# Colonel Gaillarde — The Room in the Dragon Volant character guide > Colonel Gaillarde in The Room in the Dragon Volant by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Gaillarde, the gasconading Colonel Gaillarde, the Colonel **First appearance:** 0003-ii-the-innyard-of-the-belle-toile ## Snapshot A gasconading French colonel whose booming boasts and martial swagger make him the loudest, least reliable voice in the narrator's orbit. ## Who they are Colonel Gaillarde is the sort of soldier who cannot tell a story without making himself its hero, and his talk runs to duels, campaigns, and imagined slights. He attaches himself to the narrator as a companion and self-appointed authority on everything from honour to the Count's household. His bluster is comic, but it also models the code of gallantry the narrator is trying to live up to — and the ease with which reputation can be performed rather than earned. ## Relationships ### [Count de St. Alyre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/count_de_st_alyre) _social_ Colonel Gaillarde and the Count are polite but distant acquaintances in the local social scene. ### [Monsieur Carmaignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/monsieur_carmaignac) _friendship_ Colonel Gaillarde and Carmaignac are friendly allies, both concerned for the narrator's safety. ### [Monsieur Carmaignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/monsieur_carmaignac) _friendship_ Colonel Gaillarde and Carmaignac are friendly allies, both concerned for the narrator's safety. ### [Count de St. Alyre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/count_de_st_alyre) _social_ Colonel Gaillarde and the Count are polite but distant acquaintances in the local social scene. ### [Count de St. Alyre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/count_de_st_alyre) _social_ Colonel Gaillarde and the Count are polite but distant acquaintances in the local social scene. ## In the story ### [IV: Monsieur Droqville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/iv-monsieur-droqville) The scarred French officer who confronts the narrator in the inn yard, making cryptic remarks about the red stork emblem and boasting of his ability to uncover secrets. ### [Supper at the Belle Étoile](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/v-supper-at-the-belle-toile) Sits nearby at supper, boasts loudly about his miraculous healing abilities, and is described as extremely pale. ### [The Naked Sword](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/vi-the-naked-sword) Stares at the narrator after his dream; later engages in a furious altercation, brandishing a sword and accusing the Count and Countess of being vampires. ### [VII: The White Rose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/vii-the-white-rose) Attacked by the narrator with a walking stick, knocked unconscious, and later attended by a surgeon who suspects a fractured skull. ### [XII: The Magician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xii-the-magician) Appears at the ball in a corporal's costume, with visible scars and a pinned-up sleeve, indicating a recent injury. ### [XIII: The Oracle Tells Me Wonders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xiii-the-oracle-tells-me-wonders) Appears in his loud, swaggering persona at the ball; consults the oracle about a widow and an Englishman. ### [XVIII: The Churchyard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xviii-the-churchyard) Spotted by the narrator in the churchyard, watching and whistling to an accomplice. ### [XIX: The Key](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xix-the-key) Approaches the meeting place with a companion, nearly discovering the narrator and the Countess, but then departs. ### [XX: A High-Cauld-Cap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xx-a-high-cauld-cap) Briefly mentioned as the 'grotesque sabreur' the narrator fears encountering again. ### [I See Three Men in a Mirror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xxi-i-see-three-men-in-a-mirror) Seen in the mirror at the curiosity shop, in earnest conversation with the Marquis and a third man. ### [XXVI: Catastrophe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/chapters/xxvi-catastrophe) Recovers some of his brother's money and reconciles with the narrator, treating the wound from the narrator's stick as an honorable duel. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters/colonel_gaillarde - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_room_in_the_dragon_volant_se/characters