Far From The Madding Crowd

That Sunday, following church services and the day before the next races, Troy asks Bathsheba for twenty pounds. She presumes it is for the races; Troy does not reply, allowing her to believe that, given that the alternative would be worse for him. However, when she chastises him, he owns that the money is not for the races, though he still will not tell her what the money is for.

Troy begins to chastise her for being too strict and threatens her against doing something she will regret; she replies, however, that she already regrets their marriage, as she hates his faults. Nevertheless, she relinquishes the money.

He tells her that he will be off before she wakes the next morning. Absentmindedly, he opens the back of his watch, and Bathsheba spots a lock of hair he keeps there. Troy tries lying that it is hers, but it is blonde, so Bathsheba knows he is lying. She tries to convince him to burn the lock of hair, but he won’t; she eventually gets him to admit that the lock belonged to the woman they passed on the road the day before. Troy admonishes her for being desperate and leaves the room.