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‘Oh God！’said Boldwood，unheard behind the tree。
‘Yes，it's me，’replied Troy。
‘You'rs so late，Frank，’she continued。 ‘The coach arrived a long time ago！Frank，it's so lucky！There's nobody in my house except me tonight，so nobody will know about your visit。 ’
‘Excellent，’said Troy。 ‘But I'll just have to cdlect my bag，so you run home and I promise to be there in ten minutes。 ’
‘Yes，Frank。 ’She ran back to her house。
Troy turned to Boldwood，who had stepped out from behind the tree，his face white and his whole body trembling。
‘Shall I tell her I cannot marry her？’laughed the soldier。
‘No，no，wait！I have more to say to you！whispered Boldwood，the muscles in his face strangely out of control。
‘Now，’said Troy，‘you see my problem。 I can't marry them both。 But I have two reasons for choosing Fanny。 First，I like her best，I think，and second，you're paying me for it。 ’
At that moment Boldwood lost control。 He attacked Troy fiercely，holding his neck with botn hands。
‘Wait，’gasped Troy，who had not expected this，‘let me breathe！If you kill me，you injure the woman you love！’
‘What do you mean？’cried the farmer。 ‘I should kill you like a dog！’But he let go of Troy's neck，and listened。
‘You heard how Bathsheba loves me and expects me to visit her tonight Soon the whole village will know this。 The only way to save her good name，and her position in Weatherbury，is for me to marry her。 ’
‘True，true，’agreed Boldwood after a pause。 ‘Troy，marry her！Poor，weak woman！She must love you madly to give herself so completely to you！’
‘But what about Fanny？’asked the soldier cleverly。
‘Don't desert her，Troy，I beg you！I don't mean Fanny，I'm speaking of Bathsheba！How can I persuade you？I know！I'll pay you five hundred pounds on the day you marry Bathsheba！’
Troy was secretly shocked at Boldwood's wild offer。
‘And I'll receive something now as well？’he asked。
‘Yes，all the money I have with me！’He counted the coins in his pocket。 ‘Twenty－one pounds—it's all for you！’
‘Give me the money，and we'll go to her house。 I'll ask her to marry me。 Of course I won't say anything about the money。 ’
They went along the road to the farmhouse，and Boldwood waited outside while Troy entered。 He returned in a moment with a piece cut out of a Bath newspaper。
‘Here，read this first，’he said，smiling。 And Boldwood read：
MARRIAGES：On the 17th，in Bath，Frank Troy，Sergeant，to Bathsheba Everdene of Weatherbury。
The paper fell from Boldwood's hands，as the soldier began to laugh。 ‘Fifty pounds to marry Fanny。 Twenty－one pounds not to marry Fanny，but Bathsheba。 And now you see I'm already Bathsheba's husband。 You're a fool，Boldwood。 Although I may be a bad man，I'd never bribe anyone to mar…ry，as you've tried to。 And Fanny？She left me long ago，and I don't know where she is。 I've searched everywhere for her。 Now take your money back！I don't want it！’and Troy threw the gold coins into the road。
‘You black－hearted dog！I'll punish you one day，remember that！’cried the broken man。 Troy laughed loudly as he closed Bathsheba's front door。
Through the whole of the long night that followed，Boldwood's dark figure could be seen walking over the hills of Weatherbury like a ghost。
Just before the clock struck five the next morning，Gabriel and Coggan were walking to the hayfields past their mistress's house，when they saw a surprising sight。 Bathsheba's bedroom window was open，and looking out of it was a hand…some man，with his red jacket undone。 It was Sergeant Troy。
‘She's married him！’whispered Coggan。 Gabriel said nothing，but he felt so ill that he had to rest on the gate for a moment。 He thought with pity of her future，as he knew her marriage to Troy could not be happy for long。
‘Good morning，friends！’shouted Troy cheerfully to the men。
‘We must be polite to him，’whispered Coggan，‘if he's married the mistress。 ’
‘Good morning，Sergeant Troy，’said Gabriel miserably。
‘Now that I've left the army，I'll soon be down in the fields with you again，’said Troy lightly。 ‘My new position won't change that，and I'll be friendly with you all，just as before。 Drink to my health，men。 ’And he threw a coin towards Gabriel，who refused to pick it up。 Coggan，however，put it in his pocket。
As they went on their way，they noticed Mr Boldwood riding past them。 Gabriel forgot his own sadness when he saw the bitterness and deep despair on the farmer's face。
13
The storm
There was always a harvest supper for the farm workers after all the hay and wheat had been cut。 On behalf of his wife，Sergeant Troy decided to have it one evening at the end of August，in the great barn。 The weather was unpleas…antly warm that night。 On his way to the harvest supper Gabriel stopped to check the eight huge hay－and wheat－ricks。 If，as he suspected，there was a storm，the ricks，which were all uncovered，would be badly damaged。
He went on to the barn，where the farm workers had already finished eating and started dancing。 Gabriel had to wait until Sergeant Troy had finished his dance with Bathshe…ba before he could warn him about possible damage to the ricks。 Troy，however，was enjoying himself too much to listen to Gabriel's message。
‘Friends，’he was saying，‘I've ordered brandy to be served to you all，so that we can celebrate my wedding properly。 ’
‘No，Frank，don't give them brandy，’begged Bathsheba，‘it will only do them harm！’
‘Don't be silly！’said Troy。 ‘Friends，let's send the women home！Then we men can drink and sing as much as we like！’Angrily，Bathsheba left the barn，followed by the other women。
Gabriel left soon afterwards Later，when he went to check that Bathsheba's sheep were safe，he noticed that they looked very frightened。 They were crowded together in a corner，their tails pointing the same way。 To the shepherd this meant they were expecting a storm。 He went to look at the ricks again。 Should the whole harvest of the farm，worth at least seven hundred and fifty pounds，be lost because of a woman's weakness？Never，if I can prevent it！thought Gabriel。
He returned to the barn to ask the other farm workers to help him cover the ricks。 But the only noise he could hear coming from the barn was the men's loud and regular breathing，and when he entered，he found them all asleep，in…cluding Troy。 The brandy，which they had been too polite to refuse，had made them drunk in a very short time，as they were not used to drinking anything stronger than beer。 It was useless trying to wake them。
Gabriel left the barn，and returned to the ricks，two of which he managed to cover with the heavy material kept on the farm for this purpose。 The only way to cover the other six ricks was by thatching them with straw，and this was a long and difficult job to do alone。
The moon disappeared，and there was a slow，light wind，like the breath of a dying man，as Gabriel climbed the ladder and started thatching high up on top of the third rick。 Light－ning flashed in the sky，and there was a loud crash of thunder。 In the sudden brightness Gabriel could see every tree around him，until the light disappeared just as suddenly，leaving him in the blackest darkness。 He knew his position was dangerous，but considered his life was not valuable enough to worry about。
Another flash of lightning allowed him to see the figure of a woman running towards the rick。 Was it Bathsheba？
‘Is that you，ma'am？’he called to the darkness。
‘Who's there？’said Bathsheba's voice。
‘It's Gabriel。 I'm on the rick，thatching。 ’
‘Oh Gabriel！I'm so worried about the ricks！Can we save them？The thunder woke me。 I can't find my husband。 Is he there？’
‘No，he isn't。 He's—asleep in the barn。 ’
‘He promised me the ricks would be covered，and he hasn't done it！Can I help you？Let me help！’
‘You can bring the straw up to me in armfuls，if you aren't afraid to climb the ladder in the dark，’said Gabriel。
‘I'll do anything to help！’she said。 She started to go up and down the ladder，carrying the straw。 In the brightness of the lightning Gabriel saw their two shadows，wildly enlarged，on the hill in front of him。 Then came the loudest crash so far。
‘How terrible！’cried Bathsheba，and held on to his arm。 The lightning flashed in a wild dance of death，and thunder came from every part of the huge sky。 Bathsheba and Gabriel could only stare，and tremble at the strange and dangerous beauty of the storm。
As they watched，a tall tree in front of them seemed to be burning with a white flame。 There was a final，violent crash of thunder，and in the bright light they saw that the tree had been torn in half by the lightning。
‘That was close to us！’said Gabriel。 ‘We'd better go down。 ’They climbed down and stood together in the darkness，Bathsheba seeming to think only of the storm，Gabriel thinking only of her。
At last he said，‘The storm appears to have passed，but the rain will be coming soon。 I'll go up and finish thatching the ricks。 ’
‘Gabriel，you are kind to me！Oh why aren't the others here？Don't tell me，