The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

When they reached home the sun was going down. It had already been / noised abroad that miller Loveday had received a letter, and, his cart / having been heard coming up the lane, the population of Overcombe drew / down towards the mill as soon as he had gone indoors -- a sudden flash of / brightness from the window showing that he had struck such an early light / as nothing but the immediate deciphering of literature could require. / Letters were matters of public moment, and everybody in the parish had an / interest in the reading of those rare documents; so that when the miller / had placed the candle, slanted himself, and called in Mrs. Garland to / have her opinion on the meaning of any hieroglyphics that he might / encounter in his course, he found that he was to be additionally assisted / by the opinions of the other neighbours, whose persons appeared in the / doorway, partly covering each other like a hand of cards, yet each / showing a large enough piece of himself for identification. To pass the / time while they were arranging themselves, the miller adopted his usual / way of filling up casual intervals, that of snuffing the candle.

'We heard you had got a letter, Maister Loveday,' they said.

'Yes; "Southampton, the twelfth of August, dear father," said Loveday; / and they were as silent as relations at the reading of a will. Anne, for / whom the letter had a singular fascination, came in with her mother and / sat down.

Bob stated in his own way that having, since landing, taken into / consideration his father's wish that he should renounce a seafaring life / and become a partner in the mill, he had decided to agree to the / proposal; and with that object in view he would return to Overcombe in / three days from the time of writing.

He then said incidentally that since his voyage he had been in lodgings / at Southampton, and during that time had become acquainted with a lovely / and virtuous young maiden, in whom he found the exact qualities necessary / to his happiness. Having known this lady for the full space of a / fortnight he had had ample opportunities of studying her character, and, / being struck with the recollection that, if there was one thing more than / another necessary in a mill which had no mistress, it was somebody who / could play that part with grace and dignity, he had asked Miss Matilda / Johnson to be his wife. In her kindness she, though sacrificing far / better prospects, had agreed; and he could not but regard it as a happy / chance that he should have found at the nick of time such a woman to / adorn his home, whose innocence was as stunning as her beauty. Without / much ado, therefore, he and she had arranged to be married at once, and / at Overcombe, that his father might not be deprived of the pleasures of / the wedding feast. She had kindly consented to follow him by land in the / course of a few days, and to live in the house as their guest for the / week or so previous to the ceremony.

''Tis a proper good letter,' said Mrs. Comfort from the background. 'I / never heerd true love better put out of hand in my life; and they seem / 'nation fond of one another.'

'He haven't knowed her such a very long time,' said Job Mitchell / dubiously.

'That's nothing,' said Esther Beach. 'Nater will find her way, very / rapid when the time's come for't. Well, 'tis good news for ye, miller.'

'Yes, sure, I hope 'tis,' said Loveday, without, however, showing any / great hurry to burst into the frantic form of fatherly joy which the / event should naturally have produced, seeming more disposed to let off / his feelings by examining thoroughly into the fibres of the letter-paper.

'I was five years a-courting my wife,' he presently remarked. 'But folks / were slower about everything in them days. Well, since she's coming we / must make her welcome. Did any of ye catch by my reading which day it is / he means? What with making out the penmanship, my mind was drawn off / from the sense here and there.'

'He says in three days,' said Mrs. Garland. 'The date of the letter will / fix it.'

On examination it was found that the day appointed was the one nearly / expired; at which the miller jumped up and said, 'Then he'll be here / before bedtime. I didn't gather till now that he was coming afore / Saturday. Why, he may drop in this very minute!'

He had scarcely spoken when footsteps were heard coming along the front, / and they presently halted at the door. Loveday pushed through the / neighbours and rushed out; and, seeing in the passage a form which / obscured the declining light, the miller seized hold of him, saying, 'O / my dear Bob; then you are come!'

'Scrounch it all, miller, don't quite pull my poor shoulder out of joint! / Whatever is the matter? ' said the new-comer, trying to release himself / from Loveday's grasp of affection. It was Uncle Benjy.

'Thought 'twas my son! ' faltered the miller, sinking back upon the toes / of the neighbours who had closely followed him into the entry. 'Well, / come in, Mr. Derriman, and make yerself at home. Why, you haven't been / here for years! Whatever has made you come now, sir, of all times in the / world?'

'Is he in there with ye? ' whispered the farmer with misgiving.

'Who?'

'My nephew, after that maid that he's so mighty smit with?'

'O no; he never calls here.'

Farmer Derriman breathed a breath of relief. 'Well, I've called to tell / ye,' he said, 'that there's more news of the French. We shall have 'em / here this month as sure as a gun. The gunboats be all ready -- near two / thousand of 'em -- and the whole army is at Boulogne. And, miller, I know / ye to be an honest man.'