred to as Edward Burden's little fiancée, who almost tempts the narrator to restore the stolen funds.

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

Mentioned as Burden's fiancée, whose marriage would cost the narrator his trusteeship income.

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

Described as a 'little bundle of ideals and sentiments' who is being tamed by Edward Burden, and whose vanity a poet would minister to.

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

The narrator's beloved, to whom he writes, revealing his final dispositions and his obsession.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/vii)

The intended recipient of the letters; the narrator's beloved.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/viii)

Mentioned as the one whose representatives Edward Burden disciplined, similar to his handling of her China tea matter.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters/miss_averies
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/characters