Summer turned into autumn and one Saturday evening in October Bathsheba and her husband were riding home from Casterbridge market.

‘Yes，if it hadn't rained so hard，I'd have won two hundred pounds easily，my love，’Troy was saying. ‘The horse I put my money on fell over in the mud，you see. Such bad luck！’

‘But Frank，’said Bathsheba miserably，‘do you realize you've lost more than a hundred pounds in a month with this awful horse-racing¹？It's foolish of you to spend my money like that！You'll promise not to go to the next race，on Monday，won't you？’

‘It doesn't matter whether I go or not. I've already put money on an excellent horse in the Monday race. Don't cry，Bathsheba！If I'd known² you were so cautious，I'd never have—’

He did not finish what he was saying. Just then they noticed a woman walking towards them. Although it was almost dark，they could see that she was poorly dressed.

‘Please，sir，do you know what time the Casterbridge workhouse closes？’she asked in a voice of extreme³ sadness.

Troy jumped in surprise，but kept his face turned away from her before replying，‘I don't know. ’

When the woman hear him speak，and looked up to his face，her expression showed both pain and happiness. She gave a cry，and fell to the ground，unconscious.

‘Oh poor thing！’cried Bathsheba. ‘I'll help her！’

‘No，stay on your horse，and take mine！’ordered Troy，jumping down. ‘Take the horses to the top of the hill. ’

Bathsheba obeyed，and moved away. Troy lifted up the woman.

‘I thought you were far away，or dead！’he told her，in a strangely gentle voice. ‘Why didn't you write to me，Fanny？’

‘I was afraid to. ’

‘Have you any money？No？Here's all I have，it's not much. I can't ask my wife for any more at the moment. ’The woman said nothing. ’Listen，’continued Troy，‘I'll have to leave you now. You're going to the Casterbridge workhouse？Well，stay there for tonight and tomorrow anyway，but I'll find somewhere better for you. I'll meet you on Monday morning at ten o'clock on the bridge just outside town. I'll bring you all the money I can. Goodbye！’

At the top of the hill Bathsheba turned and saw the woman walking slowly on towards Casterbridge. Troy soon caught up with his wife. He looked very upset.

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