Far From The Madding Crowd

Late at night, an unknown figure takes a horse from Bathsheba’s stables; Maryann overhears this, and once the thief has departed, runs to Jan Coggan’s to alert Jan and Gabriel. They listen for the horse, and in the quiet night, hear it near the Roma encampment in Weatherbury Bottom.

They decide they need to go after the thief and retrieve the horse. They take two of Boldwood’s horses, as they are faster. When they arrive at Weatherbury Bottom, they see that the Roma have since moved on; they take off in the direction they presume they must have gone and continue to track the horse, whose shoes are distinctive and easy to track.

They track the horse to the gatekeeper on Sherton Turnpike, but when they arrive, they find that the “thief” is in fact Bathsheba. She chastises them for not realizing that she must have taken the horse, explaining that some urgent business took her to Bath. She tells them that she had left a note on the coach-house door; however, her tone softens when they point out that they could not have seen that note until daylight.

In truth, Bathsheba had determined that she needed to travel to Bath to warn Troy, who was there with friends, about Boldwood’s threats, as well as to break things off with him, having concluded that Gabriel was right about him.

Despite her initial intent to be gone only a few days, Bathsheba remains away from Weatherbury for two weeks. One day, Cain comes with news from Bath that he saw Bathsheba arm-in-arm with Troy. Through a long and windy story, he explains that he saw them together, and that it looked as if they were beyond the courtship phase. Later, once they are alone again, Coggan reminds Gabriel that it should not much matter to Gabriel who Bathsheba is with since she can’t be with him. 

That evening, Bathsheba returns to Weatherbury with Liddy. Boldwood calls on her, intending to apologize for his earlier behavior. However, Bathsheba will not see him, and so he departs.

Later, Boldwood spots Troy in town. He approaches him to make a deal. He informs Troy that he knows about his situation with Fanny and suggests that he should marry her. Troy tells Boldwood in “the voice of a trickster” that he can’t because he is too poor. Boldwood proposes a business transaction and offers Troy and Fanny 600 pounds in total—50 pounds to each now, then 500 on their wedding day—if they marry instead. Troy agrees and collects the down payment.

Suddenly, Troy tells Boldwood to be quiet, that Bathsheba is coming to meet him. Boldwood argues that Troy should simply disappear, but Troy tells him that if he just vanishes, Bathsheba will continually wonder about his whereabouts. Boldwood assents but asks him to promise to keep his comments to the specific point of ending the relationship.

Bathsheba meets Troy; however, instead of breaking things off, Troy merely tells Bathsheba that he needs to collect his things before meeting her. Once she is gone, he takes the bag back from Boldwood. He mocks Boldwood, telling him that he can’t marry them both and implying that he must marry Bathsheba because they have already slept together.

Boldwood, now fearful for Bathsheba’s honor and soul, implores Troy to marry her. When Troy waffles, Boldwood renews his offer of 500 pounds to be paid to Troy on the day of his wedding to Bathsheba, instead. As a further down payment, he gives Troy the remainder of the money he has on his person, 21 pounds.

Troy tells him they can go settle the agreement immediately if he will come with him to Bathsheba’s house. When they get there, Troy enters; however, when he returns, instead of a contract, he is carrying a wedding notice informing the public of his wedding to Bathsheba, which has already taken place. Troy tosses the money back to a furious Boldwood, then heads inside the house.

Early the next morning, the men see Troy at Bathsheba’s house and realize that she has married him. Gabriel is surprised, but even more so confused at why the marriage had been so mysterious. He wonders if it is possible that she has been trapped somehow.

Troy bids the men good morning. He tells them that the house is a “rambling, gloomy” house; Gabriel replies that it is a nice old house, but Troy has already begun thinking about the modifications he intends to make. He bids the men good day, then tosses half a crown to the men “for drink,” which Gabriel angrily lets fall. Coggan warns him, though, that Troy is likely to buy his discharge and become their master and advises Gabriel to be at least outwardly friendly toward him for his own sake. Gabriel agrees, at most, to be silent.

On the night of the harvest supper and dance, which is to double as Troy and Bathsheba’s wedding celebration, Gabriel observes signs of an impending thunderstorm and heavy rain, along with the fact that much of the harvest was unprotected. He goes to the dance and finds Troy, whom he observes is drinking brandy as opposed to cider or ale, like everyone else. He cannot get to him, so he sends a message to him that there will be a heavy rain, and that something should be done to protect the ricks. Troy responds, though, that there will be no rain, and that he can’t be bothered with such things at the moment.

At the end of the evening, Troy orders brandy to be passed around to all the guests; Bathsheba tries to interject, and some of the guests likewise say they don’t wish for brandy, but Troy sends the women home and tells the men that anyone who does not stay will be fired. Gabriel remains for a bit so as “not to appear unnecessarily disagreeable” before departing (292).

On his way home, Gabriel sees further omens of nasty weather: “[every] voice in nature was unanimous in bespeaking change” (293). Gabriel estimates the value of the barley and wheat in danger as 750 pounds and resolves to do what he can to save it.

Upon returning to the barn, he finds that the men, Troy included, are all passed out in various states. He obtains what he needs from them and, in one case, from Susan Tall, who has been sleeping at home. He returns to the farm and sets to work.

As Gabriel works to secure the barley, the weather grows worse. Lightning begins to strike, putting him in a precarious position up above. After a time, Bathsheba arrives, having been woken by the storm, and begins helping Gabriel to secure the produce. They work together, at times taking cover when the storm gets bad.

At one point, Bathsheba decides to explain to Gabriel what happened in Bath. She tells him that she had ridden to Bath with the intent to break off her engagement to Troy; however, Troy provoked her jealousy by claiming that he saw a woman more beautiful than she, and that if she did not marry him at once he might not stay faithful. So, “between jealousy and distraction,” she decided to marry him (305).

As the worst of it has passed, Gabriel bids Bathsheba to go to bed and continues working alone.

By seven in the morning, drenched, Oak has completed his work. At the same time, the revelers begin to rise and head home. Gabriel notes that none of them seem to care to check on the ricks.

While walking home, Gabriel encounters Boldwood. Gabriel presumes that Boldwood took care to ensure his own crops were safe; however, Boldwood admits that he overlooked the storm and did not secure anything. Gabriel notes that he will likely lose 90% of his product as a result, but Boldwood seems unconcerned by this.

Boldwood admits to Gabriel that he is not doing well in part due to heartbreak. He tells Gabriel, though, that Bathsheba did not jilt him, as they had never actually been engaged. He bemoans his state, then asks Gabriel to promise secrecy before moving on.

One Saturday evening, while returning from Casterbridge with Troy, who has since bought his discharge from the military. Troy is bemoaning his gambling losses due to the weather. Bathsheba is growing concerned about the farm’s prospects due to his gambling and asks him not to go to the next round of races. Troy refuses, and points out that he has already placed his bets, so it does not make a difference if he’s there or not.

As they travel, they spot a woman on the side of the road. The woman asks Troy what time the Casterbridge Union-house closes that evening; Troy is visibly affected at the sound of the voice, but recovers “presence of mind sufficient to prevent himself from giving way to his impulse to suddenly turn and face her,” replying only that he doesn’t know (313). At his response, the woman, too, recognizes Troy.

Bathsheba, in a fit of concern for the woman, starts to dismount, but Troy orders her to remain in the wagon and continue on ahead while he attends to the woman. Once gone, Troy tells the woman, Fanny, that he thought she was miles away or dead, and gives her all the money he has on him, telling her to go to Casterbridge Union for the night, and that he will meet her Monday morning at ten to set up something better for her. 

Fanny continues on the road as far as she can, then stops to rest, and falls asleep for a while. When she awakens, seeing the lights of the village in the distance, she hopes that she can make it before she passes away. As she travels, slowly, she continually convinces herself that she is almost there as a means of motivation. Around six in the morning, Fanny reaches the house and is helped inside.