bythe
wayside
and
some
among
thorns
,
and
all
that
.
Each
grain
will
go
straight
to
its
intended
place
,
and
nowhere
else
whatever
!
”
“
Then
the
romance
of
the
sower
is
gone
for
good
,
”
observed
Elizabeth-Jane
,
who
felt
herself
at
one
with
Farfrae
in
Bible-reading
at
least
.
“
'
He
that
observeth
the
wind
shall
not
sow
,
'
so
the
Preacher
said
;
but
his
words
will
not
be
to
the
point
any
more
.
How
things
change
!
”
“
Ay
;
ay
...
.It
must
be
so
!
”
Donald
admitted
,
his
gaze
fixing
itself
on
a
blank
point
far
away
.
“
But
the
machines
are
already
very
common
in
the
East
and
North
of
England
,
”
he
added
apologetically
.
Lucetta
seemed
to
be
outside
this
train
of
sentiment
,
her
acquaintance
with
the
Scriptures
being
somewhat
limited
.
“
Is
the
machine
yours
?
”
she
asked
of
Farfrae
.
“
O
no
,
madam
,
”
said
he
,
becoming
embarrassed
and
deferential
at
the
sound
of
her
voice
,
though
with
Elizabeth
Jane
he
was
quite
at
his
ease
.
“
No
,
no
—
I
merely
recommended
that
it
should
be
got
.
”
In
the
silence
which
followed
Farfrae
appeared
only
conscious
of
her
;
to
have
passed
from
perception
of
Elizabeth
into
a
brighter
sphere
of
existence
than
she
appertained
to
.
Lucetta
,
discerning
that
he
was
much
mixed
that
day
,
partly
in
his
mercantile
mood
and
partly
in
his
romantic
one
,
said
gaily
to
him
—
“
Well
,
do
n't
forsake
the
machine
for
us
,
”
and
went
indoors
with
her
companion
.
The
latter
felt
that
she
had
been
in
the
way
,
though
why
was
unaccountable
to
her
.
Lucetta
explained
the
matter
somewhat
by
saying
when
they
were
again
in
the
sitting-room
—
“
I
had
occasion
to
speak
to
Mr.
Farfrae
the
other
day
,
and
so
I
knew
him
this
morning
.
”
Lucetta
was
very
kind
towards
Elizabeth
that
day
.
Together
they
saw
the
market
thicken
,
and
in
course
of
time
thin
away
with
the
slow
decline
of
the
sun
towards
the
upper
end
of
town
,
its
rays
taking
the
street
endways
and
enfilading
the
long
thoroughfare
from
top
to
bottom
.
The
gigs
and
vans
disappeared
one
by
one
till
there
was
not
a
vehicle
in
the
street
.
The
time
of
the
riding
world
was
over
;
the
pedestrian
world
held
sway
.
Field
labourers
and
their
wives
and
children
trooped
in
from
the
villages
for
their
weekly
shopping
,
and
instead
of
a
rattle
of
wheels
and
a
tramp
of
horses
ruling
the
sound
as
earlier
,
there
was
nothing
but
the
shuffle
of
many
feet
.
All
the
implements
were
gone
;
all
the
farmers
;
all
the
moneyed
class
.
The
character
of
the
town
's
trading
had
changed
from
bulk
to
multiplicity
and
pence
were
handled
now
as
pounds
had
been
handled
earlier
in
the
day
.
Lucetta
and
Elizabeth
looked
out
upon
this
,
for
though
it
was
night
and
the
street
lamps
were
lighted
,
they
had
kept
their
shutters
unclosed
.
In
the
faint
blink
of
the
fire
they
spoke
more
freely
.
“
Your
father
was
distant
with
you
,
”
said
Lucetta
.
“
Yes
.
”
And
having
forgotten
the
momentary
mystery
of
Henchard
's
seeming
speech
to
Lucetta
she
continued
,
“
It
is
because
he
does
not
think
I
am
respectable
.
I
have
tried
to
be
so
more
than
you
can
imagine
,
but
in
vain
!
My
mother
's
separation
from
my
father
was
unfortunate
for
me
.
You
do
n't
know
what
it
is
to
have
shadows
like
that
upon
your
life
.
”
Lucetta
seemed
to
wince
.
“
I
do
not
—
of
that
kind
precisely
,
”
she
said
,
“
but
you
may
feel
a
—
sense
of
disgrace
—
shame
—
in
other
ways
.
”
“
Have
you
ever
had
any
such
feeling
?
”
said
the
younger
innocently
.
“
O
no
,
”
said
Lucetta
quickly
.
“
I
was
thinking
of
—
what
happens
sometimes
when
women
get
themselves
in
strange
positions
in
the
eyes
of
the
world
from
no
fault
of
their
own
.
”
“
It
must
make
them
very
unhappy
afterwards
.
”
“
It
makes
them
anxious
;
for
might
not
other
women
despise
them
?
”
“
Not
altogether
despise
them
.
Yet
not
quite
like
or
respect
them
.
”
Lucetta
winced
again
.
Her
past
was
by
no
means
secure
from
investigation
,
even
in
Casterbridge
.
For
one
thing
Henchard
had
never
returned
to
her
the
cloud
of
letters
she
had
written
and
sent
him
in
her
first
excitement
.
Possibly
they
were
destroyed
;
but
she
could
have
wished
that
they
had
never
been
written
.
The
rencounter
with
Farfrae
and
his
bearings
towards
Lucetta
had
made
the
reflective
Elizabeth
more
observant
of
her
brilliant
and
amiable
companion
.
A
few
days
afterwards
,
when
her
eyes
met
Lucetta
's
as
the
latter
was
going
out
,
she
somehow
knew
that
Miss
Templeman
was
nourishing
a
hope
of
seeing
the
attractive
Scotchman
.
The
fact
was
printed
large
all
over
Lucetta
's
cheeks
and
eyes
to
any
one
who
could
read
her
as
Elizabeth-Jane
was
beginning
to
do
.
Lucetta
passed
on
and
closed
the
street
door
.
A
seer
's
spirit
took
possession
of
Elizabeth
,
impelling
her
to
sit
down
by
the
fire
and
divine
events
so
surely
from
data
already
her
own
that
they
could
be
held
as
witnessed
.
She
followed
Lucetta
thus
mentally
—
saw
her
encounter
Donald
somewhere
as
if
by
chance
—
saw
him
wear
his
special
look
when
meeting
women
,
with
an
added
intensity
because
this
one
was
Lucetta
.
She
depicted
his
impassioned
manner
;
beheld
the
indecision
of
both
between
their
lothness
to
separate
and
their
desire
not
to
be
observed
;
depicted
their
shaking
of
hands
;
how
they
probably
parted
with
frigidity
in
their
general
contour
and
movements
,
only
in
the
smaller
features
showing
the
spark
of
passion
,
thus
invisible
to
all
but
themselves
.
This
discerning
silent
witch
had
not
done
thinking
of
these
things
when
Lucetta
came
noiselessly
behind
her
and
made
her
start
.
It
was
all
true
as
she
had
pictured
—
she
could
have
sworn
it
.
Lucetta
had
a
heightened
luminousness
in
her
eye
over
and
above
the
advanced
colour
of
her
cheeks
.
“
You
've
seen
Mr.
Farfrae
,
”
said
Elizabeth
demurely
.
“
Yes
,
”
said
Lucetta
.
“
How
did
you
know
?
”
She
knelt
down
on
the
hearth
and
took
her
friend
's
hands
excitedly
in
her
own
.
But
after
all
she
did
not
say
when
or
how
she
had
seen
him
or
what
he
had
said
.
That
night
she
became
restless
;
in
the
morning
she
was
feverish
;
and
at
breakfast-time
she
told
her
companion
that
she
had
something
on
her
mind
—
something
which
concerned
a
person
in
whom
she
was
interested
much
.
Elizabeth
was
earnest
to
listen
and
sympathize
.
“
This
person
—
a
lady
—
once
admired
a
man
much
—
very
much
,
”
she
said
tentatively
.
“
Ah
,
”
said
Elizabeth-Jane
.
“
They
were
intimate
—
rather
.
He
did
not
think
so
deeply
of
her
as
she
did
of
him
.
But
in
an
impulsive
moment
,
purely
out
of
reparation
,
he
proposed
to
make
her
his
wife
.
She
agreed
.
But
there
was
an
unsuspected
hitch
in
the
proceedings
;
though
she
had
been
so
far
compromised
with
him
that
she
felt
she
could
never
belong
to
another
man
,
as
a
pure
matter
of
conscience
,
even
if
she
should
wish
to
.
After
that
they
were
much
apart
,
heard
nothing
of
each
other
for
a
long
time
,
and
she
felt
her
life
quite
closed
up
for
her
.
”
“
Ah
—
poor
girl
!
”
“
She
suffered
much
on
account
of
him
;
though
I
should
add
that
he
could
not
altogether
be
blamed
for
what
had
happened
.
At
last
the
obstacle
which
separated
them
was
providentially
removed
;
and
he
came
to
marry
her
.
”
“
How
delightful
!
”
“
But
in
the
interval
she
—
my
poor
friend
—
had
seen
a
man
,
she
liked
better
than
him
.
Now
comes
the
point
:
Could
she
in
honour
dismiss
the
first
?
”
“
A
new
man
she
liked
better
—
that
's
bad
!
”
“
Yes
,
”
said
Lucetta
,
looking
pained
at
a
boy
who
was
swinging
the
town
pump-handle
.
“
It
is
bad
!
Though
you
must
remember
that
she
was
forced
into
an
equivocal
position
with
the
first
man
by
an
accident
—
that
he
was
not
so
well
educated
or
refined
as
the
second
,
and
that
she
had
discovered
some
qualities
in
the
first
that
rendered
him
less
desirable
as
a
husband
than
she
had
at
first
thought
him
to
be
.
”
“
I
cannot
answer
,
”
said
Elizabeth-Jane
thoughtfully
.
“
It
is
so
difficult
.
It
wants
a
Pope
to
settle
that
!
”
“
You
prefer
not
to
perhaps
?
”
Lucetta
showed
in
her
appealing
tone
how
much
she
leant
on
Elizabeth
's
judgment
.
“
Yes
,
Miss
Templeman
,
”
admitted
Elizabeth
.
“
I
would
rather
not
say
.
”
Nevertheless
,
Lucetta
seemed
relieved
by
the
simple
fact
of
having
opened
out
the
situation
a
little
,
and
was
slowly
convalescent
of
her
headache
.
“
Bring
me
a
looking-glass
.
How
do
I
appear
to
people
?
”
she
said
languidly
.
“
Well
—
a
little
worn
,
”
answered
Elizabeth
,
eyeing
her
as
a
critic
eyes
a
doubtful
painting
;
fetching
the
glass
she
enabled
Lucetta
to
survey
herself
in
it
,
which
Lucetta
anxiously
did
.
“
I
wonder
if
I
wear
well
,
as
times
go
!
”
she
observed
after
a
while
.
“
Yes
—
fairly
.
“
Where
am
I
worst
?
”
“
Under
your
eyes
—
I
notice
a
little
brownness
there
.
”
“
Yes
.
That
is
my
worst
place
,
I
know
.
How
many
years
more
do
you
think
I
shall
last
before
I
get
hopelessly
plain
?
”
There
was
something
curious
in
the
way
in
which
Elizabeth
,
though
the
younger
,
had
come
to
play
the
part
of
experienced
sage
in
these
discussions
.
“
It
may
be
five
years
,
”
she
said
judicially
.
“
Or
,
with
a
quiet
life
,
as
many
as
ten
.
With
no
love
you
might
calculate
on
ten
.
”
Lucetta
seemed
to
reflect
on
this
as
on
an
unalterable
,
impartial
verdict
.
She
told
Elizabeth-Jane
no
more
of
the
past
attachment
she
had
roughly
adumbrated
as
the
experiences
of
a
third
person
;
and
Elizabeth
,
who
in
spite
of
her
philosophy
was
very
tender-hearted
,
sighed
that
night
in
bed
at
the
thought
that
her
pretty
,
rich
Lucetta
did
not
treat
her
to
the
full
confidence
of
names
and
dates
in
her
confessions
.
For
by
the
“
she
”
of
Lucetta
's
story
Elizabeth
had
not
been
beguiled
.
25.
The
next
phase
of
the
supersession
of
Henchard
in
Lucetta
's
heart
was
an
experiment
in
calling
on
her
performed
by
Farfrae
with
some
apparent
trepidation
.
Conventionally
speaking
he
conversed
with
both
Miss
Templeman
and
her
companion
;
but
in
fact
it
was
rather
that
Elizabeth
sat
invisible
in
the
room
.
Donald
appeared
not
to
see
her
at
all
,
and
answered
her
wise
little
remarks
with
curtly
indifferent
monosyllables
,
his
looks
and
faculties
hanging
on
the
woman
who
could
boast
of
a
more
Protean
variety
in
her
phases
,
moods
,
opinions
,
and
also
principles
,
than
could
Elizabeth
.
Lucetta
had
persisted
in
dragging
her
into
the
circle
;
but
she
had
remained
like
an
awkward
third
point
which
that
circle
would
not
touch
.
Susan
Henchard
's
daughter
bore
up
against
the
frosty
ache
of
the
treatment
,
as
she
had
borne
up
under
worse
things
,
and
contrived
as
soon
as
possible
to
get
out
of
the
inharmonious
room
without
being
missed
.
The
Scotchman
seemed
hardly
the
same
Farfrae
who
had
danced
with
her
and
walked
with
her
in
a
delicate
poise
between
love
and
friendship
—
that
period
in
the
history
of
a
love
when
alone
it
can
be
said
to
be
unalloyed
with
pain
.
She
stoically
looked
from
her
bedroom
window
,
and
contemplated
her
fate
as
if
it
were
written
on
the
top
of
the
church-tower
hard
by
.
“
Yes
,
”
she
said
at
last
,
bringing
down
her
palm
upon
the
sill
with
a
pat
:
“
HE
is
the
second
man
of
that
story
she
told
me
!
”
All
this
time
Henchard
's
smouldering
sentiments
towards
Lucetta
had
been
fanned
into
higher
and
higher
inflammation
by
the
circumstances
of
the
case
.
He
was
discovering
that
the
young
woman
for
whom
he
once
felt
a
pitying
warmth
which
had
been
almost
chilled
out
of
him
by
reflection
,
was
,
when
now
qualified
with
a
slight
inaccessibility
and
a
more
matured
beauty
,
the
very
being
to
make
him
satisfied
with
life
.
Day
after
day
proved
to
him
,
by
her
silence
,
that
it
was
no
use
to
think
of
bringing
her
round
by
holding
aloof
;
so
he
gave
in
,
and
called
upon
her
again
,
Elizabeth-Jane
being
absent
.
He
crossed
the
room
to
her
with
a
heavy
tread
of
some
awkwardness
,
his
strong
,
warm
gaze
upon
her
—
like
the
sun
beside
the
moon
in
comparison
with
Farfrae
's
modest
look
—
and
with
something
of
a
hail-fellow
bearing
,
as
,
indeed
,
was
not
unnatural
.
But
she
seemed
so
transubstantiated
by
her
change
of
position
,
and
held
out
her
hand
to
him
in
such
cool
friendship
,
that
he
became
deferential
,
and
sat
down
with
a
perceptible
loss
of
power
.
He
understood
but
little
of
fashion
in
dress
,
yet
enough
to
feel
himself
inadequate
in
appearance
beside
her
whom
he
had
hitherto
been
dreaming
of
as
almost
his
property
.
She
said
something
very
polite
about
his
being
good
enough
to
call
.
This
caused
him
to
recover
balance
.
He
looked
her
oddly
in
the
face
,
losing
his
awe
.
“
Why
,
of
course
I
have
called
,
Lucetta
,
”
he
said
.
“
What
does
that
nonsense
mean
?
You
know
I
could
n't
have
helped
myself
if
I
had
wished
—
that
is
,
if
I
had
any
kindness
at
all
.
I
've
called
to
say
that
I
am
ready
,
as
soon
as
custom
will
permit
,
to
give
you
my
name
in
return
for
your
devotion
and
what
you
lost
by
it
in
thinking
too
little
of
yourself
and
too
much
of
me
;
to
say
that
you
can
fix
the
day
or
month
,
with
my
full
consent
,
whenever
in
your
opinion
it
would
be
seemly
:
you
know
more
of
these
things
than
I
.
”
“
It
is
full
early
yet
,
”
she
said
evasively
.
“
Yes
,
yes
;
I
suppose
it
is
.
But
you
know
,
Lucetta
,
I
felt
directly
my
poor
ill-used
Susan
died
,
and
when
I
could
not
bear
the
idea
of
marrying
again
,
that
after
what
had
happened
between
us
it
was
my
duty
not
to
let
any
unnecessary
delay
occur
before
putting
things
to
rights
.
Still
,
I
would
n't
call
in
a
hurry
,
because
—
well
,
you
can
guess
how
this
money
you
've
come
into
made
me
feel
.
”
His
voice
slowly
fell
;
he
was
conscious
that
in
this
room
his
accents
and
manner
wore
a
roughness
not
observable
in
the
street
.
He
looked
about
the
room
at
the
novel
hangings
and
ingenious
furniture
with
which
she
had
surrounded
herself
.
“
Upon
my
life
I
did
n't
know
such
furniture
as
this
could
be
bought
in
Casterbridge
,
”
he
said
.
“
Nor
can
it
be
,
”
said
she
.
“
Nor
will
it
till
fifty
years
more
of
civilization
have
passed
over
the
town
.
It
took
a
waggon
and
four
horses
to
get
it
here
.
”
“
H
'm
.
It
looks
as
if
you
were
living
on
capital
.
”
“
O
no
,
I
am
not
.
”
“
So
much
the
better
.
But
the
fact
is
,
your
setting
up
like
this
makes
my
beaming
towards
you
rather
awkward
.
”
“
Why
?
”
An
answer
was
not
really
needed
,
and
he
did
not
furnish
one
.
“
Well
,
”
he
went
on
,
“
there
's
nobody
in
the
world
I
would
have
wished
to
see
enter
into
this
wealth
before
you
,
Lucetta
,
and
nobody
,
I
am
sure
,
who
will
become
it
more
.
”
He
turned
to
her
with
congratulatory
admiration
so
fervid
that
she
shrank
somewhat
,
notwithstanding
that
she
knew
him
so
well
.
“
I
am
greatly
obliged
to
you
for
all
that
,
”
said
she
,
rather
with
an
air
of
speaking
ritual
.
The
stint
of
reciprocal
feeling
was
perceived
,
and
Henchard
showed
chagrin
at
once
—
nobody
was
more
quick
to
show
that
than
he
.
“
You
may
be
obliged
or
not
for't
.
Though
the
things
I
say
may
not
have
the
polish
of
what
you
've
lately
learnt
to
expect
for
the
first
time
in
your
life
,
they
are
real
,
my
lady
Lucetta
.
”
“
That
's
rather
a
rude
way
of
speaking
to
me
,
”
pouted
Lucetta
,
with
stormy
eyes
.
“
Not
at
all
!
”
replied
Henchard
hotly
.
“
But
there
,
there
,
I
do
n't
wish
to
quarrel
with
'
ee
.
I
come
with
an
honest
proposal
for
silencing
your
Jersey
enemies
,
and
you
ought
to
be
thankful
.
”
“
How
can
you
speak
so
!
”
she
answered
,
firing
quickly
.
“
Knowing
that
my
only
crime
was
the
indulging
in
a
foolish
girl
's
passion
for
you
with
too
little
regard
for
correctness
,
and
that
I
was
what
I
call
innocent
all
the
time
they
called
me
guilty
,
you
ought
not
to
be
so
cutting
!
I
suffered
enough
at
that
worrying
time
,
when
you
wrote
to
tell
me
of
your
wife
's
return
and
my
consequent
dismissal
,
and
if
I
am
a
little
independent
now
,
surely
the
privilege
is
due
to
me
!
”
“
Yes
,
it
is
,
”
he
said
.
“
But
it
is
not
by
what
is
,
in
this
life
,
but
by
what
appears
,
that
you
are
judged
;
and
I
therefore
think
you
ought
to
accept
me
—
for
your
own
good
name
's
sake
.
What
is
known
in
your
native
Jersey
may
get
known
here
.
”
“
How
you
keep
on
about
Jersey
!
I
am
English
!
”
“
Yes
,
yes
.
Well
,
what
do
you
say
to
my
proposal
?
”
For
the
first
time
in
their
acquaintance
Lucetta
had
the
move
;
and
yet
she
was
backward
.
“
For
the
present
let
things
be
,
”
she
said
with
some
embarrassment
.
“
Treat
me
as
an
acquaintance
,
and
I
'll
treat
you
as
one
.
Time
will
—
”
She
stopped
;
and
he
said
nothing
to
fill
the
gap
for
awhile
,
there
being
no
pressure
of
half
acquaintance
to
drive
them
into
speech
if
they
were
not
minded
for
it
.
“
That
's
the
way
the
wind
blows
,
is
it
?
”
he
said
at
last
grimly
,
nodding
an
affirmative
to
his
own
thoughts
.
A
yellow
flood
of
reflected
sunlight
filled
the
room
for
a
few
instants
.
It
was
produced
by
the
passing
of
a
load
of
newly
trussed
hay
from
the
country
,
in
a
waggon
marked
with
Farfrae
's
name
.
Beside
it
rode
Farfrae
himself
on
horseback
.
Lucetta
's
face
became
—
as
a
woman
's
face
becomes
when
the
man
she
loves
rises
upon
her
gaze
like
an
apparition
.
A
turn
of
the
eye
by
Henchard
,
a
glance
from
the
window
,
and
the
secret
of
her
inaccessibility
would
have
been
revealed
.
But
Henchard
in
estimating
her
tone
was
looking
down
so
plumb-straight
that
he
did
not
note
the
warm
consciousness
upon
Lucetta
's
face
.
“
I
should
n't
have
thought
it
—
I
should
n't
have
thought
it
of
women
!
”
he
said
emphatically
by-and-by
,
rising
and
shaking
himself
into
activity
;
while
Lucetta
was
so
anxious
to
divert
him
from
any
suspicion
of
the
truth
that
she
asked
him
to
be
in
no
hurry
.
Bringing
him
some
apples
she
insisted
upon
paring
one
for
him
.
He
would
not
take
it
.
“
No
,
no
;
such
is
not
for
me
,
”
he
said
drily
,
and
moved
to
the
door
.
At
going
out
he
turned
his
eye
upon
her
.
“
You
came
to
live
in
Casterbridge
entirely
on
my
account
,
”
he
said
.
“
Yet
now
you
are
here
you
wo
n't
have
anything
to
say
to
my
offer
!
”
He
had
hardly
gone
down
the
staircase
when
she
dropped
upon
the
sofa
and
jumped
up
again
in
a
fit
of
desperation
.
“
I
WILL
love
him
!
”
she
cried
passionately
;
“
as
for
HIM
—
he
's
hot-tempered
and
stern
,
and
it
would
be
madness
to
bind
myself
to
him
knowing
that
.
I
wo
n't
be
a
slave
to
the
past
—
I
'll
love
where
I
choose
!
”
Yet
having
decided
to
break
away
from
Henchard
one
might
have
supposed
her
capable
of
aiming
higher
than
Farfrae
.
But
Lucetta
reasoned
nothing
:
she
feared
hard
words
from
the
people
with
whom
she
had
been
earlier
associated
;
she
had
no
relatives
left
;
and
with
native
lightness
of
heart
took
kindly
to
what
fate
offered
.
Elizabeth-Jane
,
surveying
the
position
of
Lucetta
between
her
two
lovers
from
the
crystalline
sphere
of
a
straightforward
mind
,
did
not
fail
to
perceive
that
her
father
,
as
she
called
him
,
and
Donald
Farfrae
became
more
desperately
enamoured
of
her
friend
every
day
.
On
Farfrae
's
side
it
was
the
unforced
passion
of
youth
.
On
Henchard
's
the
artificially
stimulated
coveting
of
maturer
age
.
The
pain
she
experienced
from
the
almost
absolute
obliviousness
to
her
existence
that
was
shown
by
the
pair
of
them
became
at
times
half
dissipated
by
her
sense
of
its
humourousness
.
When
Lucetta
had
pricked
her
finger
they
were
as
deeply
concerned
as
if
she
were
dying
;
when
she
herself
had
been
seriously
sick
or
in
danger
they
uttered
a
conventional
word
of
sympathy
at
the
news
,
and
forgot
all
about
it
immediately
.
But
,
as
regarded
Henchard
,
this
perception
of
hers
also
caused
her
some
filial
grief
;
she
could
not
help
asking
what
she
had
done
to
be
neglected
so
,
after
the
professions
of
solicitude
he
had
made
.
As
regarded
Farfrae
,
she
thought
,
after
honest
reflection
,
that
it
was
quite
natural
.
What
was
she
beside
Lucetta
?
—
as
one
of
the
“
meaner
beauties
of
the
night
,
”
when
the
moon
had
risen
in
the
skies
.
She
had
learnt
the
lesson
of
renunciation
,
and
was
as
familiar
with
the
wreck
of
each
day
's
wishes
as
with
the
diurnal
setting
of
the
sun
.
If
her
earthly
career
had
taught
her
few
book
philosophies
it
had
at
least
well
practised
her
in
this
.
Yet
her
experience
had
consisted
less
in
a
series
of
pure
disappointments
than
in
a
series
of
substitutions
.
Continually
it
had
happened
that
what
she
had
desired
had
not
been
granted
her
,
and
that
what
had
been
granted
her
she
had
not
desired
.
So
she
viewed
with
an
approach
to
equanimity
the
now
cancelled
days
when
Donald
had
been
her
undeclared
lover
,
and
wondered
what
unwished-for
thing
Heaven
might
send
her
in
place
of
him
.
26.
It
chanced
that
on
a
fine
spring
morning
Henchard
and
Farfrae
met
in
the
chestnut-walk
which
ran
along
the
south
wall
of
the
town
.
Each
had
just
come
out
from
his
early
breakfast
,
and
there
was
not
another
soul
near
.
Henchard
was
reading
a
letter
from
Lucetta
,
sent
in
answer
to
a
note
from
him
,
in
which
she
made
some
excuse
for
not
immediately
granting
him
a
second
interview
that
he
had
desired
.
Donald
had
no
wish
to
enter
into
conversation
with
his
former
friend
on
their
present
constrained
terms
;
neither
would
he
pass
him
in
scowling
silence
.
He
nodded
,
and
Henchard
did
the
same
.
They
receded
from
each
other
several
paces
when
a
voice
cried
“
Farfrae
!
”
It
was
Henchard
's
,
who
stood
regarding
him
.
“
Do
you
remember
,
”
said
Henchard
,
as
if
it
were
the
presence
of
the
thought
and
not
of
the
man
which
made
him
speak
,
“
do
you
remember
my
story
of
that
second
woman
—
who
suffered
for
her
thoughtless
intimacy
with
me
?
”
“
I
do
,
”
said
Farfrae
.
“
Do
you
remember
my
telling
'
ee
how
it
all
began
and
how
it
ended
?
“
Yes
.
”
“
Well
,
I
have
offered
to
marry
her
now
that
I
can
;
but
she
wo
n't
marry
me
.
Now
what
would
you
think
of
her
—
I
put
it
to
you
?
”
“
Well
,
ye
owe
her
nothing
more
now
,
”
said
Farfrae
heartily
.
“
It
is
true
,
”
said
Henchard
,
and
went
on
.
That
he
had
looked
up
from
a
letter
to
ask
his
questions
completely
shut
out
from
Farfrae
's
mind
all
vision
of
Lucetta
as
the
culprit
.
Indeed
,
her
present
position
was
so
different
from
that
of
the
young
woman
of
Henchard
's
story
as
of
itself
to
be
sufficient
to
blind
him
absolutely
to
her
identity
.
As
for
Henchard
,
he
was
reassured
by
Farfrae
's
words
and
manner
against
a
suspicion
which
had
crossed
his
mind
.
They
were
not
those
of
a
conscious
rival
.
Yet
that
there
was
rivalry
by
some
one
he
was
firmly
persuaded
.
He
could
feel
it
in
the
air
around
Lucetta
,
see
it
in
the
turn
of
her
pen
.
There
was
an
antagonistic
force
in
exercise
,
so
that
when
he
had
tried
to
hang
near
her
he
seemed
standing
in
a
refluent
current
.
That
it
was
not
innate
caprice
he
was
more
and
more
certain
.
Her
windows
gleamed
as
if
they
did
not
want
him
;
her
curtains
seem
to
hang
slily
,
as
if
they
screened
an
ousting
presence
.
To
discover
whose
presence
that
was
—
whether
really
Farfrae
's
after
all
,
or
another
's
—
he
exerted
himself
to
the
utmost
to
see
her
again
;
and
at
length
succeeded
.
At
the
interview
,
when
she
offered
him
tea
,
he
made
it
a
point
to
launch
a
cautious
inquiry
if
she
knew
Mr.
Farfrae
.
O
yes
,
she
knew
him
,
she
declared
;
she
could
not
help
knowing
almost
everybody
in
Casterbridge
,
living
in
such
a
gazebo
over
the
centre
and
arena
of
the
town
.
“
Pleasant
young
fellow
,
”
said
Henchard
.
“
Yes
,
”
said
Lucetta
.
“
We
both
know
him
,
”
said
kind
Elizabeth-Jane
,
to
relieve
her
companion
's
divined
embarrassment
.
There
was
a
knock
at
the
door
;
literally
,
three
full
knocks
and
a
little
one
at
the
end
.
“
That
kind
of
knock
means
half-and-half
—
somebody
between
gentle
and
simple
,
”
said
the
corn-merchant
to
himself
.
“
I
should
n't
wonder
therefore
if
it
is
he
.
”
In
a
few
seconds
surely
enough
Donald
walked
in
.
Lucetta
was
full
of
little
fidgets
and
flutters
,
which
increased
Henchard
's
suspicions
without
affording
any
special
proof
of
their
correctness
.
He
was
well-nigh
ferocious
at
the
sense
of
the
queer
situation
in
which
he
stood
towards
this
woman
.
One
who
had
reproached
him
for
deserting
her
when
calumniated
,
who
had
urged
claims
upon
his
consideration
on
that
account
,
who
had
lived
waiting
for
him
,
who
at
the
first
decent
opportunity
had
come
to
ask
him
to
rectify
,
by
making
her
his
,
the
false
position
into
which
she
had
placed
herself
for
his
sake
;
such
she
had
been
.
And
now
he
sat
at
her
tea-table
eager
to
gain
her
attention
,
and
in
his
amatory
rage
feeling
the
other
man
present
to
be
a
villain
,
just
as
any
young
fool
of
a
lover
might
feel
.
They
sat
stiffly
side
by
side
at
the
darkening
table
,
like
some
Tuscan
painting
of
the
two
disciples
supping
at
Emmaus
.
Lucetta
,
forming
the
third
and
haloed
figure
,
was
opposite
them
;
Elizabeth-Jane
,
being
out
of
the
game
,
and
out
of
the
group
,
could
observe
all
from
afar
,
like
the
evangelist
who
had
to
write
it
down
:
that
there
were
long
spaces
of
taciturnity
,
when
all
exterior
circumstances
were
subdued
to
the
touch
of
spoons
and
china
,
the
click
of
a
heel
on
the
pavement
under
the
window
,
the
passing
of
a
wheelbarrow
or
cart
,
the
whistling
of
the
carter
,
the
gush
of
water
into
householders
'
buckets
at
the
town-pump
opposite
,
the
exchange
of
greetings
among
their
neighbours
,
and
the
rattle
of
the
yokes
by
which
they
carried
off
their
evening
supply
.
“
More
bread-and-butter
?
”
said
Lucetta
to
Henchard
and
Farfrae
equally
,
holding
out
between
them
a
plateful
of
long
slices
.
Henchard
took
a
slice
by
one
end
and
Donald
by
the
other
;
each
feeling
certain
he
was
the
man
meant
;
neither
let
go
,
and
the
slice
came
in
two
.
“
Oh
—
I
am
so
sorry
!
”
cried
Lucetta
,
with
a
nervous
titter
.
Farfrae
tried
to
laugh
;
but
he
was
too
much
in
love
to
see
the
incident
in
any
but
a
tragic
light
.
“
How
ridiculous
of
all
three
of
them
!
”
said
Elizabeth
to
herself
.
Henchard
left
the
house
with
a
ton
of
conjecture
,
though
without
a
grain
of
proof
,
that
the
counterattraction
was
Farfrae
;
and
therefore
he
would
not
make
up
his
mind
.
Yet
to
Elizabeth-Jane
it
was
plain
as
the
town-pump
that
Donald
and
Lucetta
were
incipient
lovers
.
More
than
once
,
in
spite
of
her
care
,
Lucetta
had
been
unable
to
restrain
her
glance
from
flitting
across
into
Farfrae
's
eyes
like
a
bird
to
its
nest
.
But
Henchard
was
constructed
upon
too
large
a
scale
to
discern
such
minutiae
as
these
by
an
evening
light
,
which
to
him
were
as
the
notes
of
an
insect
that
lie
above
the
compass
of
the
human
ear
.
But
he
was
disturbed
.
And
the
sense
of
occult
rivalry
in
suitorship
was
so
much
superadded
to
the
palpable
rivalry
of
their
business
lives
.
To
the
coarse
materiality
of
that
rivalry
it
added
an
inflaming
soul
.
The
thus
vitalized
antagonism
took
the
form
of
action
by
Henchard
sending
for
Jopp
,
the
manager
originally
displaced
by
Farfrae
's
arrival
.
Henchard
had
frequently
met
this
man
about
the
streets
,
observed
that
his
clothing
spoke
of
neediness
,
heard
that
he
lived
in
Mixen
Lane
—
a
back
slum
of
the
town
,
the
pis
aller
of
Casterbridge
domiciliation
—
itself
almost
a
proof
that
a
man
had
reached
a
stage
when
he
would
not
stick
at
trifles
.
Jopp
came
after
dark
,
by
the
gates
of
the
storeyard
,
and
felt
his
way
through
the
hay
and
straw
to
the
office
where
Henchard
sat
in
solitude
awaiting
him
.
“
I
am
again
out
of
a
foreman
,
”
said
the
corn-factor
.
“
Are
you
in
a
place
?
”
“
Not
so
much
as
a
beggar
's
,
sir
.
”
“
How
much
do
you
ask
?
”
Jopp
named
his
price
,
which
was
very
moderate
.
“
When
can
you
come
?
”
“
At
this
hour
and
moment
,
sir
,
”
said
Jopp
,
who
,
standing
hands-pocketed
at
the
street
corner
till
the
sun
had
faded
the
shoulders
of
his
coat
to
scarecrow
green
,
had
regularly
watched
Henchard
in
the
market-place
,
measured
him
,
and
learnt
him
,
by
virtue
of
the
power
which
the
still
man
has
in
his
stillness
of
knowing
the
busy
one
better
than
he
knows
himself
.
Jopp
too
,
had
had
a
convenient
experience
;
he
was
the
only
one
in
Casterbridge
besides
Henchard
and
the
close-lipped
Elizabeth
who
knew
that
Lucetta
came
truly
from
Jersey
,
and
but
proximately
from
Bath
.
“
I
know
Jersey
too
,
sir
,
”
he
said
.
“
Was
living
there
when
you
used
to
do
business
that
way
.
O
yes
—
have
often
seen
ye
there
.
”
“
Indeed
!
Very
good
.
Then
the
thing
is
settled
.
The
testimonials
you
showed
me
when
you
first
tried
for't
are
sufficient
.
”
That
characters
deteriorated
in
time
of
need
possibly
did
not
occur
to
Henchard
.
Jopp
said
,
“
Thank
you
,
”
and
stood
more
firmly
,
in
the
consciousness
that
at
last
he
officially
belonged
to
that
spot
.
“
Now
,
”
said
Henchard
,
digging
his
strong
eyes
into
Jopp
's
face
,
“
one
thing
is
necessary
to
me
,
as
the
biggest
corn-and-hay
dealer
in
these
parts
.
The
Scotchman
,
who
's
taking
the
town
trade
so
bold
into
his
hands
,
must
be
cut
out
.
D'ye
hear
?
We
two
ca
n't
live
side
by
side
—
that
's
clear
and
certain
.
”
“
I
've
seen
it
all
,
”
said
Jopp
.
“
By
fair
competition
I
mean
,
of
course
,
”
Henchard
continued
.
“
But
as
hard
,
keen
,
and
unflinching
as
fair
—
rather
more
so
.
By
such
a
desperate
bid
against
him
for
the
farmers
'
custom
as
will
grind
him
into
the
ground
—
starve
him
out
.
I
've
capital
,
mind
ye
,
and
I
can
do
it
.
”
“
I
'm
all
that
way
of
thinking
,
”
said
the
new
foreman
.
Jopp
's
dislike
of
Farfrae
as
the
man
who
had
once
ursurped
his
place
,
while
it
made
him
a
willing
tool
,
made
him
,
at
the
same
time
,
commercially
as
unsafe
a
colleague
as
Henchard
could
have
chosen
.
“
I
sometimes
think
,
”
he
added
,
“
that
he
must
have
some
glass
that
he
sees
next
year
in
.
He
has
such
a
knack
of
making
everything
bring
him
fortune
.
”
“
He
's
deep
beyond
all
honest
men
's
discerning
,
but
we
must
make
him
shallower
.
We
'll
undersell
him
,
and
over-buy
him
,
and
so
snuff
him
out
.
”
They
then
entered
into
specific
details
of
the
process
by
which
this
would
be
accomplished
,
and
parted
at
a
late
hour
.
Elizabeth-Jane
heard
by
accident
that
Jopp
had
been
engaged
by
her
stepfather
.
She
was
so
fully
convinced
that
he
was
not
the
right
man
for
the
place
that
,
at
the
risk
of
making
Henchard
angry
,
she
expressed
her
apprehension
to
him
when
they
met
.
But
it
was
done
to
no
purpose
.
Henchard
shut
up
her
argument
with
a
sharp
rebuff
.
The
season
's
weather
seemed
to
favour
their
scheme
.
The
time
was
in
the
years
immediately
before
foreign
competition
had
revolutionized
the
trade
in
grain
;
when
still
,
as
from
the
earliest
ages
,
the
wheat
quotations
from
month
to
month
depended
entirely
upon
the
home
harvest
.
A
bad
harvest
,
or
the
prospect
of
one
,
would
double
the
price
of
corn
in
a
few
weeks
;
and
the
promise
of
a
good
yield
would
lower
it
as
rapidly
.
Prices
were
like
the
roads
of
the
period
,
steep
in
gradient
,
reflecting
in
their
phases
the
local
conditions
,
without
engineering
,
levellings
,
or
averages
.
The
farmer
's
income
was
ruled
by
the
wheat-crop
within
his
own
horizon
,
and
the
wheat-crop
by
the
weather
.
Thus
in
person
,
he
became
a
sort
of
flesh-barometer
,
with
feelers
always
directed
to
the
sky
and
wind
around
him
.
The
local
atmosphere
was
everything
to
him
;
the
atmospheres
of
other
countries
a
matter
of
indifference
.
The
people
,
too
,
who
were
not
farmers
,
the
rural
multitude
,
saw
in
the
god
of
the
weather
a
more
important
personage
than
they
do
now
.
Indeed
,
the
feeling
of
the
peasantry
in
this
matter
was
so
intense
as
to
be
almost
unrealizable
in
these
equable
days
.
Their
impulse
was
well-nigh
to
prostrate
themselves
in
lamentation
before
untimely
rains
and
tempests
,
which
came
as
the
Alastor
of
those
households
whose
crime
it
was
to
be
poor
.
After
midsummer
they
watched
the
weather-cocks
as
men
waiting
in
antechambers
watch
the
lackey
.
Sun
elated
them
;
quiet
rain
sobered
them
;
weeks
of
watery
tempest
stupefied
them
.
That
aspect
of
the
sky
which
they
now
regard
as
disagreeable
they
then
beheld
as
maleficent
.
It
was
June
,
and
the
weather
was
very
unfavourable
.
Casterbridge
,
being
as
it
were
the
bell-board
on
which
all
the
adjacent
hamlets
and
villages
sounded
their
notes
,
was
decidedly
dull
.
Instead
of
new
articles
in
the
shop-windows
those
that
had
been
rejected
in
the
foregoing
summer
were
brought
out
again
;
superseded
reap-hooks
,
badly-shaped
rakes
,
shop-worn
leggings
,
and
time-stiffened
water-tights
reappeared
,
furbished
up
as
near
to
new
as
possible
.
Henchard
,
backed
by
Jopp
,
read
a
disastrous
garnering
,
and
resolved
to
base
his
strategy
against
Farfrae
upon
that
reading
.
But
before
acting
he
wished
—
what
so
many
have
wished
—
that
he
could
know
for
certain
what
was
at
present
only
strong
probability
.
He
was
superstitious
—
as
such
head-strong
natures
often
are
—
and
he
nourished
in
his
mind
an
idea
bearing
on
the
matter
;
an
idea
he
shrank
from
disclosing
even
to
Jopp
.
In
a
lonely
hamlet
a
few
miles
from
the
town
—
so
lonely
that
what
are
called
lonely
villages
were
teeming
by
comparison
—
there
lived
a
man
of
curious
repute
as
a
forecaster
or
weather-prophet
.
The
way
to
his
house
was
crooked
and
miry
—
even
difficult
in
the
present
unpropitious
season
.
One
evening
when
it
was
raining
so
heavily
that
ivy
and
laurel
resounded
like
distant
musketry
,
and
an
out-door
man
could
be
excused
for
shrouding
himself
to
his
ears
and
eyes
,
such
a
shrouded
figure
on
foot
might
have
been
perceived
travelling
in
the
direction
of
the
hazel-copse
which
dripped
over
the
prophet
's
cot
.
The
turnpike-road
became
a
lane
,
the
lane
a
cart-track
,
the
cart-track
a
bridle-path
,
the
bridle-path
a
foot-way
,
the
foot-way
overgrown
.
The
solitary
walker
slipped
here
and
there
,
and
stumbled
over
the
natural
springes
formed
by
the
brambles
,
till
at
length
he
reached
the
house
,
which
,
with
its
garden
,
was
surrounded
with
a
high
,
dense
hedge
.
The
cottage
,
comparatively
a
large
one
,
had
been
built
of
mud
by
the
occupier
's
own
hands
,
and
thatched
also
by
himself
.
Here
he
had
always
lived
,
and
here
it
was
assumed
he
would
die
.
He
existed
on
unseen
supplies
;
for
it
was
an
anomalous
thing
that
while
there
was
hardly
a
soul
in
the
neighbourhood
but
affected
to
laugh
at
this
man
's
assertions
,
uttering
the
formula
,
“
There
's
nothing
in
'
em
,
”
with
full
assurance
on
the
surface
of
their
faces
,
very
few
of
them
were
unbelievers
in
their
secret
hearts
.
Whenever
they
consulted
him
they
did
it
“
for
a
fancy
.
”
When
they
paid
him
they
said
,
“
Just
a
trifle
for
Christmas
,
”
or
“
Candlemas
,
”
as
the
case
might
be
.
He
would
have
preferred
more
honesty
in
his
clients
,
and
less
sham
ridicule
;
but
fundamental
belief
consoled
him
for
superficial
irony
.
As
stated
,
he
was
enabled
to
live
;
people
supported
him
with
their
backs
turned
.
He
was
sometimes
astonished
that
men
could
profess
so
little
and
believe
so
much
at
his
house
,
when
at
church
they
professed
so
much
and
believed
so
little
.
Behind
his
back
he
was
called
“
Wide-oh
,
”
on
account
of
his
reputation
;
to
his
face
“
Mr.
”
Fall
.
The
hedge
of
his
garden
formed
an
arch
over
the
entrance
,
and
a
door
was
inserted
as
in
a
wall
.
Outside
the
door
the
tall
traveller
stopped
,
bandaged
his
face
with
a
handkerchief
as
if
he
were
suffering
from
toothache
,
and
went
up
the
path
.
The
window
shutters
were
not
closed
,
and
he
could
see
the
prophet
within
,
preparing
his
supper
.
In
answer
to
the
knock
Fall
came
to
the
door
,
candle
in
hand
.
The
visitor
stepped
back
a
little
from
the
light
,
and
said
,
“
Can
I
speak
to
'
ee
?
”
in
significant
tones
.
The
other
's
invitation
to
come
in
was
responded
to
by
the
country
formula
,
“
This
will
do
,
thank
'
ee
,
”
after
which
the
householder
had
no
alternative
but
to
come
out
.
He
placed
the
candle
on
the
corner
of
the
dresser
,
took
his
hat
from
a
nail
,
and
joined
the
stranger
in
the
porch
,
shutting
the
door
behind
him
.
“
I
've
long
heard
that
you
can
—
do
things
of
a
sort
?
”
began
the
other
,
repressing
his
individuality
as
much
as
he
could
.
“
Maybe
so
,
Mr.
Henchard
,
”
said
the
weather-caster
.
“
Ah
—
why
do
you
call
me
that
?
”
asked
the
visitor
with
a
start
.
“
Because
it
's
your
name
.
Feeling
you
'd
come
I
've
waited
for
'
ee
;
and
thinking
you
might
be
leery
from
your
walk
I
laid
two
supper
plates
—
look
ye
here
.
”
He
threw
open
the
door
and
disclosed
the
supper-table
,
at
which
appeared
a
second
chair
,
knife
and
fork
,
plate
and
mug
,
as
he
had
declared
.
Henchard
felt
like
Saul
at
his
reception
by
Samuel
;
he
remained
in
silence
for
a
few
moments
,
then
throwing
off
the
disguise
of
frigidity
which
he
had
hitherto
preserved
he
said
,
“
Then
I
have
not
come
in
vain
...
.Now
,
for
instance
,
can
ye
charm
away
warts
?
”
“
Without
trouble
.
”
“
Cure
the
evil
?
”
“
That
I
've
done
—
with
consideration
—
if
they
will
wear
the
toad-bag
by
night
as
well
as
by
day
.
”
“
Forecast
the
weather
?
”
“
With
labour
and
time
.
”
“
Then
take
this
,
”
said
Henchard
.
“
'
Tis
a
crownpiece
.
Now
,
what
is
the
harvest
fortnight
to
be
?
When
can
I
know
?
'
“
I
've
worked
it
out
already
,
and
you
can
know
at
once
.
”
(
The
fact
was
that
five
farmers
had
already
been
there
on
the
same
errand
from
different
parts
of
the
country
.
)
“
By
the
sun
,
moon
,
and
stars
,
by
the
clouds
,
the
winds
,
the
trees
,
and
grass
,
the
candle-flame
and
swallows
,
the
smell
of
the
herbs
;
likewise
by
the
cats
'
eyes
,
the
ravens
,
the
leeches
,
the
spiders
,
and
the
dungmixen
,
the
last
fortnight
in
August
will
be
—
rain
and
tempest
.
”
“
You
are
not
certain
,
of
course
?
”
“
As
one
can
be
in
a
world
where
all
's
unsure
.
'
Twill
be
more
like
living
in
Revelations
this
autumn
than
in
England
.
Shall
I
sketch
it
out
for
'
ee
in
a
scheme
?
”
“
O
no
,
no
,
”
said
Henchard
.
“
I
do
n't
altogether
believe
in
forecasts
,
come
to
second
thoughts
on
such
.
But
I
—
”
“
You
do
n't
—
you
do
n't
—
'
tis
quite
understood
,
”
said
Wide-oh
,
without
a
sound
of
scorn
.
“
You
have
given
me
a
crown
because
you
've
one
too
many
.
But
wo
n't
you
join
me
at
supper
,
now
'
tis
waiting
and
all
?
”
Henchard
would
gladly
have
joined
;
for
the
savour
of
the
stew
had
floated
from
the
cottage
into
the
porch
with
such
appetizing
distinctness
that
the
meat
,
the
onions
,
the
pepper
,
and
the
herbs
could
be
severally
recognized
by
his
nose
.
But
as
sitting
down
to
hob-and-nob
there
would
have
seemed
to
mark
him
too
implicitly
as
the
weather-caster
's
apostle
,
he
declined
,
and
went
his
way
.
The
next
Saturday
Henchard
bought
grain
to
such
an
enormous
extent
that
there
was
quite
a
talk
about
his
purchases
among
his
neighbours
the
lawyer
,
the
wine
merchant
,
and
the
doctor
;
also
on
the
next
,
and
on
all
available
days
.
When
his
granaries
were
full
to
choking
all
the
weather-cocks
of
Casterbridge
creaked
and
set
their
faces
in
another
direction
,
as
if
tired
of
the
south-west
.
The
weather
changed
;
the
sunlight
,
which
had
been
like
tin
for
weeks
,
assumed
the
hues
of
topaz
.
The
temperament
of
the
welkin
passed
from
the
phlegmatic
to
the
sanguine
;
an
excellent
harvest
was
almost
a
certainty
;
and
as
a
consequence
prices
rushed
down
.
All
these
transformations
,
lovely
to
the
outsider
,
to
the
wrong-headed
corn-dealer
were
terrible
.
He
was
reminded
of
what
he
had
well
known
before
,
that
a
man
might
gamble
upon
the
square
green
areas
of
fields
as
readily
as
upon
those
of
a
card-room
.
Henchard
had
backed
bad
weather
,
and
apparently
lost
.
He
had
mistaken
the
turn
of
the
flood
for
the
turn
of
the
ebb
.
His
dealings
had
been
so
extensive
that
settlement
could
not
long
be
postponed
,
and
to
settle
he
was
obliged
to
sell
off
corn
that
he
had
bought
only
a
few
weeks
before
at
figures
higher
by
many
shillings
a
quarter
.
Much
of
the
corn
he
had
never
seen
;
it
had
not
even
been
moved
from
the
ricks
in
which
it
lay
stacked
miles
away
.
Thus
he
lost
heavily
.
In
the
blaze
of
an
early
August
day
he
met
Farfrae
in
the
market-place
.
Farfrae
knew
of
his
dealings
(
though
he
did
not
guess
their
intended
bearing
on
himself
)
and
commiserated
him
;
for
since
their
exchange
of
words
in
the
South
Walk
they
had
been
on
stiffly
speaking
terms
.
Henchard
for
the
moment
appeared
to
resent
the
sympathy
;
but
he
suddenly
took
a
careless
turn
.
“
Ho
,
no
,
no
!
—
nothing
serious
,
man
!
”
he
cried
with
fierce
gaiety
.
“
These
things
always
happen
,
do
n't
they
?
I
know
it
has
been
said
that
figures
have
touched
me
tight
lately
;
but
is
that
anything
rare
?
The
case
is
not
so
bad
as
folk
make
out
perhaps
.
And
dammy
,
a
man
must
be
a
fool
to
mind
the
common
hazards
of
trade
!
”
But
he
had
to
enter
the
Casterbridge
Bank
that
day
for
reasons
which
had
never
before
sent
him
there
—
and
to
sit
a
long
time
in
the
partners
'
room
with
a
constrained
bearing
.
It
was
rumoured
soon
after
that
much
real
property
as
well
as
vast
stores
of
produce
,
which
had
stood
in
Henchard
's
name
in
the
town
and
neighbourhood
,
was
actually
the
possession
of
his
bankers
.
Coming
down
the
steps
of
the
bank
he
encountered
Jopp
.
The
gloomy
transactions
just
completed
within
had
added
fever
to
the
original
sting
of
Farfrae
's
sympathy
that
morning
,
which
Henchard
fancied
might
be
a
satire
disguised
so
that
Jopp
met
with
anything
but
a
bland
reception
.
The
latter
was
in
the
act
of
taking
off
his
hat
to
wipe
his
forehead
,
and
saying
,
“
A
fine
hot
day
,
”
to
an
acquaintance
.
“
You
can
wipe
and
wipe
,
and
say
,
'
A
fine
hot
day
,
'
can
ye
!
”
cried
Henchard
in
a
savage
undertone
,
imprisoning
Jopp
between
himself
and
the
bank
wall
.
“
If
it
had
n't
been
for
your
blasted
advice
it
might
have
been
a
fine
day
enough
!
Why
did
ye
let
me
go
on
,
hey
?
—
when
a
word
of
doubt
from
you
or
anybody
would
have
made
me
think
twice
!
For
you
can
never
be
sure
of
weather
till
'
tis
past
.
”
“
My
advice
,
sir
,
was
to
do
what
you
thought
best
.
”
“
A
useful
fellow
!
And
the
sooner
you
help
somebody
else
in
that
way
the
better
!
”
Henchard
continued
his
address
to
Jopp
in
similar
terms
till
it
ended
in
Jopp
's
dismissal
there
and
then
,
Henchard
turning
upon
his
heel
and
leaving
him
.
“
You
shall
be
sorry
for
this
,
sir
;
sorry
as
a
man
can
be
!
”
said
Jopp
,
standing
pale
,
and
looking
after
the
corn-merchant
as
he
disappeared
in
the
crowd
of
market-men
hard
by
.
27.
It
was
the
eve
of
harvest
.
Prices
being
low
Farfrae
was
buying
.
As
was
usual
,
after
reckoning
too
surely
on
famine
weather
the
local
farmers
had
flown
to
the
other
extreme
,
and
(
in
Farfrae
's
opinion
)
were
selling
off
too
recklessly
—
calculating
with
just
a
trifle
too
much
certainty
upon
an
abundant
yield
.
So
he
went
on
buying
old
corn
at
its
comparatively
ridiculous
price
:
for
the
produce
of
the
previous
year
,
though
not
large
,
had
been
of
excellent
quality
.
When
Henchard
had
squared
his
affairs
in
a
disastrous
way
,
and
got
rid
of
his
burdensome
purchases
at
a
monstrous
loss
,
the
harvest
began
.
There
were
three
days
of
excellent
weather
,
and
then
—
“
What
if
that
curst
conjuror
should
be
right
after
all
!
”
said
Henchard
.
The
fact
was
,
that
no
sooner
had
the
sickles
begun
to
play
than
the
atmosphere
suddenly
felt
as
if
cress
would
grow
in
it
without
other
nourishment
.
It
rubbed
people
's
cheeks
like
damp
flannel
when
they
walked
abroad
.
There
was
a
gusty
,
high
,
warm
wind
;
isolated
raindrops
starred
the
window-panes
at
remote
distances
:
the
sunlight
would
flap
out
like
a
quickly
opened
fan
,
throw
the
pattern
of
the
window
upon
the
floor
of
the
room
in
a
milky
,
colourless
shine
,
and
withdraw
as
suddenly
as
it
had
appeared
.
From
that
day
and
hour
it
was
clear
that
there
was
not
to
be
so
successful
an
ingathering
after
all
.
If
Henchard
had
only
waited
long
enough
he
might
at
least
have
avoided
loss
though
he
had
not
made
a
profit
.
But
the
momentum
of
his
character
knew
no
patience
.
At
this
turn
of
the
scales
he
remained
silent
.
The
movements
of
his
mind
seemed
to
tend
to
the
thought
that
some
power
was
working
against
him
.
“
I
wonder
,
”
he
asked
himself
with
eerie
misgiving
;
“
I
wonder
if
it
can
be
that
somebody
has
been
roasting
a
waxen
image
of
me
,
or
stirring
an
unholy
brew
to
confound
me
!
I
do
n't
believe
in
such
power
;
and
yet
—
what
if
they
should
ha
'
been
doing
it
!
”
Even
he
could
not
admit
that
the
perpetrator
,
if
any
,
might
be
Farfrae
.
These
isolated
hours
of
superstition
came
to
Henchard
in
time
of
moody
depression
,
when
all
his
practical
largeness
of
view
had
oozed
out
of
him
.
Meanwhile
Donald
Farfrae
prospered
.
He
had
purchased
in
so
depressed
a
market
that
the
present
moderate
stiffness
of
prices
was
sufficient
to
pile
for
him
a
large
heap
of
gold
where
a
little
one
had
been
.
“
Why
,
he
'll
soon
be
Mayor
!
”
said
Henchard
.
It
was
indeed
hard
that
the
speaker
should
,
of
all
others
,
have
to
follow
the
triumphal
chariot
of
this
man
to
the
Capitol
.
The
rivalry
of
the
masters
was
taken
up
by
the
men
.
September-night
shades
had
fallen
upon
Casterbridge
;
the
clocks
had
struck
half-past
eight
,
and
the
moon
had
risen
.
The
streets
of
the
town
were
curiously
silent
for
such
a
comparatively
early
hour
.
A
sound
of
jangling
horse-bells
and
heavy
wheels
passed
up
the
street
.
These
were
followed
by
angry
voices
outside
Lucetta
's
house
,
which
led
her
and
Elizabeth-Jane
to
run
to
the
windows
,
and
pull
up
the
blinds
.
The
neighbouring
Market
House
and
Town
Hall
abutted
against
its
next
neighbour
the
Church
except
in
the
lower
storey
,
where
an
arched
thoroughfare
gave
admittance
to
a
large
square
called
Bull
Stake
.
A
stone
post
rose
in
the
midst
,
to
which
the
oxen
had
formerly
been
tied
for
baiting
with
dogs
to
make
them
tender
before
they
were
killed
in
the
adjoining
shambles
.
In
a
corner
stood
the
stocks
.
The
thoroughfare
leading
to
this
spot
was
now
blocked
by
two
four-horse
waggons
and
horses
,
one
laden
with
hay-trusses
,
the
leaders
having
already
passed
each
other
,
and
become
entangled
head
to
tail
.
The
passage
of
the
vehicles
might
have
been
practicable
if
empty
;
but
built
up
with
hay
to
the
bedroom
windows
as
one
was
,
it
was
impossible
.
“
You
must
have
done
it
a
'
purpose
!
”
said
Farfrae
's
waggoner
.
“
You
can
hear
my
horses
'
bells
half-a-mile
such
a
night
as
this
!
”
“
If
ye
'd
been
minding
your
business
instead
of
zwailing
along
in
such
a
gawk-hammer
way
,
you
would
have
zeed
me
!
”
retorted
the
wroth
representative
of
Henchard
.
However
,
according
to
the
strict
rule
of
the
road
it
appeared
that
Henchard
's
man
was
most
in
the
wrong
,
he
therefore
attempted
to
back
into
the
High
Street
.
In
doing
this
the
near
hind-wheel
rose
against
the
churchyard
wall
and
the
whole
mountainous
load
went
over
,
two
of
the
four
wheels
rising
in
the
air
,
and
the
legs
of
the
thill
horse
.
Instead
of
considering
how
to
gather
up
the
load
the
two
men
closed
in
a
fight
with
their
fists
.
Before
the
first
round
was
quite
over
Henchard
came
upon
the
spot
,
somebody
having
run
for
him
.
Henchard
sent
the
two
men
staggering
in
contrary
directions
by
collaring
one
with
each
hand
,
turned
to
the
horse
that
was
down
,
and
extricated
him
after
some
trouble
.
He
then
inquired
into
the
circumstances
;
and
seeing
the
state
of
his
waggon
and
its
load
began
hotly
rating
Farfrae
's
man
.
Lucetta
and
Elizabeth-Jane
had
by
this
time
run
down
to
the
street
corner
,
whence
they
watched
the
bright
heap
of
new
hay
lying
in
the
moon
's
rays
,
and
passed
and
repassed
by
the
forms
of
Henchard
and
the
waggoners
.
The
women
had
witnessed
what
nobody
else
had
seen
—
the
origin
of
the
mishap
;
and
Lucetta
spoke
.
“
I
saw
it
all
,
Mr.
Henchard
,
”
she
cried
;
“
and
your
man
was
most
in
the
wrong
!
”
Henchard
paused
in
his
harangue
and
turned
.
“
Oh
,
I
did
n't
notice
you
,
Miss
Templeman
,
”
said
he
.
“
My
man
in
the
wrong
?
Ah
,
to
be
sure
;
to
be
sure
!
But
I
beg
your
pardon
notwithstanding
.
The
other
's
is
the
empty
waggon
,
and
he
must
have
been
most
to
blame
for
coming
on
.
”
“
No
;
I
saw
it
,
too
,
”
said
Elizabeth-Jane
.
“
And
I
can
assure
you
he
could
n't
help
it
.
”
“
You
ca
n't
trust
THEIR
senses
!
”
murmured
Henchard
's
man
.
“
Why
not
?
”
asked
Henchard
sharply
.
“
Why
,
you
see
,
sir
,
all
the
women
side
with
Farfrae
—
being
a
damn
young
dand
—
of
the
sort
that
he
is
—
one
that
creeps
into
a
maid
's
heart
like
the
giddying
worm
into
a
sheep
's
brain
—
making
crooked
seem
straight
to
their
eyes
!
”
“
But
do
you
know
who
that
lady
is
you
talk
about
in
such
a
fashion
?
Do
you
know
that
I
pay
my
attentions
to
her
,
and
have
for
some
time
?
Just
be
careful
!
”
“
Not
I
.
I
know
nothing
,
sir
,
outside
eight
shillings
a
week
.
”
“
And
that
Mr.
Farfrae
is
well
aware
of
it
?
He
's
sharp
in
trade
,
but
he
would
n't
do
anything
so
underhand
as
what
you
hint
at
.
”
Whether
because
Lucetta
heard
this
low
dialogue
,
or
not
her
white
figure
disappeared
from
her
doorway
inward
,
and
the
door
was
shut
before
Henchard
could
reach
it
to
converse
with
her
further
.
This
disappointed
him
,
for
he
had
been
sufficiently
disturbed
by
what
the
man
had
said
to
wish
to
speak
to
her
more
closely
.
While
pausing
the
old
constable
came
up
.
“
Just
see
that
nobody
drives
against
that
hay
and
waggon
to-night
,
Stubberd
,
”
said
the
corn-merchant
.
“
It
must
bide
till
the
morning
,
for
all
hands
are
in
the
field
still
.
And
if
any
