# ■ 4 Fanny Robin disappears

The farm manager had advised Gabriel to go straight to the malthouse in Weatherbury，to ask for somewhere to stay. That was the place where the men of the village spent their evenings，drinking beer and talking by the fire. When Gabriel entered the warm，dark room，some of Bathsheba's workers recognized him.

‘Come in，shepherd，you're welcome，’said one.

‘Gabriel Oak is my name，neighbours. ’

The ancient maltster，with his white hair and long white beard，turned his old head stiffly towards Gabriel. ‘Gabriel Oak of Norcombe！’he said. ‘I knew your grandparents well！My boy Jacob and his young son Billy know your family too. ’His boy Jacob was bald and toothless，and young Billy was about forty.

‘You must be very old，maltster，’said Gabriel politely，‘to have such an old son as Jacob here. ’

‘Yes，I've lived for over a hundred years，’replied the little old man proudly. ‘Sit down and drink with us，shepherd. ’

The cup of warm beer passed round the circle of drinkers. There was silence for a moment. Then Gabriel turned the conversation to the matter closest to his heart.

‘What kind of mistress is Miss Everdene？’he asked.

‘We know almost nothing of her，shepherd，’answered Jan Coggan，a big，cheerful man with a red face. ‘She only arrived here a few days ago，when her uncle died. But the Everdenes are a good family to work for. Of course，it's the farm manager who'll be giving us our orders. ’

‘Ah！’said the maltster，frowning. ‘Benjy Pennyways！’

‘You can't trust him！’added Jacob darkly.

Soon afterwards Gabriel left with Jan Coggan，who had offered the shepherd a bed in his house. The remaining men were just preparing to leave when suddenly a young man called Laban Tall rushed into the malthouse，almost too excited to speak.

‘It's Benjy Pennyways！’he cried. ‘Miss Everdene's caught him stealing wheat from the barn！She's sent him away！And worse than that——Fanny Robin，you know，Miss Everdene's youngest maid，is missing！The mistress wants us to look for her tomorrow. And Billy Smallbury，she wants you to go to Casterbridge，to see if you can find the young soldier who's been courting Fanny. ’

That night the news spread fast round the village，but did not reach Gabriel，whose dreams were only of Bathsheba. Through the long slow hours of darkness he saw her lovely face and forgot that she did not love him.

The next morning Bathsheba and her maid Liddy were dust-ing some books，when a visitor arrived at the front door. It was Mr Boldwood，who had a large farm in Weatherbury.

‘I can't see him like this，Liddy！’said Bathsheba，looking in horror at her dusty dress. ‘Go down and tell him I'm busy. ’

When Liddy came back， after Mr Boldwood had gone，Bathsheba asked，‘What did he want， Liddy？ And who is he，exactly？’

‘He just wanted to ask if Fanny had been found，miss. You know，as she had no family or friends，he was kind enough to pay for her to go to school，and found her a job here with your uncle. He's your neighbour. His farm is next to yours. ’

‘Is he married？ And how old is he？’

‘He isn't married. He's abeut forty，very handsome—and rich. All the girls in the area have tried to persuade him to marry. But he just doesn't seem interested in women. Have you ever had an offer of marriage，miss？’

‘Yes，I have，Liddy，’answered Bathsheba after a pause，thinking of Gabriel. ‘But he wasn't quite good enough for me. ’

‘Oh，how nice to be able to refuse，when most of us are glad to accept the first offer！ And did you love him，miss？’

‘Oh no. But I rather liked him. ’

In the afternoon Bathsheba called her workers together，and spoke to them in the old hall of the farmhouse.

‘Men，I want to tell you that I'm not going to employ a new farm manager. I shall manage the farm myself. ’There were gasps of surprise from the men. She gave her orders for the next week's farm work and then turned to one of the 46 men. ‘Billy Smallbury， what have you discovered about Fanny Robin？’

‘I think she's run away with her young man，ma'am. The soldiers have left Casterbridge，and I suppose she's gone with them. ’

‘Well，perhaps we'll discover more later. One of you can go and tell Mr Boldwood what Billy says. Now，men，I hope I can trust you all to do your work well for me. Goodnight. ’

Later that evening，in a town many miles north of Weather bury，a small white shape could be seen walking slowly along a path beside a large building. It was a dull，snowy night，with heavy grey clouds hanging low in the sky，the kind of night when hopes are destroyed and love is lost.

‘One. Two. Three. Four. Five. ’The white shape was counting windows in the building. Then it began to throw small stones，covered in snow，at the fifth window. At last the window opened，and a man called out，‘Who's there？’

‘Is that Sergeant Troy？’asked a girl's voice.

‘Yes，’answered the man. ‘Who are you？’

‘Oh Frank，don't you know me？’cried the girl desperately.

‘I'm your—I'm Fanny Robin. ’

‘Fanny！’gasped the man in surprise. ‘How did you get here？’

‘I walked most of the way from Weatherbury. But，Frank，are you glad to see me？ Frank，when will it be？’

‘What are you talking about？’

‘You know，you promised. When shall we be married，Frank？’

‘Oh，I see. Well—you need proper clothes—we must inform the vicar. It takes time. I didn't expect you to come so soon. ’

‘Oh Frank，I love you so！And—you said you'd marry me—’

‘Don't cry now！It's foolish. If I said so，of course I will. I'll come and see you tomorrow to decide the details. ’

‘Oh yes，Frank，do！I'm staying at Mrs Twill’s in North Street. Come tomorrow，Frank！Goodnight，Frank！’

■ 4 範妮·羅賓失蹤了

農場經理勸蓋伯瑞爾徑直去威瑟伯裡的酒吧問問住的地方。這是一個村裡的人消磨晚上的時光、喝酒、圍著火聊天的地方。蓋伯瑞爾進到這個暖和、昏暗的屋子時，芭絲謝芭的一些僱工認出了他。

“進來，牧羊人，歡迎你，”一個村民說。

“我叫蓋伯瑞爾·奧克，鄉親們。”

年老的酒店老闆，留著白髮和長長的白鬍子，僵硬地把頭轉向蓋伯瑞爾。“諾科姆的蓋伯瑞爾·奧克！”他說，“我與你的祖父母很熟！我兒子雅各布和他的小兒子比利也認識你們家。”他的兒子雅各布頭禿了，牙也沒了。小兒子比利大約有四十歲。

“有雅各布這樣大的兒子，你一定年紀不小了，老闆，”蓋伯瑞爾禮貌地說。

“是的，我活了有一百多年了，”小老頭驕傲地答道。“牧羊人，坐下和我們喝一杯。”

盛有熱啤酒的杯子在一圈飲酒者中傳遞著。一陣沉默之後，蓋伯瑞爾把話題轉到他最關心的事情上。

“伊芙丁小姐是個什麼樣的女主人？”他問。

“牧羊人，我們對她幾乎一無所知，”簡·考根答道。這是一個有著一張紅臉，大大的個子，快快活活的人。“幾天前她叔叔死後她才來到這裡。不過，給伊芙丁家族幹活沒錯。當然，對我們發號施令的是農場經理。”

“噢！”酒店老闆皺著眉說。“本傑·賓尼威斯！”

“他讓人信不過！”雅各布恨恨地接著說。

蓋伯瑞爾接著就與簡·考根離開了，簡說在他家裡可以給蓋伯瑞爾找個床位。正當其他人準備離去時，一個名叫拉班·托爾的年輕人衝進酒店。他激動得有點說不出話來。

“是本傑·賓尼威斯！”他大聲說。“伊芙丁小姐抓住他在穀倉偷麥子！小姐已把他打發走了！還有更糟的事呢——伊芙丁小姐最年幼的女僕範妮·羅賓失蹤了！女主人要我們明天去找她。另外，比利·斯摩伯裡，女主人要你去卡斯特橋，看是否能找到一直在追求範妮的那個年輕士兵。”

那天夜裡，消息傳遍了整個村莊，唯有蓋伯瑞爾不知曉，因為他腦子裡只想著芭絲謝芭。在漫長的黑夜裡，他看到了她姣美的面龐，忘記她並不愛他。

第二天早晨，芭絲謝芭和女僕利蒂在清掃書上的灰塵時，一位來訪者站在了前門。此人是伯德伍德先生，他在威瑟伯裡擁有一個大農場。

“利蒂，我不能這樣去見他！”芭絲謝芭說，驚慌地看著自己滿是灰塵的裙子。“下去告訴他我很忙。”

伯德伍德先生走後，利蒂返了回來，芭絲謝芭問，“他有什麼事，利蒂？他究意是誰？”

“小姐，他只想問問範妮是否找到了。你知道，範妮沒有家，也沒有朋友，伯德伍德先生好心地給她付錢讓她去上學，還在你叔叔這裡給她找了事幹。他是你的鄰居，他的農場就挨著你的農場。”

“他結婚了嗎？他有多大年紀？”

“他還沒有結婚。四十來歲，很英俊，也很有錢。這個地方的姑娘們都想勸說他結婚。可他好像對女人不感興趣。小姐，有人向你求過婚嗎？”

“有過，利蒂，”芭絲謝芭停了一下說，想起了蓋伯瑞爾。“不過，他有點配不上我。”

“噢，我們大部分人都是一有人求婚就趕快接受，而你卻能拒絕，多好啊！小姐，你愛他嗎？”

‘不，不過我挺喜歡他。”

下午，芭絲謝芭把她的僱工都召集到屋子裡的舊大廳裡。

“鄉親們，我想告訴你們我並不打算僱一個新的農場經理。我想自己管理農場。”人群中傳出驚歎聲。她佈置了下星期農場的工作，然後轉向其中一人。“比利·斯摩伯裡，範妮·羅賓有消息嗎？”

“小姐，我猜她是跟她的那個年輕人跑了。士兵們已經離開了卡斯特橋，我想她跟他們一起走了。”

“好吧，也許以後會發現些什麼。你們一個人去告訴伯德伍德先生比利所說的。鄉親們，我希望我可以相信你們所有的人會為我好好幹的。晚安。”

那天晚上晚些時候，在威瑟伯裡以北好幾英里的一個鎮上，人們可以看到一個白色的、矮小的影子在一幢大建築物旁的小路上慢慢地走著。這是一個陰沉的、下著雪的夜晚，烏雲低低地掛在天邊，這是那種破滅希望、失去愛情的夜晚。

“一、二、三、四、五。”白色的影子數著建築物上的窗戶。然後她開始朝第五個窗口投擲裹著雪的小石頭。終於，窗戶打開了，一個人喊道，“誰在那兒？”

“是託伊中士嗎？”一個姑娘的聲音問。

“是我，”那人答道。“你是誰？”

“歐，弗蘭克，你不認識我了嗎？”姑娘絕望地喊道。“我是你的——我是範妮·羅賓。”

“範妮！’那人驚叫道。“你是怎麼到了這裡的？”

“我從威瑟伯裡一路走著來的。弗蘭克，見到我你高興嗎？弗蘭克，那事定在什麼時候？”

“你說什麼？”

“你知道，你答應過。我們什麼時候結婚，弗蘭克？”

“噢，明白了。可是——你需要合適的衣服——我們需要通知牧師。這些需要時間。我沒料到你這麼早就會來。”

“歐，弗蘭克，我非常愛你。你說過要和我結婚——”

“好了，別哭。別犯傻。如果我那樣說過，當然我會和你結婚。我明天去看你，咱們到時商量細節。”

“好的，弗蘭克，你可一定來！我住在北街退爾太太旅店。明天一定來，弗蘭克！再見，弗蘭克！”