Farmers: A Rule: An Exception
- Now that she's her own boss, Bathsheba starts going to the market to sell the farm's crops. She quickly learns to speak boldly to the men there and to haggle with them over prices.
- Wherever she walks, she can hear men behind her asking who she is. They also talk about how soon enough, some man will marry her.
- She also notices, though, that there's one man in the market who pays no attention to her at all—Farmer Boldwood.
- When she leaves the market, Bathsheba complains to Liddy about how all the men were staring at her the whole time. She mentions, though, the man who never looked at her.
- Just then, a carriage passes with Farmer Boldwood inside. Bathsheba points him out as the man who didn't look at her, and Liddy says tells her who it is.
- They speculate that Farmer Boldwood must have gotten his heart broken when he was younger, and that's why he's so reserved.