Far from the Madding Crowd Chapter X

In which Bathsheba Everdene, newly risen to the command of her farm, addresses her assembled workers with a mixture of firmness and graciousness, asserting her resolve to manage affairs personally amidst news of a missing girl thought to have fled with soldiers. With a genteel yet resolute air, she reveals the challenges of her new role and the complex humours of those she employs, setting the tone for her governance and the rural life she is to navigate.