The Trumpet-Major

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Thomas Hardy. The Trumpet-Major

PREFACE

I. WHAT WAS SEEN FROM THE WINDOW OVERLOOKING THE DOWN

II. SOMEBODY KNOCKS AND COMES IN

III. THE MILL BECOMES AN IMPORTANT CENTRE OF OPERATIONS

IV. WHO WERE PRESENT AT THE MILLER’S LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT

V. THE SONG AND THE STRANGER

VI. OLD MR. DERRIMAN OF OXWELL HALL

VII. HOW THEY TALKED IN THE PASTURES

VIII. ANNE MAKES A CIRCUIT OF THE CAMP

IX. ANNE IS KINDLY FETCHED BY THE TRUMPET-MAJOR

X. THE MATCH-MAKING VIRTUES OF A DOUBLE GARDEN

XI. OUR PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED BY THE PRESENCE OF ROYALTY

XII. HOW EVERYBODY GREAT AND SMALL CLIMBED TO THE TOP OF THE DOWNS

XIII. THE CONVERSATION IN THE CROWD

XIV. LATER IN THE EVENING OF THE SAME DAY

XV. ‘CAPTAIN’ BOB LOVEDAY OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE

XVI. THEY MAKE READY FOR THE ILLUSTRIOUS STRANGER

XVII. TWO FAINTING FITS AND A BEWILDERMENT

XVIII. THE NIGHT AFTER THE ARRIVAL

XIX. MISS JOHNSON’S BEHAVIOUR CAUSES NO LITTLE SURPRISE

XX. HOW THEY LESSENED THE EFFECT OF THE CALAMITY

XXI. ‘UPON THE HILL HE TURNED’

XXII. THE TWO HOUSEHOLDS UNITED

XXIII. MILITARY PREPARATIONS ON AN EXTENDED SCALE

XXIV. A LETTER, A VISITOR, AND A TIN BOX

XXV. FESTUS SHOWS HIS LOVE

XXVI. THE ALARM

XXVII. DANGER TO ANNE

XXVIII. ANNE DOES WONDERS

XXIX. A DISSEMBLER

XXX. AT THE THEATRE ROYAL

XXXI. MIDNIGHT VISITORS

XXXII. DELIVERANCE

XXXIII. A DISCOVERY TURNS THE SCALE

XXXIV. A SPECK ON THE SEA

XXXV. A SAILOR ENTERS

XXXVI. DERRIMAN SEES CHANCES

XXXVII. REACTION

XXXVIII. A DELICATE SITUATION

XXXIX. BOB LOVEDAY STRUTS UP AND DOWN

XL. A CALL ON BUSINESS

XLI. JOHN MARCHES INTO THE NIGHT

Отрывок из книги

Anne was fair, very fair, in a poetical sense; but in complexion she was of that particular tint between blonde and brunette which is inconveniently left without a name. Her eyes were honest and inquiring, her mouth cleanly cut and yet not classical, the middle point of her upper lip scarcely descending so far as it should have done by rights, so that at the merest pleasant thought, not to mention a smile, portions of two or three white teeth were uncovered whether she would or not. Some people said that this was very attractive. She was graceful and slender, and, though but little above five feet in height, could draw herself up to look tall. In her manner, in her comings and goings, in her ‘I’ll do this,’ or ‘I’ll do that,’ she combined dignity with sweetness as no other girl could do; and any impressionable stranger youths who passed by were led to yearn for a windfall of speech from her, and to see at the same time that they would not get it. In short, beneath all that was charming and simple in this young woman there lurked a real firmness, unperceived at first, as the speck of colour lurks unperceived in the heart of the palest parsley flower.

She wore a white handkerchief to cover her white neck, and a cap on her head with a pink ribbon round it, tied in a bow at the front. She had a great variety of these cap-ribbons, the young men being fond of sending them to her as presents until they fell definitely in love with a special sweetheart elsewhere, when they left off doing so. Between the border of her cap and her forehead were ranged a row of round brown curls, like swallows’ nests under eaves.

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Anne became a little more dignified, and her look showed reserve. But the yeoman on perceiving this went on talking to her in so civil a way that he irresistibly amused her, though she tried to conceal all feeling. At a brighter remark of his than usual her mouth moved, her upper lip playing uncertainly over her white teeth; it would stay still – no, it would withdraw a little way in a smile; then it would flutter down again; and so it wavered like a butterfly in a tender desire to be pleased and smiling, and yet to be also sedate and composed; to show him that she did not want compliments, and yet that she was not so cold as to wish to repress any genuine feeling he might be anxious to utter.

‘Shall you want any more reading, Mr. Derriman?’ said she, interrupting the younger man in his remarks. ‘If not, I’ll go homeward.’

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