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h at my foolishness in marrying you！But you'll burn that hair，won't you，Frank，to please me？’
Troy only answered，‘I have a duty to someone in my past。 Mistakes were made which I must put right。 That's more important than my relationship with you。 If you're sorry you married me，well，so am I！’
‘Frank，I'm only sorry if you love another woman more than me，’said Bathsheba in a trembling voice。 ‘You like the woman with that pretty hair。 Yes，it is pretty！Was she the woman we met on the road last night？’
‘Well，yes。 Now you know the truth，I hope you're happy。 ’
‘You haven't told me everything。 Tell me the whole truth，’she said，looking bravely into his face。 ‘I never thought I'd beg a man to do anything，but my pride has all gone！’
‘Don't be so desperate！’said Troy crossly。 He left the room。
Bathsheba was in deep despair。 She knew that she had lost her independence as a woman，which she had been so proud of。 She hated herself for falling in love so easily with her hand…some husband，who，she now realized，could not be trusted。
The next morning Troy left the house early。 Bathsheba was walking in her garden，when she noticed Gabriel Oak and Mr Boldwood deep in conversation in the road。 They called to Joseph Poorgrass，who was picking apples，and soon he came along the path to Bathsheba's house。
‘Well，what's the message，Joseph？’she asked，curious。
‘I'm afraid Fanny Robin's dead，ma'am。 Dead in the Casterbridge workhouse。
‘No！Why？What did she die from？’
‘I don't know，ma'am，but she was never very strong。 Mr Boldwood is sending a cart to bring her back to be buried here。 ’
‘Oh，I won't let Mr Boldwood do that！Fanny was my uncle's maid，and mine too How very sad to die in a work…house！Tell Mr Boldwood that you will drive my new cart over to Casterbridge this afternoon to fetch her body。 And Joseph，put flowers on the cart for poor Fanny。 How long was she in the workhouse？’
‘Only a day，ma'am。 She arrived，ill and exhausted，on Sunday morning。 She came on foot through Weatherbury。 ’
The colour left Bathsheba's face at one。 ‘Along the road from Weatherbury to Casterbridge？’she asked eagerly。 ‘When did she pass Weatherbury？’
‘Last Saturday night it was，ma'am。 ’
‘Thank you，Joseph，you may go。 ’
Later that afternoon Bathsheba asked Liddy，‘What was the colour of poor Fanny Robin's hair？I only saw her for a day or two。 ’
‘She used to keep it covered，but it was lovely golden hair，ma'am。 ’
‘Her young man was a soldier，wasn't he？’
‘Yes，and Mr Troy knows him well。 ’
‘What？Mr Troy told you that？’
‘Yes。 One day I asked him if he knew Fanny's young man，and he said he knew him as well as he knew himself！’
‘That's enough，Liddy！’said Bathsheba，her anxiety mak…ing her unusually cross。
15
Fanny's revenge
That afternoon Joseph Poorgrass was bringing Fanny's coffin back from Casterbridge。 Feeling a little frightened of the dead body behind him in the cart，and de…pressed by the autumn fog，he stopped for some beer at a pub，where he met Jan Coggan and Laban Tall。 There Gabriel Oak found the three men，completely drunk，two hours later。 As Joseph was clearly incapable of driving the cart，Gabriel drove it to Weatherbury himself。 On the way into the village，the vicar stopped him。
‘I'm afraid it's too late now for the burial，’he said，‘but I can arrange for the body to be buried tomorrow。 ’
‘I could take the coffin to the church for the night，sir，’offered Gabriel，hoping to prevent Bathsheba from seeing it。
But just then Bathsheba herself appeared。 ‘No，Gabriel，’she said。 ‘Poor Fanny must rest in her old home for her last night。 Bring the coffin into the house。 ’
The coffin was carried into a small sitting…room and Gabriel was left alone with it。 In spite of all his care，the worst had happened，and Bathsheba was about to make a terrible discovery。 But suddenly he had an idea。 He looked at the words written simply on the coffin lid—Fanny Robin and child。 With a cloth Gabriel carefully removed the last two words。 Quietly he left the room。
Bathsheba was in a strange mood。 She felt lonely and miser…able，but she had not stopped loving her husband，in spite of her anxiety about his past。 She was waiting for him to come home，when Liddy knocked and entered。
‘Ma'am，Maryann has just heard something…’she hesitated a little。 ‘Not about you or us，ma'am。 About Fanny。 There's a story in Weatherbury that…’Liddy whis…pered in her mistress's ear。
Bathsheba trembled from head to foot。
‘I don't believe it！’she cried。 ‘There's only one name on the coffin lid！But I suppose it could be true。 ’
She said no more，and Liddy went quietly out of the room。 Bathsheba felt almost sure she knew the truth about Fanny and Troy，but she wanted to be certain。 She entered the sitting…room where the coffin lay。 Holding her hot hands to her fore…head she cried，‘Tell me your secret，Fanny！I hope it isn't true there are two of you！If I could only look。 at you，I'd know！’
After a pause，she added slowly，‘And I will。 ’
A few moments later，she stood beside the uncovered coffin。 Staring in，she said，‘It was best to know the worst，and I know it now！’Her tears fell fast beside the dead pair in the coffin，tears for Fanny and for herself。 Although Bathsheba，not Fanny，had married Troy，in death Fanny was the winner。 She was taking her revenge now on Bathsheba for the difficulties she had experienced in her life。
Bathsheba forgot the passing of time as she looked at Fanny's cold white face and yellow hair，and did not realize Troy had arrived home。 He threw open the door and came in。 He did not guess who was in the coffin。
‘What's the matter？Who's dead？’he asked。
Bathsheba tried to push past him。 ‘Let me out！’she cried。
‘No，stay，I insist！’He held her arm and together they looked into the coffin。
Troy stood completely still when he saw the mother and ba…by。 Little by little his shoulders bent forward，and his face showed deep sadness。 Bathsheba was watching his expression closely，and she had never been more miserable。 Slowly Troy knelt to give Fanny Robin a gentle kiss。
Bathsheba threw her arms round his neck，crying wildly from the depths of her heart，‘Don't，don't kiss them！Oh Frank，no！I love you better than she did！Kiss me too，Frank！You will kiss me too，Frank！’
Troy looked puzzled for a moment，not expecting this child…like cry from his proud wife。 But then he pushed her away。
‘I will not kiss you！’he said。
‘Can you give me a reason？’asked Bathsheba，fighting to control herself。 Perhaps it was unfortunate that she asked。
‘I've been a bad，black…hearted man，but this woman，dead as she is，is more to me than you ever were，or are，or can be。 I would have married her，if I'd never seen your beau…tiful face！And I wish I had married her！’He turned to Fanny。 ‘But never mind，darling，’he said，‘in the sight of God you are my wife！’
At these words a long，low cry of despair and anger came from Bathsheba's lips。 ‘If she's—that，what—am I？’
‘You are nothing to me，nothing，’said Troy heartlessly。 ‘A ceremony in front of a vicar doesn't make a marriage。 I don't consider myself your husband。 ’
Bathsheba wanted only to get away from him and his words。 She ran straight out of the house。 She stayed out all night，wrapped in a cloak，waiting for the coffin to be taken for burial。 As soon as the men had taken it away the next morning，she re…entered the house，very cautiously to avoid Troy，but her husband had gone out very early and did not return。
16
Sergeant Troy leaves
When Bathsheba ran out of the house the previous night，Troy first replaced the coffin lid，then went upstairs to lie on his bed and wait miserably for the morning。
The day before，on Monday，he had waited for Fanny，as arranged，on the bridge just outside Casterbridge，for over an hour。 He had Bathsheba's twenty pounds and seven pounds of his own to give Fanny。 When she did not come，he became angry，remembering the last time she had failed to arrive，on her wedding day。 In fact she was at that moment being put in her coffin at the workhouse，but he did not know that。 He rode straight to the races at Budmouth and stayed there all afternoon。 But he was still thinking of Fanny，and he did not risk any money on the horses。 Only on his way home did he suddenly realize that illness could have prevented her from meeting him，and only when he entered the farmhouse that evening did he discover that she was dead。
On Tuesday morning Troy got up and，without even thinking about Bathsheba，went straight to the churchyard to find the position of Fanny's grave。 He continued on foot to Casterbridge to order the best gravestone available for twenty…seven pounds，which was all the money he had。 Having ar…ranged for it to be put on the grave that afternoon，he returned to Weatherbury in the evening，with a basket of flowering plants。 The new gravestone was already in place，and he worked solidly for several hours in the churchyard，putting the plants carefully into the soft earth of her g