Because Bathsheba was not at all in love with Farmer Boldwood，she was able to consider his proposal of marriage calmly. It was an offer which many women of good family in the area would have been delighted to accept. He was serious，respectable and rich. If she had wanted a husband，she could not have found a good reason for refusing to marry him. But she was still enjoying her new position as mistress¹ of a farm and house，and although she respected and liked him，she did not want to marry him However she was honest enough to feel that，as she had begun the courting by sending him the valentine，she ought not to refuse him now. There was only one person whose opinion she trusted more than her own，and that person was Gabriel Oak². So the next day she decided³ to ask his advice. She found him with Jan Coggan，sharpening the shears⁴ which would be used to shear⁵ the sheep.

‘Jan，go and help Joseph with the horses，’she ordered. ‘I'll help you，Gabriel. I want to talk to you. ’

The shears were sharpened on a stone which was turned by a wheel，which was itself turned by a handle. Bathsheba could not manage the handle，so she held the shears while Gabriel turned the handle. ‘You aren't holding them right，miss，’he told her. ‘Let me show you how He let go of the handle，and put his large hands round hers，to hold the shears. ‘Like that，’he said，continuing to hold her hands for a peculiarly long time.

‘That's enough，’said Bathsheba. ‘I don't want my hands held！Turn the handle！’They went on sharpening the shears. ‘Gabriel，what do the men think about me and Mr Bold-wood？’

‘They say you'll marry him before the end of the year，miss. ’

‘What a foolish thing to say！I want you to contradict⁶ it，Gabriel. ’

‘Well，Bathsheba！’said Gabriel，staring at her in surprise.

‘Miss Everdene，you mean，’she said.

‘Well，if Mr Boldwood really asked you to marry him，I'm not going to contradict that，just to please you. ’

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