Forty Nine: Far From The Madding Crowd: Thomas Hardy -Oak's Advancement: A Great Hope

The later autumn and the winter drew on rapidly.  Leaves lay thick upon the turf of glades and the mosses of the woods.  Bathsheba was not clear what would happen to her person and Farm in the light of the death of Troy.  So she waited for the emergence of a clear picture, and put a hold on her feelings.  So she was quiet.  Whether Troy was alive or not she was sure that she had lost him.  She kept the farm going, raked in her prfits without caring keenly about them, and expended on ventures.  Oak was Installed as bailiff. 

Boldwood lived secluded and inactive. Much of his wheat and all his barley of that season had been spoilt by the rain.  It sprouted, grew into intricate mats, and was ultimately thrown to the pigs in armfuls.  This strange neglect by Boldwood to take care of his produce became a talk among all the people round.  Boldwood approached Gabriel Oak and requested him to take care of Lower Farm. Gabriel took this proposal to Bathsheba for consideration. Bathsheba objected it because she feared that the two farms together were too extensive for the observation of one man.  Boldwood suggested that Oak would be furnished with a horse for his sole use when the plan would present no difficulty, since the two farms were lying side by side.  This was accepted, and we now see Oak mounted on a strong cob [1], and daily trotting the length and breadth of about two thousand acres in a cheerful spirit of surveillance, as if the crops all belonged to him.  There came another talk among the villagers that Gabriel Oak was feathering his nest fast.  "Whatever do you think," said Susan" Tall, "Gabriel Oak is coming it quite the dand.  He now wears shining boots with hardly a hob in them, two or three times a week, and a tall hat a-Sundays, and I hardly know the name of smock-frock.  When I see people strut enough to be cut up into bantam cocks, I stand dormant with wonder, and says no more."

Gabriel was paid a fixed wages by Bathsheba independent of the fluctuations in business.  Boldwood gave him a share of his receipts.  Some were beginning to consider Oak a near man.  Though his condition was improved, he continued to live his old life.  He occupied the same cottage, paring his own potatoes, mending his stockings, and sometimes making his bed with his own hands.  He was indifferent to public opinion and clung to his old ways.

Boldwood's devotion to Bathsheba was silent and strong. Bathsheba at last had been persuaded to wear mourning weed.  Boldwood expected that should Bathsheba ever marry again it would be him.

Bathsheba was absent from Weatherbury for two months; she went to her aunt at Norcombe.  Boldwood had been looking for an opportunity to make inquiries after her.  He found it convenient in the absence of Bathsheba.  Bathsheba was in the nineth month of her widowhood, and Boldwood wanted to get wind of her state of mind regarding him.  He got an opportunity in the middle of haymaking, when Liddy was assisting in the fields.

"I am glad to see you out of doors, Lydia," said Boldwood.

She simpered, and wondered in her heart why he should speak so frankly to her.

"I hope Mrs Troy is quite well after her long absence," he continued as if he was making a casual remark.

"She is quite well, sir." 

"And cheerful, I suppose?" 

"Yes, Cheerful." 

"Fearful, did you say?" 

"Oh no.  I merely said she was cheerful." 

"Tells you all her affairs?" 

"No, sir." 

"Some of them?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Mrs Troy puts much confidence in you, Lydia; and very wisely, perhaps." 

"She do, sir.  I have been with her all through her troubles, and was with her at the time of Troy's death and all.  And if she were to marry again I expect I should bide with her." 

"She promises that you shall--- quite natural," said the lover, throbbing throughout him at the presumption.

"No, she doesn't promise it, exactly. I merely judge on my own account."

"Yes, yes, I understand.  When she alludes to the possibility of marrying again, you conclude"---

"She never do allude to it, sir," said Liddy thinking how stupid he was getting.

"Of course not," he returned hastily, his hope falling again.  "You needn't take such long reaches with your rake, Lydia; short and quick ones are best.  Well, perhaps, she is absolute mistress again now.  It is wise of her resolve never to give up her freedom."

"My mistress did certainly once say, though not seriously that she supposed she might marry again at the end of seven years from last year if she wished."

"Ah, six years from the present time.  Said that she might.  She might marry at once in every reasonable person's opinion, whatever the lawyers may say to the contrary." 

"Have you been to ask them?" said Liddy innocently.

"Not I!" said Boldwood, growing red. "Liddy, you needn't stay here a minute later than you wish, so Mr Oak says.  I am now going on a little farther.  Good afternoon."

He went away vexed with himself for doing something secretly.  Poor Boldwood had no finess than a battering-ram and he was uneasy about his stupid and mean act.  But he was sure that Bathsheba might certainly marry him after six years; and six years were a long time but were shorter than never. Jacob has endured twice seven years for Rachel

One year had already elapsed. A question of only six years remained. Boldwood was more interested in dreaming the marriage than winning Bathsheba.

Meanwhile the early and late summer brought round the week in which Greenhill Fair was held.  This fair was frequently attended by the folks of Whetherbury.

             END OF THE CHAPTER 

 

Notes:-

1. Cob: A specific type of sturdy short-legged horse.