The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

Christmas had passed. Dreary winter with dark evenings had given place / to more dreary winter with light evenings. Rapid thaws had ended in / rain, rain in wind, wind in dust. Showery days had come -- the season of / pink dawns and white sunsets; and people hoped that the March weather was / over.

The chief incident that concerned the household at the mill was that the / miller, following the example of all his neighbours, had become a / volunteer, and duly appeared twice a week in a red, long-tailed military / coat, pipe-clayed breeches, black cloth gaiters, a heel-balled helmet- / hat, with a tuft of green wool, and epaulettes of the same colour and / material. Bob still remained neutral. Not being able to decide whether / to enrol himself as a sea-fencible, a local militia-man, or a volunteer, / he simply went on dancing attendance upon Anne. Mrs. Loveday had become / awake to the fact that the pair of young people stood in a curious / attitude towards each other; but as they were never seen with their heads / together, and scarcely ever sat even in the same room, she could not be / sure what their movements meant.

Strangely enough (or perhaps naturally enough), since entering the / Loveday family herself, she had gradually grown to think less favourably / of Anne doing the same thing, and reverted to her original idea of / encouraging Festus; this more particularly because he had of late shown / such perseverance in haunting the precincts of the mill, presumably with / the intention of lighting upon the young girl. But the weather had kept / her mostly indoors.

One afternoon it was raining in torrents. Such leaves as there were on / trees at this time of year -- those of the laurel and other / evergreens -- staggered beneath the hard blows of the drops which fell upon / them, and afterwards could be seen trickling down the stems beneath and / silently entering the ground. The surface of the mill-pond leapt up in a / thousand spirts under the same downfall, and clucked like a hen in the / rat-holes along the banks as it undulated under the wind. The only dry / spot visible from the front windows of the mill-house was the inside of a / small shed, on the opposite side of the courtyard. While Mrs. Loveday / was noticing the threads of rain descending across its interior shade, / Festus Derriman walked up and entered it for shelter, which, owing to the / lumber within, it but scantily afforded to a man who would have been a / match for one of Frederick William's Patagonians.

It was an excellent opportunity for helping on her scheme. Anne was in / the back room, and by asking him in till the rain was over she would / bring him face to face with her daughter, whom, as the days went on, she / increasingly wished to marry other than a Loveday, now that the romance / of her own alliance with the millet had in some respects worn off. She / was better provided for than before; she was not unhappy; but the plain / fact was that she had married beneath her. She beckoned to Festus / through the window-pane; he instantly complied with her signal, having in / fact placed himself there on purpose to be noticed; for he knew that Miss / Garland would not be out-of-doors on such a day.

'Good afternoon, Mrs. Loveday,' said Festus on entering. 'There now -- if / I didn't think that's how it would be! ' His voice had suddenly warmed to / anger, for he had seen a door close in the back part of the room, a lithe / figure having previously slipped through.

Mrs. Loveday turned, observed that Anne was gone, and said, 'What is it? ' / as if she did not know.

'O, nothing, nothing! ' said Festus crossly. 'You know well enough what / it is, ma'am; only you make pretence otherwise. But I'll bring her to / book yet. You shall drop your haughty airs, my charmer! She little / thinks I have kept an account of 'em all.'

'But you must treat her politely, sir,' said Mrs. Loveday, secretly / pleased at these signs of uncontrollable affection.

'Don't tell me of politeness or generosity, ma'am! She is more than a / match for me. She regularly gets over me. I have passed by this house / five-and-fifty times since last Martinmas, and this is all my reward / for't!'

'But you will stay till the rain is over, sir?'

'No. I don't mind rain. I'm off again. She's got somebody else in her / eye! ' And the yeoman went out, slamming the door.

Meanwhile the slippery object of his hopes had gone along the dark / passage, passed the trap which opened on the wheel, and through the door / into the mill, where she was met by Bob, who looked up from the flour- / shoot inquiringly and said, 'You want me, Miss Garland?'

'O no,' said she. 'I only want to be allowed to stand here a few / minutes.'

He looked at her to know if she meant it, and finding that she did, / returned to his post. When the mill had rumbled on a little longer he / came back.

'Bob,' she said, when she saw him move, 'remember that you are at work, / and have no time to stand close to me.'

He bowed and went to his original post again, Anne watching from the / window till Festus should leave. The mill rumbled on as before, and at / last Bob came to her for the third time. 'Now, Bob -- ' she began.

'On my honour, 'tis only to ask a question. Will you walk with me to / church next Sunday afternoon?'

'Perhaps I will,' she said. But at this moment the yeoman left the / house, and Anne, to escape further parley, returned to the dwelling by / the way she had come.