Far from the Madding Crowd thank him, he asks if she needs a shepherd. She uncovers her face and reveals herself to be none other than Bathsheba. She has recently inherited her uncle's estate and is now wealthy. Though somewhat uncomfortable, she employs him. Meanwhile, Bathsheba has a new admirer: the lonely and repressed William Boldwood. Boldwood is a prosperous farmer of about forty, whose ardour Bathsheba unwittingly awakens when – her curiosity piqued because he has never bestowed on her the customary admiring glance – she playfully sends him a valentine sealed with red wax on which she has embossed the words, "Marry me".
In the Name of the King almost animal-like Krug to take up arms, don armor, and fight against Ehb with a courage, intelligence, and ferocity that surprises all of the Kingdom's inhabitants. While King Konreid, Commander Tarish, and a significant proportion of Ehb's standing army surveys the damage at and seeks recruits from Stonebridge, the King's nephew Duke Fallow and Muriella allow Gallian to infiltrate the castle. Muriella's father Merick, the King's Magus is with the King at Stonebridge, and takes the liberty to investigate the matter of Farmer's true identity. Farmer's adopted name belies his leadership and combat abilities and, in defiance of the King,