Far from the Madding Crowd Chapter IX

In which Bathsheba Everdene presides over a quaintly antiquated farmhouse, her orderly domestic undertakings briefly interrupted by the arrival of a gentleman enquiring after a mutual acquaintance. The rustic familiars of Weatherbury, with their quaint manners and local gossip, provide a lively backdrop to Bathsheba’s reflections on suitors and the curious proceedings of the day.