Far from the Madding Crowd Boldwood, not realising the valentine was a jest, becomes obsessed with Bathsheba and soon proposes marriage. Although she does not love him, she toys with the idea of accepting his offer; he is, after all, the most eligible bachelor in the district. However, she postpones giving him a definite answer. When Gabriel rebukes her for her thoughtlessness regarding Boldwood, she dismisses him. When Bathsheba's sheep begin dying from bloat, she discovers to her chagrin that Gabriel is the only man who knows how to cure them. Her pride delays the inevitable, but finally she is forced to beg him for
The Woodlanders gossip (but not before Tangs tries to injure Fitzpiers with a man trap) The Woodlanders also contains many poetic descriptions on the natural world, the countryside and the changing seasons. Florence Emily Hardy, his second wife, recorded that in 1874 Hardy "put aside a woodland story", which ten years later evolved into "The Woodlanders". It was intended to be the successor to his 1874 "Far from the Madding Crowd", but he laid the novel aside to work on other things. Hardy eventually decided to return to his "woodland story" after the editor of "Macmillan's Magazine" asked for a new serial