Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy (best books for 20 year olds .TXT) đ
- Author: Thomas Hardy
Book online «Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy (best books for 20 year olds .TXT) đ». Author Thomas Hardy
âAll nonsense!â said Troy, angrily. âThere she is with plenty of money, and a house and farm, and horses, and comfort, and here am I living from hand to mouthâ âa needy adventurer. Besides, it is no use talking now; it is too late, and I am glad of it; Iâve been seen and recognized here this very afternoon. I should have gone back to her the day after the fair, if it hadnât been for you talking about the law, and rubbish about getting a separation; and I donât put it off any longer. What the deuce put it into my head to run away at all, I canât think! Humbugging sentimentâ âthatâs what it was. But what man on earth was to know that his wife would be in such a hurry to get rid of his name!â
âI should have known it. Sheâs bad enough for anything.â
âPennyways, mind who you are talking to.â
âWell, sergeant, all I say is this, that if I were you Iâd go abroad again where I came fromâ ââtisnât too late to do it now. I wouldnât stir up the business and get a bad name for the sake of living with herâ âfor all that about your play-acting is sure to come out, you know, although you think otherwise. My eyes and limbs, thereâll be a racket if you go back just nowâ âin the middle of Boldwoodâs Christmasing!â
âHâm, yes. I expect I shall not be a very welcome guest if he has her there,â said the sergeant, with a slight laugh. âA sort of Alonzo the Brave; and when I go in the guests will sit in silence and fear, and all laughter and pleasure will be hushed, and the lights in the chamber burn blue, and the wormsâ âUgh, horrible!â âRing for some more brandy, Pennyways, I felt an awful shudder just then! Well, what is there besides? A stickâ âI must have a walking-stick.â
Pennyways now felt himself to be in something of a difficulty, for should Bathsheba and Troy become reconciled it would be necessary to regain her good opinion if he would secure the patronage of her husband. âI sometimes think she likes you yet, and is a good woman at bottom,â he said, as a saving sentence. âBut thereâs no telling to a certainty from a bodyâs outside. Well, youâll do as you like about going, of course, sergeant, and as for me, Iâll do as you tell me.â
âNow, let me see what the time is,â said Troy, after emptying his glass in one draught as he stood. âHalf-past six oâclock. I shall not hurry along the road, and shall be there then before nine.â
LIII Concurritur; Horae MomentoOutside the front of Boldwoodâs house a group of men stood in the dark, with their faces towards the door, which occasionally opened and closed for the passage of some guest or servant, when a golden rod of light would stripe the ground for the moment and vanish again, leaving nothing outside but the glowworm shine of the pale lamp amid the evergreens over the door.
âHe was seen in Casterbridge this afternoonâ âso the boy said,â one of them remarked in a whisper. âAnd I for one believe it. His body was never found, you know.â
âââTis a strange story,â said the next. âYou may depend uponât that she knows nothing about it.â
âNot a word.â
âPerhaps he donât mean that she shall,â said another man.
âIf heâs alive and here in the neighbourhood, he means mischief,â said the first. âPoor young thing: I do pity her, if âtis true. Heâll drag her to the dogs.â
âO no; heâll settle down quiet enough,â said one disposed to take a more hopeful view of the case.
âWhat a fool she must have been ever to have had anything to do with the man! She is so self-willed and independent too, that one is more minded to say it serves her right than pity her.â
âNo, no. I donât hold with âee there. She was no otherwise than a girl mind, and how could she tell what the man was made of? If âtis really true, âtis too hard a punishment, and more than she ought to hae.â âHullo, whoâs that?â This was to some footsteps that were heard approaching.
âWilliam Smallbury,â said a dim figure in the shades, coming up and joining them. âDark as a hedge, tonight, isnât it? I all but missed the plank over the river athâart there in the bottomâ ânever did such a thing before in my life. Be ye any of Boldwoodâs workfolk?â He peered into their faces.
âYesâ âall oâ us. We met here a few minutes ago.â
âOh, I hear nowâ âthatâs Sam Samway: thought I knowed the voice, too. Going in?â
âPresently. But I say, William,â Samway whispered, âhave ye heard this strange tale?â
âWhatâ âthat about Sergeant Troy being seen, dâye mean, souls?â said Smallbury, also lowering his voice.
âAy: in Casterbridge.â
âYes, I have. Laban Tall named a hint of it to me but nowâ âbut I donât think it. Hark, here Laban comes himself, âa bâlieve.â A footstep drew near.
âLaban?â
âYes, âtis I,â said Tall.
âHave ye heard any more about that?â
âNo,â said Tall, joining the group. âAnd Iâm inclined to think weâd better keep quiet. If so be âtis not true, âtwill flurry her, and do her much harm to repeat it; and if so be âtis true, âtwill do no good to forestall her time oâ trouble. God send that it mid be a lie, for though Henery Fray and some of âem do speak against her, sheâs never been anything but fair to me. Sheâs hot and hasty, but sheâs a brave girl whoâll never tell a lie however much the truth may harm her, and Iâve no cause to wish her evil.â
âShe never do tell womenâs little lies, thatâs true; and âtis a thing that can be said of very few. Ay, all the harm she thinks she says to yer face: thereâs nothing underhand wiâ her.â
They stood
Comments (0)