A Morning Meeting: The Letter Again
- We look in on the old malthouse proprietor sitting in the malthouse and cooking potatoes in an ashpit. Yum. Ashy potatoes.
- A dude named Henery Fray comes walking in and complains about the cold night. He complains even more, though, about how Bathsheba didn't hire him on as her new bailiff. He promises that she'll live to regret it.
- The men go on to talk about how they'll be ruined if Bathsheba's farm goes under. They all talk about their recent dreams as bad omens, even though the dreams seem to be about totally random things.
- The men talk smack about Bathsheba for a while longer, until Gabriel Oak busts into the room. He has some lambs with him, because the lambs need to be warmed up by the fire and because Oak is adorable.
- They asking him how the lambing season is going, and he says it's terrible because of the weather.
- Then Oak asks what's up with them. The old man informs him that he's just in time to gripe about Bathsheba with the rest of the guys. Gabriel, though, gets angry and demands to know what the men have been saying about Bathsheba.
- The men mention that Bathsheba is very vain. Even though Oak knows that this is true, because he saw Bathsheba just chilling and checking herself out in a mirror, he tells them to shut up. He won't let them say one bad thing about her, and he warns them against doing so in the future.
- The men change the subject and talk about how Oak can apparently tell what time of night it is by looking at the stars. Mad skills.
- Soon, the heat of the fire brings some life into the lambs that Oak has is warming up near the fireplace. Oak takes a milk bottle and starts to feed them. Oh god. The cute never ends.
- After some more chatting, Mr. Boldwood walks through the door and hands Oak his letter, apologizing for having opened it.
- Oak reads the letter, which is from the frail young woman on the road.
- The woman says that thanks to him, she's going to marry her lover, Sergeant Troy, and that she wants to repay him for the money he once gave her. The letter includes this money.
- The letter is signed by Fanny Robin. She says that she plans on returning to Weatherbury soon with Sergeant Troy as her husband.
- Oak shows the letter to Boldwood. Boldwood reads the letter and looks concerned. He isn't convinced that this Sergeant Troy will make good on his promise of marriage.
- At this point, Gabriel's young assistant, Cainy Ball, comes running into the room. He tells Oak that two more of the sheep have given birth to twin lambs and that Oak must come right away.
- Boldwood follows Oak and pulls out the Valentine from his secret admirer, asking Oak if he can recognize the handwriting. Oak takes one look and tells him that it was totally written by Bathsheba.
- After parting ways with Oak, Boldwood returns home for breakfast. He puts the letter back on the mantle and starts thinking about Bathsheba. Again.