CHAPTER TWENTY

The next day, Henchard, whose time as Mayor had ended just recently, was asked to act as judge in court for a short time while the usual judge was away on business. Henchard agreed and showed up at the courthouse early in the morning.

There was only one case that day. It had to do with a little old woman who had been arrested for yelling bad things at a townsman just outside the church. The woman was brought before Henchard, and, for a moment they both seemed to recognize one another. Then the woman spoke.

"Is this man to be my judge?" she asked.

"Yes, he is," answered her lawyer.

"Then I refuse to let this case continue today! I know this man! He isn't fit to judge anybody! Do you know what he did in my tent at the Weydon-Priors fair twenty years ago? I'll tell you what he did. He sold his wife to a sailor for as little as five Guineas!"

The courtroom became very quiet for a moment, until the lawyer shouted, "Such bad behavior in the courtroom! You should be hung for saying such things!"

"No, she shouldn't," Henchard said, standing up, "She's right, too. I'm not fit to judge anyone. So, I'll leave now." And he did just that, walking out the courtroom door and through the large crowd that had gathered outside. They had come because the old woman had announced that she was going to tell the town a little secret that she knew about their former Mayor.

When, later that day, the news reached Lucetta, she was completely shocked and saddened. Although she had known about Henchard's past, he had never clearly explained exactly how he and his wife had separated. The thought of marrying him now grew even more terrible. Lucetta decided to go away from Casterbridge for a few days. She packed her things and then headed for the seaside town of Port Bredy.

While she was gone, Mr Henchard came by twice to see her. He seemed very anxious when Elizabeth told him Lucetta had taken a trip to Port Bredy. When he came a third time, his eyes widened with excitement when Elizabeth informed him that she had returned but was presently taking a walk out on the road to Port Bredy.

Elizabeth found Lucetta's behavior a little strange. She could not understand why Lucetta wanted to walk back to the road she had just returned to town on. What she did not realize was that Farfrae, who had been out of town for several days on business, was expected to return that evening. Elizabeth decided to go and join Lucetta on her walk, thinking that she might appreciate the company.

She walked for about a half-an-hour before she could see her housemate in the distance. She waved to Lucetta, but then in the corner of her eye, saw something moving on the right. She turned and discovered that an old bull was coming their way. As soon as the two women reached one another, they both began to run toward the nearest barn. Then, just as they had feared, the bull lowered his head, pointed his horns, and began to run toward their backs.

Lucetta and Elizabeth managed to reach the barn, but they did not have time to close the door behind them. They each immediately ran in a different direction when they got inside. The bull came running straight through the door. Inside, the women hid behind farm equipment while the bull continued to search for them.

Then the large black shadow of a man appeared in the doorway and ran toward the bull. The man took hold of the bull and squeezed its neck until the animal fell to the ground. Then Henchard's voice could be heard in the darkness.

"You girls alright?"

"I'd be dead if you hadn't come!" cried Lucetta, with tears falling down her face.

"Well, then I guess I've made up for you saving me so many years ago," he replied. "Elizabeth, where are you?"

"I'm alright," the younger woman said, coming from behind a pile of hay.

The three of them walked back out into the sunlight again and headed back toward town. Henchard had his arms around Lucetta, who was still terribly frightened.

"Wait!" she suddenly said, stopping halfway down the road. "I forgot my scarf! It's in the barn!"

"I'll get it," Elizabeth offered. She ran back to the barn and found the scarf near the bull, which was now tied to a post. When Elizabeth started back again to town, a wagon came up behind her. Farfrae was in the driver's seat.

"Jump on," he said with a smile.

Elizabeth sat next to him and told him about what had just happened. He seemed very troubled by the news.

Meanwhile, once she had calmed down, Henchard had begun to talk with Lucetta again about getting married.

"I've decided that we can wait a year or two, because I know you're not ready yet and I don't want you to be unhappy," he said.

"How can I repay you for saving my life?" she asked.

"Well ... " Henchard thought for a moment, "The man I owe money to, Mr Grower, has been bothering me a lot lately. If you could just tell him that we're getting married in two weeks, he'll leave me alone. Of course, we won't marry so soon, I just need a little more time to collect enough money to pay him."

Lucetta's face became very sad. "I'm sorry, but ... I can't do that," she said.

"What? Why not? Hell, I'll make you do it!" Henchard said angrily.

"You don't understand. Mr Grower saw me and ... " a heavy flow of tears interrupted her sentence.

"Saw you what?"

"He saw Farfrae and me get married this past weekend, in Port Bredy."

Henchard could not believe what he was hearing. "You promised to marry me!"

"You forced me to promise! I married Farfrae so quickly because I feared that you would tell him about my past. I didn't want to lose him. And hearing about how you had sold your wife before, I couldn't possibly marry you after that! I'll give you some money to help you pay Grower back. Just don't tell Farfrae about me!"

"I don't want your money!" he yelled, "Why shouldn't I tell everyone about you? They all know about me now! Get away from me! I don't want to see your face!"

Lucetta then ran back home through the trees in order to avoid seeing as many people as she could.

(end of section)