His clothes are found on the shore of a bay where there is a strong current. She feels indirectly responsible for the tragedy and knows that her marriage is over.īathsheba is remorseful but somewhat relieved when Troy disappears. Troy is stunned - and so is Bathsheba, when she learns the truth. Months later, Fanny, his abandoned victim, dies in childbirth. This fickle soldier marries Bathsheba and becomes an arrogant landlord. After a misunderstanding about the time and place where they were to be married, he left her. Troy, who does not believe in promises, and laments with some truth that 'women will be the death of me,' has wronged a young serving maid. He does his work, gives advice when asked, and usually withholds it when not consulted.īut it is her third suitor, Sergeant Francis Troy, who, with his flattery, insouciance, and scarlet uniform, finally captures the interest of Bathsheba. The vicissitudes of country life and the emergencies of farming, coupled with Bathsheba's temperament, cause Gabriel to be alternately fired and rehired. She rejects him, too, but he vows to pursue her until she consents to marry him. His curiosity and, subsequently, his emotions are seriously aroused, and he becomes Bathsheba's second suitor. Indeed, it is caprice that prompts her to send an anonymous valentine to a neighboring landowner, Mr.

Her farmhands have reservations about the abilities of this woman, whom they think is a bit vain and capricious. She intends to manage the farm by herself. Bathsheba inherits her uncle's farm, and it is she who employs Gabriel as a shepherd. Chance has it that in the search he spies a serious fire, hastens to aid in extinguishing it, and manages to obtain employment on the estate. Oak's flock of sheep is tragically destroyed, and he is obliged to seek employment. Perceiving her beauty, he proposes to her and is promptly rejected. The first to appear is Gabriel Oak, a farmer as ordinary, stable, and sturdy as his name suggests. Bathsheba Everdene has the enviable problem of coping with three suitors simultaneously.

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