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PG27 | 69 | CHAPTER XXI.
TROUBLES IN THE FOLDA MESSAGE
Gabriel Oak had ceased to feed the Weatherbury flock for about
four-and-twenty hours, when on Sunday afternoon the elderly gentlemen,
Joseph Poorgrass, Matthew Moon, Fray, and half-a-dozen others came
running up to the house of the mistress of the Upper Farm.
Whatever _is_ ... | 1,138 |
PG27 | 70 | Aya holler pipe, echoed Joseph. Thats what tis.
Ay, surethats the machine, chimed in Henery Fray, reflectively,
with an Oriental indifference to the flight of time.
Well, burst out Bathsheba, dont stand there with your ayes and
your sures talking at me! Get somebody to cure the sheep instantly!
All then stalked off ... | 1,122 |
PG27 | 71 | Do not desert me, Gabriel!
She looked a little redder in refolding it, and closed her lips, as if
thereby to suspend till too late the action of conscience in examining
whether such strategy was justifiable. The note was despatched as the
message had been, and Bathsheba waited indoors for the result.
It was an anxio... | 731 |
PG27 | 72 | CHAPTER XXII.
THE GREAT BARN AND THE SHEEP-SHEARERS
Men thin away to insignificance and oblivion quite as often by not
making the most of good spirits when they have them as by lacking good
spirits when they are indispensable. Gabriel lately, for the first time
since his prostration by misfortune, had been independen... | 1,105 |
PG27 | 73 | To-day the large side doors were thrown open towards the sun to admit a
bountiful light to the immediate spot of the shearers operations,
which was the wood threshing-floor in the centre, formed of thick oak,
black with age and polished by the beating of flails for many
generations, till it had grown as slippery and as... | 1,079 |
PG27 | 74 | Well done, and done quickly! said Bathsheba, looking at her watch as
the last snip resounded.
How long, miss? said Gabriel, wiping his brow.
Three-and-twenty minutes and a half since you took the first lock from
its forehead. It is the first time that I have ever seen one done in
less than half an hour.
The clean, s... | 1,109 |
PG27 | 75 | Bottle! he shouted, in an unmoved voice of routine. Cainy Ball ran
up, the wound was anointed, and the shearing continued.
Boldwood gently tossed Bathsheba into the saddle, and before they
turned away she again spoke out to Oak with the same dominative and
tantalizing graciousness.
I am going now to see Mr. Boldwoods... | 1,050 |
PG27 | 76 | It was the unvarying custom in Weatherbury to sink minor differences
when the maltster had to be pacified.
Weak as water! yes, said Jan Coggan. Malter, we feel ye to be a
wonderful old veteran man, and nobody can gainsay it.
Nobody, said Joseph Poorgrass. Ye are a very rare old spectacle,
malster, and we all respect ... | 779 |
PG27 | 77 | CHAPTER XXIII.
EVENTIDEA SECOND DECLARATION
For the shearing-supper a long table was placed on the grass-plot
beside the house, the end of the table being thrust over the sill of
the wide parlour-window and a foot or two into the room. Miss Everdene
sat inside the window, facing down the table. She was thus at the he... | 1,118 |
PG27 | 78 | Oh the wi-il-lo-ow tree will twist,
And the wil-low tre-ee wiill twine.
But the singer could not be set going again. Bob Coggan was sent home
for his ill manners, and tranquility was restored by Jacob Smallbury,
who volunteered a ballad as inclusive and interminable as that with
which the worthy toper old Silenus amu... | 1,081 |
PG27 | 79 | I like to give praise where praise is due, and the man deserves
itthat a do so, he remarked, looking at the worthy thief
comprehensively, as if he were the masterpiece of some world-renowned
artist.
Im sure I should never have believed it if we hadnt proved it, so to
allude, said Joseph Poorgrass, that every cup, ever... | 851 |
PG27 | 80 | CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SAME NIGHTTHE FIR PLANTATION
Among the multifarious duties which Bathsheba had voluntarily imposed
upon herself by dispensing with the services of a bailiff, was the
particular one of looking round the homestead before going to bed, to
see that all was right and safe for the night. Gabriel had almos... | 1,021 |
PG27 | 81 | A hand seized the lantern, the door was opened, the rays burst out from
their prison, and Bathsheba beheld her position with astonishment.
The man to whom she was hooked was brilliant in brass and scarlet. He
was a soldier. His sudden appearance was to darkness what the sound of
a trumpet is to silence. Gloom, the _ge... | 1,032 |
PG27 | 82 | This trifling provokes, andand
Not too cruel!
Insults me!
It is done in order that I may have the pleasure of apologizing to so
charming a woman, which I straightway do most humbly, madam, he said,
bowing low.
Bathsheba really knew not what to say.
Ive seen a good many women in my time, continued the young man in ... | 909 |
PG27 | 85 | CHAPTER XXVI.
SCENE ON THE VERGE OF THE HAY-MEAD
Ah, Miss Everdene! said the sergeant, touching his diminutive cap.
Little did I think it was you I was speaking to the other night. And
yet, if I had reflected, the Queen of the Corn-market (truth is truth
at any hour of the day or night, and I heard you so named in
Ca... | 1,011 |
PG27 | 86 | I again say you are a most fascinating woman. Theres nothing
remarkable in my saying so, is there? Im sure the fact is evident
enough. Miss Everdene, my opinion may be too forcibly let out to please
you, and, for the matter of that, too insignificant to convince you,
but surely it is honest, and why cant it be excused?... | 1,049 |
PG27 | 87 | I know you do notI know it perfectly, said Troy, with much hearty
conviction on the exterior of his face: and altering the expression to
moodiness; when a dozen men are ready to speak tenderly to you, and
give the admiration you deserve without adding the warning you need, it
stands to reason that my poor rough-and-rea... | 1,030 |
PG27 | 88 | It is an unusually good one for a man like me to possess, he quietly
said. That watch has a history. Press the spring and open the back.
She did so.
What do you see?
A crest and a motto.
A coronet with five points, and beneath, _Cedit amor rebus_Love
yields to circumstance. Its the motto of the Earls of Severn. Tha... | 1,083 |
PG27 | 90 | CHAPTER XXVII.
HIVING THE BEES
The Weatherbury bees were late in their swarming this year. It was in
the latter part of June, and the day after the interview with Troy in
the hayfield, that Bathsheba was standing in her garden, watching a
swarm in the air and guessing their probable settling place. Not only
were they... | 1,021 |
PG27 | 92 | CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE HOLLOW AMID THE FERNS
The hill opposite one end of Bathshebas dwelling extended into an
uncultivated tract of land, covered at this season with tall thickets
of brake fern, plump and diaphanous from recent rapid growth, and
radiant in hues of clear and untainted green.
At eight oclock this midsum... | 1,152 |
PG27 | 93 | Oh! she cried out in affright, pressing her hand to her side. Have
you run me through?no, you have not! Whatever have you done!
I have not touched you, said Troy, quietly. It was mere sleight of
hand. The sword passed behind you. Now you are not afraid, are you?
Because if you are I cant perform. I give my word that I... | 1,022 |
PG27 | 95 | CHAPTER XXIX.
PARTICULARS OF A TWILIGHT WALK
We now see the element of folly distinctly mingling with the many
varying particulars which made up the character of Bathsheba Everdene.
It was almost foreign to her intrinsic nature. It was introduced as
lymph on the dart of Eros, and eventually permeated and coloured her... | 1,058 |
PG27 | 96 | And as the man who would naturally come to meet you is away from home,
tooI mean Farmer Boldwoodwhy, thinks I, Ill go, he said.
Ah, yes. She walked on without turning her head, and for many steps
nothing further was heard from her quarter than the rustle of her dress
against the heavy corn-ears. Then she resumed rathe... | 1,000 |
PG27 | 97 | Oh.
He is as good as anybody in this parish! He is very particular, too,
about going to churchyes, he is!
I am afeard nobody saw him there. I never did certainly.
The reason of that is, she said eagerly, that he goes in privately
by the old tower door, just when the service commences, and sits at the
back of the gal... | 1,012 |
PG27 | 99 | CHAPTER XXX.
HOT CHEEKS AND TEARFUL EYES
Half an hour later Bathsheba entered her own house. There burnt upon
her face when she met the light of the candles the flush and excitement
which were little less than chronic with her now. The farewell words of
Troy, who had accompanied her to the very door, still lingered i... | 1,013 |
PG27 | 100 | Liddys clear eyes rounded with wonderment.
Yes; you must be a blind thing, Liddy! she said, in reckless
abandonment and grief. Oh, I love him to very distraction and misery
and agony! Dont be frightened at me, though perhaps I am enough to
frighten any innocent woman. Come closercloser. She put her arms
round Liddys n... | 1,082 |
PG27 | 102 | CHAPTER I.
BLAMEFURY
The next evening Bathsheba, with the idea of getting out of the way of
Mr. Boldwood in the event of his returning to answer her note in
person, proceeded to fulfil an engagement made with Liddy some few
hours earlier. Bathshebas companion, as a gage of their
reconciliation, had been granted a wee... | 1,040 |
PG27 | 103 | Bathsheba commanded herself well. But she could hardly get a clear
voice for what came instinctively to her lips: There is little honour
to the woman in that speech. It was only whispered, for something
unutterably mournful no less than distressing in this spectacle of a
man showing himself to be so entirely the vane o... | 997 |
PG27 | 104 | Bathsheba, in spite of her mettle, began to feel unmistakable signs
that she was inherently the weaker vessel. She strove miserably against
this feminity which would insist upon supplying unbidden emotions in
stronger and stronger current. She had tried to elude agitation by
fixing her mind on the trees, sky, any trivi... | 1,078 |
PG27 | 105 | Youll chatter with him doubtless about me. Say to him, Boldwood
would have died for me. Yes, and you have given way to him, knowing
him to be not the man for you. He has kissed youclaimed you as his. Do
you hearhe has kissed you. Deny it!
The most tragic woman is cowed by a tragic man, and although Boldwood
was, in ve... | 1,168 |
PG27 | 107 | CHAPTER II.
NIGHTHORSES TRAMPING
The village of Weatherbury was quiet as the graveyard in its midst, and
the living were lying well-nigh as still as the dead. The church clock
struck eleven. The air was so empty of other sounds that the whirr of
the clock-work immediately before the strokes was distinct, and so was
a... | 1,099 |
PG27 | 108 | Weatherbury Bottom was reached in three or four minutes. They scanned
the shady green patch by the roadside. The gipsies were gone.
The villains! said Gabriel. Which way have they gone, I wonder?
Straight on, as sure as God made little apples, said Jan.
Very well; we are better mounted, and must overtake overtake em... | 1,071 |
PG27 | 109 | Hushwe are almost close! said Gabriel.
Amble on upon the grass, said Coggan.
The white bars were blotted out in the midst by a dark shape in front
of them. The silence of this lonely time was pierced by an exclamation
from that quarter.
Hoy-a-hoy! Gate!
It appeared that there had been a previous call which they had... | 1,156 |
PG27 | 111 | CHAPTER III.
IN THE SUNA HARBINGER
A week passed, and there were no tidings of Bathsheba; nor was there
any explanation of her Gilpins rig.
Then a note came for Maryann, stating that the business which had
called her mistress to Bath still detained her there; but that she
hoped to return in the course of another wee... | 1,145 |
PG27 | 112 | D the boy! said Gabriel.
Tis only my manner, Mister Oak, if yell excuse it, said Cain Ball,
looking reproachfully at Oak, with eyes drenched in their own dew.
Heres some cider for himthatll cure his throat, said Jan Coggan,
lifting a flagon of cider, pulling out the cork, and applying the hole
to Cainys mouth; Joseph... | 1,082 |
PG27 | 113 | And the people of Bath, continued Cain, never need to light their
fires except as a luxery, for the water springs up out of the earth
ready boiled for use.
Tis true as the light, testified Matthew Moon. Ive heard other
navigators say the same thing.
They drink nothing else there, said Cain, and seem to enjoy it, to
s... | 1,064 |
PG27 | 115 | CHAPTER IV.
HOME AGAINA JUGGLER
That same evening at dusk Gabriel was leaning over Coggans
garden-gate, taking an up-and-down survey before retiring to rest.
A vehicle of some kind was softly creeping along the grassy margin of
the lane. From it spread the tones of two women talking. The tones were
natural and not a... | 1,023 |
PG27 | 116 | Indeed.
The tone in which this word was uttered was all that had been wanted to
bring Boldwood to the point.
I wish to speak a word with you, he said.
What about?
About her who lives just ahead thereand about a woman you have
wronged.
I wonder at your impertinence, said Troy, moving on.
Now look here, said Boldwo... | 1,032 |
PG27 | 117 | Why should it be over so soon? And why then did you come here again?
There are weighty reasons. Fifty pounds at once, you said?
I did, said Boldwood, and here they arefifty sovereigns. He handed
Troy a small packet.
You have everything readyit seems that you calculated on my accepting
them, said the sergeant, taking... | 1,030 |
PG27 | 118 | Save her.
Oh, how can she be saved now, unless I marry her?
Boldwood groaned. He reluctantly released the soldier, and flung him
back against the hedge. Devil, you torture me! said he.
Troy rebounded like a ball, and was about to make a dash at the farmer;
but he checked himself, saying lightly,
It is not worth whi... | 1,063 |
PG27 | 120 | CHAPTER V.
AT AN UPPER WINDOW
It was very early the next morninga time of sun and dew. The confused
beginnings of many birds songs spread into the healthy air, and the
wan blue of the heaven was here and there coated with thin webs of
incorporeal cloud which were of no effect in obscuring day. All the
lights in the s... | 1,019 |
PG27 | 121 | The military man turned and surveyed the interior of the room, to
assist his ideas of improvement in this direction. Gabriel and Coggan
began to move on.
Oh, Coggan, said Troy, as if inspired by a recollection, do you know
if insanity has ever appeared in Mr. Boldwoods family?
Jan reflected for a moment.
I once hear... | 707 |
PG27 | 122 | CHAPTER VI.
WEALTH IN JEOPARDYTHE REVEL
One night, at the end of August, when Bathshebas experiences as a
married woman were still new, and when the weather was yet dry and
sultry, a man stood motionless in the stackyard of Weatherbury Upper
Farm, looking at the moon and sky.
The night had a sinister aspect. A heate... | 1,071 |
PG27 | 123 | Will you tell him, then, said Gabriel, that I only stepped athart
to say that a heavy rain is sure to fall soon, and that something
should be done to protect the ricks?
Mr. Troy says it will not rain, returned the messenger, and he
cannot stop to talk to you about such fidgets.
In juxtaposition with Troy, Oak had a m... | 1,103 |
PG27 | 124 | This complication of weathers being uncommon, was all the more to be
feared. Oak returned to the stack-yard. All was silent here, and the
conical tips of the ricks jutted darkly into the sky. There were five
wheat-ricks in this yard, and three stacks of barley. The wheat when
threshed would average about thirty quarter... | 1,065 |
PG27 | 125 | Gabriel was greatly depressed. This debauch boded ill for that wilful
and fascinating mistress whom the faithful man even now felt within him
as the embodiment of all that was sweet and bright and hopeless.
He put out the expiring lights, that the barn might not be endangered,
closed the door upon the men in their dee... | 731 |
PG27 | 126 | CHAPTER VII.
THE STORMTHE TWO TOGETHER
A light flapped over the scene, as if reflected from phosphorescent
wings crossing the sky, and a rumble filled the air. It was the first
arrow from the approaching storm, and it fell wide.
The second peal was noisy, with comparatively little visible lightning.
Gabriel saw a ca... | 1,076 |
PG27 | 127 | Then came the peal. It hardly was credible that such a heavenly light
could be the parent of such a diabolical sound.
How terrible! she exclaimed, and clutched him by the sleeve. Gabriel
turned, and steadied her on her arial perch by holding her arm. At the
same moment, while he was still reversed in his attitude, the... | 1,028 |
PG27 | 128 | Oh, I know it allall, she said, adding slowly: They are all asleep
in the barn, in a drunken sleep, and my husband among them. Thats it,
is it not? Dont think I am a timid woman, and cant endure things.
I am not certain, said Gabriel. I will go and see.
He crossed to the barn, leaving her there alone. He looked throu... | 997 |
PG27 | 130 | CHAPTER VIII.
RAINONE SOLITARY MEETS ANOTHER
It was now five oclock, and the dawn was promising to break in hues of
drab and ash.
The air changed its temperature and stirred itself more vigorously.
Cool elastic breezes coursed in transparent eddies round Oaks face.
The wind shifted yet a point or two and blew strong... | 1,134 |
PG27 | 132 | CHAPTER IX.
COMING HOMEA CRY
On the turnpike road, between Casterbridge and Weatherbury, and about a
mile from the latter place, is one of those steep long ascents which
pervade the highways of this undulating district. In returning from
market it is usual for the farmers and other gig-gentry to alight at
the bottom ... | 1,025 |
PG27 | 133 | A woman appeared on the brow of the hill. The ridge was so abrupt that
she was very near the husband and wife before she became visible. Troy
had turned towards the gig to remount, and whilst putting his foot on
the step the woman passed behind him.
Though the overshadowing trees and the approach of eventide enveloped... | 829 |
PG27 | 134 | CHAPTER X.
ON CASTERBRIDGE HIGHWAY
For a considerable time the woman walked on. Her steps became feebler,
and she strained her eyes to look afar upon the naked road, now
indistinct amid the penumbr of night. At length her onward walk
dwindled to the merest totter, and she opened a gate within which was a
haystack. Un... | 1,045 |
PG27 | 135 | Here she lay, a shapeless heap, for ten minutes and more. The morning
wind began to boom dully over the flats, and to move afresh dead leaves
which had lain still since yesterday. The woman desperately turned
round upon her knees, and next rose to her feet. Steadying herself by
the help of one crutch, she essayed a ste... | 1,154 |
PG27 | 136 | In her reclining position she looked up to him just as in earlier times
she had, when standing, looked up to a man. The animal, who was as
homeless as she, respectfully withdrew a step or two when the woman
moved, and, seeing that she did not repulse him, he licked her hand
again.
A thought moved within her like light... | 927 |
PG27 | 137 | CHAPTER XI.
SUSPICIONFANNY IS SENT FOR
Bathsheba said very little to her husband all that evening of their
return from market, and he was not disposed to say much to her. He
exhibited the unpleasant combination of a restless condition with a
silent tongue. The next day, which was Sunday, passed nearly in the
same man... | 1,031 |
PG27 | 139 | The next morning she rose earlier than usual, and had the horse saddled
for her ride round the farm in the customary way. When she came in at
half-past eighttheir usual hour for breakfastingshe was informed that
her husband had risen, taken his breakfast, and driven off to
Casterbridge with the gig and Poppet.
After b... | 1,067 |
PG27 | 140 | Ony been there a day or two.
Oh!then she has not been staying there as a regular inmate?
No. Shes been picking up a living at seampstering in Melchester for
several months, at the house of a very respectable widow-woman who
takes in work of that sort. She only got handy the Union-house on
Sunday morning a blieve, and... | 1,025 |
PG27 | 142 | CHAPTER XII.
JOSEPH AND HIS BURDENBUCKS HEAD
A wall bounded the site of Casterbridge Union-house, except along a
portion of the end. Here a high gable stood prominent, and it was
covered like the front with a mat of ivy. In this gable was no window,
chimney, ornament, or protuberance of any kind. The single feature
a... | 1,178 |
PG27 | 143 | Situated by roadside in the midst of this wood was the old inn, called
Bucks Head. It was about a mile and a half from Weatherbury, and in
the meridian times of stage-coach travelling had been the place where
many coaches changed and kept their relays of horses. All the old
stabling was now pulled down, and little rema... | 1,031 |
PG27 | 144 | I dont mind taking just the merest thimbleful of imagination more
with ye, sonnies. But only a few minutes, because tis as tis.
Of course, youll have another drop. A mans twice the man afterwards.
You feel so warm and glorious, and you whop and slap at your work
without any trouble, and everything goes on like sticks ... | 1,083 |
PG27 | 145 | At that moment hasty steps were heard in the entry, and the door opened
to admit the figure of Gabriel Oak, followed by the maid of the inn
bearing a candle. He stared sternly at the one lengthy and two round
faces of the sitters, which confronted him with the expressions of a
fiddle and a couple of warming-pans. Josep... | 1,078 |
PG27 | 146 | It had gradually become rumoured in the village that the body to be
brought and buried that day was all that was left of the unfortunate
Fanny Robin who had followed the Eleventh from Casterbridge to
Melchester. But, thanks to Boldwoods reticence and Oaks generosity,
the lover she had followed had never been individual... | 996 |
PG27 | 148 | CHAPTER XIII.
FANNYS REVENGE
Do you want me any longer, maam? inquired Liddy, at a later hour the
same evening, standing by the door with a chamber candlestick in her
hand, and addressing Bathsheba, who sat cheerless and alone in the
large parlour beside the first fire of the season.
No more to-night, Liddy.
Ill si... | 1,061 |
PG27 | 149 | Bathsheba had grounds for conjecturing a connection between her own
history and the dimly suspected tragedy of Fannys end which Oak and
Boldwood never for a moment credited her with possessing. The meeting
with the lonely woman on the previous Saturday night had been
unwitnessed and unspoken of. Oak may have had the be... | 1,018 |
PG27 | 150 | More fevered now by a reaction from the first feelings which Oaks
example had raised in her, she paused in the hall, looking at the door
of the room wherein Fanny lay. She locked her fingers, threw back her
head, and strained her hot hands rigidly across her forehead, saying,
with a hysterical sob, Would to God you wou... | 1,075 |
PG27 | 151 | She knelt beside the coffin, covered her face with her hands, and for a
time the room was silent as a tomb. whether from a purely mechanical,
or from any other cause, when Bathsheba arose it was with a quieted
spirit, and a regret for the antagonistic instincts which had seized
upon her just before.
In her desire to m... | 1,191 |
PG27 | 153 | CHAPTER XIV.
UNDER A TREEREACTION
Bathsheba went along the dark road, neither knowing nor caring about
the direction or issue of her flight. The first time that she
definitely noticed her position was when she reached a gate leading
into a thicket overhung by some large oak and beech trees. On looking
into the place,... | 1,063 |
PG27 | 154 | O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O Lord:that I know out o book.
Give us, give us, give us, give us, give us:that I know. Grace
that, grace that, grace that, grace that:that I know. Other words
followed to the same effect. The boy was of the dunce class apparently;
the book was a psalter, and this was his way of learning... | 1,056 |
PG27 | 155 | Then they think I am in my bedroom?
Yes. Liddy then ventured to add: You said when I first found you
that you might never go home againyou didnt mean it, maam?
No; Ive altered my mind. It is only women with no pride in them who
run away from their husbands. There is one position worse than that of
being found dead in... | 1,168 |
PG27 | 157 | CHAPTER XV.
TROYS ROMANTICISM
When Troys wife had left the house at the previous midnight his first
act was to cover the dead from sight. This done he ascended the stairs,
and throwing himself down upon the bed dressed as he was, he waited
miserably for the morning.
Fate had dealt grimly with him through the last fo... | 994 |
PG27 | 158 | That sum to include everything?
Everything. Cutting the name, carriage to Weatherbury and erection.
And I want it now, at once.
We could not get anything special worked this week.
If you would like one of these in stock it could be got ready
immediately.
Very well, said Troy, impatiently. Lets see what you have.
T... | 1,133 |
PG27 | 160 | CHAPTER XVI.
THE GURGOYLE: ITS DOINGS
The tower of Weatherbury Church was a square erection of
fourteenth-century date, having two stone gurgoyles on each of the four
faces of its parapet. Of these eight carved protuberances only two at
this time continued to serve the purpose of their erectionthat of
spouting the wa... | 1,035 |
PG27 | 161 | Troy did not awake from his comfortless sleep till it was broad day.
Not having been in bed for two nights his shoulders felt stiff his feet
tender, and his head heavy. He remembered his position, arose,
shivered, took the spade, and again went out.
The rain had quite ceased, and the sun was shining through the green,... | 1,002 |
PG27 | 162 | He stood and mediateda miserable man. Whither should he go? He that
is accursed, let him be accursed still. was the pitiless anathema
written in this spoliated effort of his new-born solicitousness. A man
who has spent his primal strength in journeying in one direction has
not much spirit left for reversing his course.... | 1,054 |
PG27 | 163 | What makes you think he has gone there? she said.
Laban Tall saw him on the Budmouth road this morning before
breakfast.
Bathsheba was momentarily relieved of that wayward heaviness of the
past twenty-four hours which had quenched the vitality of youth in her
without substituting the philosophy of maturer years, and ... | 655 |
PG27 | 164 | CHAPTER XVII.
ADVENTURES BY THE SHORE
Troy wandered along towards the west. A composite feeling, made up of
disgust with the, to him, humdrum tedium of a farmers life, gloomily
images of her who lay in the churchyard, remorse, and a general
aversion to his wifes society, impelled him to seek a home in any
place on ea... | 995 |
PG27 | 166 | CHAPTER XVIII.
DOUBTS ARISEDOUBTS VANISH
Bathsheba underwent the enlargement of her husbands absence from hours
to days with a slight feeling of surprise, and a slight feeling of
relief; yet neither sensation rose at any time far above the level
commonly designated as indifference. She belonged to him: the
certaintie... | 1,130 |
PG27 | 167 | Boldwood left the room. He stood for a moment in the passage to recover
his senses. The experience had been too much for his consciousness to
keep up with, and now that he had grasped it it had gone again. For
those few heavenly, golden moments she had been in his arms. What did
it matter about her not knowing it? She ... | 1,108 |
PG27 | 169 | CHAPTER XIX.
OAKS ADVANCEMENTA GREAT HOPE
The later autumn and the winter drew on apace, and the leaves lay thick
upon the turf of the glades and the mosses of the woods. Bathsheba,
having previously been living in a state of suspended feeling which was
not suspense, now lived in a mood of quietude which was not prec... | 1,045 |
PG27 | 170 | A great hope had latterly germinated in Boldwood, whose unreasoning
devotion to Bathsheba could only be characterized as a fond madness
which neither time nor circumstance, evil nor good report, could weaken
or destroy. This fevered hope had grown up again like a grain of
mustard-seed during the quiet which followed th... | 1,022 |
PG27 | 172 | CHAPTER XX.
THE SHEEP FAIRTROY TOUCHES HIS WIFES HAND
Greenhill was the Nijnii Novgorod of South Wessex; and the busiest,
merriest, noisiest day of the whole statute number was the day of the
sheep-fair. This yearly gathering was upon the summit of a hill which
retained in good preservation the remains of an ancient ... | 1,113 |
PG27 | 174 | At this timethe July preceding the September in which we find at
Greenhill Fairhe fell in with a travelling circus which was performing
in the outskirts of a northern town. Troy introduced himself to the
manager by taming a restive horse of the troupe, hitting a suspended
apple with pistol-bullet fired from the animals... | 1,101 |
PG27 | 175 | The interior was shadowy with a peculiar shade. The strange luminous
semi-opacities of fine autumn afternoons and eves intensified into
Rembrandt effects the few yellow sunbeams which came through holes and
divisions in the canvas, and spirted like jets of gold-dust across the
dusky blue atmosphere of haze pervading th... | 1,139 |
PG27 | 176 | Meanwhile Troy had added a few touches to his ordinary make-up for the
character, the more effectually to disguise himself, and though he had
felt faint qualms on first entering, the metamorphosis effected by
judiciously lining his face with a wire rendered him safe from the
eyes of Bathsheba and her men. Nevertheless,... | 1,060 |
PG27 | 177 | Troy found unexpected chords of feeling to be stirred again within him
as they had been stirred earlier in the day. She was handsome as ever,
and she was his. It was some minutes before he could counteract his
sudden wish to go in, and claim her. Then he thought how the proud girl
who had always looked down upon him ev... | 1,099 |
PG27 | 179 | CHAPTER XXI.
BATHSHEBA TALKS WITH HER OUTRIDER
The arrangement for getting back again to Weatherbury had been that Oak
should take the place of Poorgrass in Bathshebas conveyance and drive
her home, it being discovered late in the afternoon that Joseph was
suffering from his old complaint, a multiplying eye, and was,... | 1,035 |
PG27 | 180 | I knowI know it all, she said, hurriedly.
I, for one, shall never cease regretting that events so fell out as to
deny you to me.
I, too, am very sorry, she said, and then checked herself. I mean,
you know, I am sorry you thought I
I have always this dreary pleasure in thinking over those past times
with youthat I wa... | 1,087 |
PG27 | 181 | Promise!
Consider, if I cannot promise soon.
But soon is perhaps never?
Oh no, it is not! I mean soon. Christmas, well say.
Christmas! He said nothing further till he added: Well, Ill say no
more to you about it till that time.
Bathsheba was in a very peculiar state of mind, which showed how
entirely the soul is... | 1,176 |
PG27 | 183 | CHAPTER XXII.
CONVERGING COURSES
I.
Christmas-Eve came, and a party that Boldwood was to give in the
evening was the great subject of talk in Weatherbury. It was not that
the rarity of Christmas parties in the parish made this one a wonder,
but that Boldwood should be the giver. The announcement had had an
abnormal a... | 1,106 |
PG27 | 184 | Oh, Oak, said Boldwood. I shall of course see you here to-night.
Make yourself merry. I am determined that neither expense nor trouble
shall be spared.
Ill try to be here, sir, though perhaps it may not be very early,
said Gabriel, quietly. I am glad indeed to see such a change in ye
from what it used to be.
YesI mus... | 1,043 |
PG27 | 185 | Ha-ha! Well done, Pennyways. Troy had laughed, but it was with some
anxiety that he said, Now, what I want to know is this, do you think
theres really anything going on between her and Boldwood? Upon my
soul, I should never have believed it! How she must detest me! Have you
found out whether she has encouraged him?
I ... | 1,038 |
PG27 | 186 | Now just suppose Mr. Boldwood should ask youonly just suppose itto
run away with him, what would you do, maam?
Liddynone of that, said Bathsheba, gravely. Mind, I wont hear
joking on any such matter. Do you hear?
I beg pardon, maam. But knowing what rum things we women are, I just
saidhowever, I wont speak of it agai... | 1,019 |
PG27 | 187 | Pennyways snuffed the candle, and then looked up and deliberately
inspected Troy.
Youve made up your mind to go then? he said.
Made up my mind? Yes; of course I have.
Why not write to her? Tis a very queer corner that you have got into,
sergeant. You see all these things will come to light if you go back,
and they w... | 751 |
PG27 | 188 | CHAPTER XXIII.
CONCURRITURHOR MOMENTO
Outside the front of Boldwoods house a group of men stood in the dark,
with their faces towards the door, which occasionally opened and closed
for the passage of some guest or servant, when a golden rod of light
would stripe the ground for the moment and vanish again, leaving
not... | 1,065 |
PG27 | 189 | Boldwood compressed his emotion to mere welcome: the men marked her
light laugh and apology as she met him: he took her into the house; and
the door closed again.
Gracious heaven, I didnt know it was like that with him! said one of
the men. I thought that fancy of his was over long ago.
You dont know much of master, ... | 1,012 |
PG27 | 190 | Well? said both.
I didnt like to ask for her after all, Laban faltered out. They
were all in such a stir, trying to put a little spirit into the party.
Somehow the fun seems to hang fire, though everythings there that a
heart can desire, and I couldnt for my soul interfere and throw damp
upon itif twas to save my life... | 1,116 |
PG27 | 191 | The trimmings of her dress, as they quivered against the light, showed
how agitated she was, and at last she burst out crying. And youll
notpress meabout anything moreif I say in five or six years? she
sobbed, when she had power to frame the words.
Yes, then Ill leave it to time.
She waited a moment. Very well. Ill m... | 1,090 |
PG27 | 192 | Boldwood was among those who did not notice that he was Troy. Come in,
come in! he repeated, cheerfully, and drain a Christmas beaker with
us, stranger!
Troy next advanced into the middle of the room, took off his cap,
turned down his coat-collar, and looked Boldwood in the face. Even then
Boldwood did not recognize t... | 943 |
PG27 | 193 | CHAPTER XXIV.
AFTER THE SHOCK
Boldwood passed into the high road and turned in the direction of
Casterbridge. Here he walked at an even, steady pace over Bucks Head,
along the dead level beyond, mounted Casterbridge Hill, and between
eleven and twelve oclock descended into the town. The streets were
nearly deserted n... | 1,033 |
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