Secrets on the Hill — Far from the Madding Crowd

On a wet October Saturday Troy and Bathsheba walk Yalbury Hill after market while he holds the reins, light cuts at Poppet's ear, and narrates Budmouth races in liquid misery: wind, rain, hats blown, Policy beating Pimpernel, more than a hundred pounds lost in a month on Bathsheba's money. Her voice has lost last summer's fullness; she implores him not to bet again and fears losing the farm, but he calls her chicken-hearted and says bets are booked before the race regardless of weather. A woman in extreme poverty asks Troy the Union closing time; he starts yet will not turn lest Bathsheba see his face. She recognises the soldier in yeoman clothes, cries, and falls. Troy orders Bathsheba to drive on, then lifts Fanny Robin with hurried tenderness, learns she has no money, gives his last farthings from his wife's allowance, and arranges Grey's Bridge Monday at ten with all he can muster. Bathsheba at the hilltop watches the woman stumble away and demands a name. Troy says he knows her by sight, then evades, whips Poppet to a wild trot, and silences her. Hardy reopens Troy's past precisely as Bathsheba's marriage has gone hollow with gambling and command.