Far from the Madding Crowd Ch. 7 Summary

Summary

Bathsheba withdraws into the shade of the rick, unsure whether to be amused or embarrassed. She feels a little pity for Gabriel and a very little triumph for herself, and she remembers his proposal at Norcombe only to find she had nearly forgotten it. 'Yes,' she says, with a touch of dignity, 'I do want a shepherd. But' and there she is interrupted. One villager after another declares that he is the very man, each more certain than the last, and she tells them to send him to the bailiff. Hardy notes that a summer evening and some loneliness would have been needed to give the meeting its full romance. As it is, everything turns practical again. She offers the men refreshment, they ask for it at Warren's Malthouse, and she rides off into the dark.

The bailiff settles the hiring in a few words and then cannot say where Gabriel might sleep, edging past him like a man avoiding the offertory plate. Gabriel walks on, still amazed that the girl of Norcombe has turned into a cool woman who gives orders. By the churchyard wall, under the oldest of the trees, he finds a slim, thinly clad girl standing behind a trunk. He asks the way to the malthouse. She tells him, and then asks how late the Buck's Head Inn stays open. Her voice is low and sweet, the kind that is common in books and rare in life. When she learns that he is the new shepherd, she begs him not to say in the parish that he has seen her, at least for a day or two. She says she is poor, takes his shilling, and asks him to leave her. In the dark his fingers find her wrist, and the pulse is the hard, quick beat he has felt in overdriven lambs.

He goes on down into the village with a sense of deep sadness he cannot place, and tells himself, as a sensible man should, to think little of it.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Helping Without Prying

A small kindness is easiest to give when you do not demand the whole story. Gabriel, newly hired and nearly penniless, meets a thinly clad girl by the churchyard wall, promises to keep her secret, and gives her his last spare shilling when she says she is poor.

This week, when someone in difficulty needs help, give one thing you can afford and respect what they choose not to say.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Bathsheba

She hires him through the bailiff and rides off before the fire can turn the bargain into a memory. Speed is the defence. If she stays, Norcombe is in the room: the refusal, the aunt, the lamb in a basket. A wage keeps him useful and keeps the old scene from starting again.

Continue this thoughtBathsheba Knows Love as Something to Watch

Coming Up in Chapter 8

Gabriel lifts the leather strap and steps into Warren's Malthouse, where the kiln glows red and an ancient maltster stares into the fire. The men size him up, then offer him cider in a cracked, ash-crusted mug and a mouthful of bacon that fell in the road. He drinks, and says he does not mind dirt.

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Chapter 07

The New Shepherd Meets a Timid Girl

RECOGNITION—A TIMID GIRL Bathsheba withdrew into the shade. She scarcely knew whether most to be amused at the singularity of the meeting, or to be concerned at its awkwardness. There was room for a little pity, also for a very little exultation: the former at his position, the latter at her own. Embarrassed she was not, and she remembered Gabriel’s declaration of love to her at Norcombe only to think she had nearly forgotten it. “Yes,” she murmured, putting on an air of dignity, and turning again to him with a little warmth of cheek; “I do want a shepherd.…

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The New Shepherd Meets a Timid Girl

Summary

Why This Matters