The Mayor of Casterbridge Chapter 26

In which the uneasy tension between Henchard and Farfrae is delicately portrayed through their shared acquaintance with Lucetta, whilst Henchard’s suspicion and bitter rivalry take root both in matters of the heart and commerce. Meanwhile, a forecaster’s grim prediction and Henchard’s ill-fated gambit on the weather reveal the precariousness of human enterprise set against the caprices of nature and fate.