CHAPTER FOUR

Susan Henchard's life with the sailor had been quite simple. They had lived in Canada for a short period of time and then they returned to England, where Mr Newson found work in the town of Falmouth. All this time, Susan had remained very devoted to her new husband. He was also very kind to her. She did not let the details about their marriage bother her, until just before he died. After his boat went missing out at sea, she felt a little easier now that she would no longer have to keep the contract that sailor and Mr Henchard had agreed upon.

In all those years, she never once heard from Mr Henchard. She imagined him dying long ago from drinking too much. However, she also remembered that he had only occasionally drunk very heavily. It was possible that he had survived all of these years. She searched for him now because she wanted to give her daughter an opportunity to make a better life for herself. They were very poor, even with the sailor's money.

After traveling for many miles by foot and occasionally by wagon, the two women arrived at a hill just above the town of Casterbridge. From high above, they could see that the town was very old and shaped like a perfect square. The bright light of the sun reflected hotly from the rooftops below. The square town was completely surrounded by miles and miles of fields and forest.

After resting for an hour, the women began to walk down the hill toward the town. As they did, two men walked passed them. They were speaking to each other angrily.

"Hey! I think I heard them mention Mr Henchard!" said Elizabeth excitedly, "I'll go and ask them where we might find him."

"Wait!" said Mrs Newson, "Let's not do that. Who knows where we'll find him. He might even be in jail."

"Why Jail?"

"Never mind. We'll just need to be quiet while looking around."

Upon entering the town, the church bell rang eight o'clock. Immediately, all of the stores and shops began to close their doors. In the distance, the sound of music could be heard. Naturally, they followed the sound of the music until they saw a band of musicians playing in front of a hotel in the center of town.

Elizabeth approached one of the people standing in the crowd watching the band.

"Excuse me. Could you tell me what's happening here?" she asked.

"You must not be from around here. Inside that big window over there, a dinner is being held. Only the richest people are invited, of course. And ... if you stand up here on the highest step, you can see the mayor, Mr Henchard, sitting at the head of the table."

Mrs Newson immediately climbed to the top step to have a look. Inside the window, she saw her husband. He looked much healthier, older, and wiser than the man she had known. He was dressed in fashionable clothing and he wore expensive jewelry. However, what struck Mrs Newson as most interesting was the fact that while everyone at the table was enjoying wine, Mr Henchard had nothing but a glass of water in front of him.

"What's wrong, mother?" asked Elizabeth, noticing an unhappy look on her mother's face, "He looks very friendly. He's not at all what you thought he might be."

"I'm not sure what to do," she replied. "Part of me wants to just run away."

"Now, mother, just relax. I'll ask some more people about him. You'll feel better after that."

She approached another man in the crowd and, pretending not to know, asked who the man was at the head of the table.

"That's Mr Henchard, the Mayor. He's probably got the most power in this whole area, including the countryside. He was nothing before. No better than me. But he worked hard to climb up to the Mayor's position. I suppose that after losing his wife so many years ago, he decided to give himself another reason to keep on living. Well he's sure succeeded!"

Just then, one of the men at the dinner table asked the Mayor a question in a voice loud enough for the people outside to clearly hear: "Mr Mayor, because of your company, our town's bread has become bad. What are you going to do to make it better?"

Everyone outside the hotel got excited when they heard this question. Many gave shouts of support to the man who asked it: "Yeah, Mr Mayor. What are you going to do about it?"

The Mayor's face turned serious and he stood up. "I realize the bread's turned out badly and I'm sorry for that. But there's nothing that I can do to change it this time. In the future, I promise it'll be better." Then he sat back down.

Among the crowd gathered around the front of the hotel, was a young, attractive man carrying a bag. He seemed very interested in the Mayor's comments, for as soon as he heard the Mayor say, "There's nothing I can do ... " he took out a pen and piece of paper and wrote something down. He then ran through the crowd and up to the front door of the hotel and gave the paper to a servant who was on break. "Be sure to give this to the Mayor right away. It's extremely important!" he said with a Scottish accent. After that, the young man left to go and search for a place to stay that evening.

Elizabeth, however, stayed where she was and watched as the note was given to Mr Henchard. Once he read the note his attitude changed from troubled to deeply thoughtful. And while the rest of the party became increasingly drunk and playful, Henchard sat, quietly thinking to himself.

Hearing the church bell ring nine o'clock, Elizabeth and her mother decided it was time to find a place to stay for the night. Elizabeth suggested following the young Scotsman as he seemed like a nice fellow.

Henchard, meanwhile, had grown tired of his party. He was too concerned with the note he had been given. He got up from the table and went to the servant who had delivered it.

"Who gave you this note and where did he go?" he asked.

"It was a young Scotsman, sir. He didn't seem to be from around here. I saw him go down the street to the Three Mariners Hotel."

And with that, the Mayor immediately headed toward the young man's hotel.

(end of section)