On Saturday at Casterbridge market Boldwood saw the woman who was disturbing his dreams. For the first time he turned his head and looked at her. It was in fact the first time in his life that he had looked at any woman. Up to now he had considered women to be distant，almost foreign creatures who had nothing to do with him. Now he saw Bathsheba's hair，and every detail of her face. He noticed her figure，her dress，and even her feet. She seemed very beauti-ful to him，and his heart began to move within him. ‘And this woman，this lovely young woman，has asked me to marry her！’he thought. As he was watching Bathsheba selling wheat to another farmer，he was filled with jealousy¹.

All this time Bathsheba was aware of his eyes on her. At last she had made him look at her！But she would have pre－ferred him to admire her from the beginning，without the en- couragement of her valentine. She felt sorry she had disturbed the usual calmness of a man she respected，but considered she could not apologize to him without either offending or encour-aging him.

Mr Boldwood did not try to speak to her，and returned home to his farm. He was a man of strong feelings，which normally lay hidden deep inside him. Because he was serious，and did not joke with his neighbours，people thought he was cold But when he loved or hated，it was with his whole heart. If Bathsheba had known how strong the feelings of this dark and silent figure were，she would have blamed herself terribly for her thoughtlessness³. But nobody guessed what lay behind his calm appearance.

A few days later Mr Boldwood was looking at Bathsheba's fields，which were next to his own，when he saw her helping⁴ Gabriel Oak⁵ with the sheep. To Boldwood，Bathsheba shone like the moon on a dark night. His heart，which had never been touched before，was filled completely with his love for her. He decided⁶ to go and speak to her.

As he stopped at the gate of the field，Bathsheba looked up and noticed him. Gabriel was watching her face and saw her blush⁷. He immediately thought of the envelope，with the valentine，that Boldwood had shown him，and suspected Bathsheba of encouraging the farmer to fall in love with her.

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