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He
was
about
as
thriving
as
travelling
basket
and
mat
makers
;
but
he
had
nothing
to
do
with
them
.
He
was
more
decently
born
and
brought
up
than
the
cattledrovers
who
passed
and
repassed
him
in
his
wanderings
;
but
they
merely
nodded
to
him
.
His
stock
was
more
valuable
than
that
of
pedlars
;
but
they
did
not
think
so
,
and
passed
his
cart
with
eyes
straight
ahead
.
He
was
such
an
unnatural
colour
to
look
at
that
the
men
of
roundabouts
and
waxwork
shows
seemed
gentlemen
beside
him
;
but
he
considered
them
low
company
,
and
remained
aloof
.
Among
all
these
squatters
and
folks
of
the
road
the
reddleman
continually
found
himself
;
yet
he
was
not
of
them
.
His
occupation
tended
to
isolate
him
,
and
isolated
he
was
mostly
seen
to
be
.
It
was
sometimes
suggested
that
reddlemen
were
criminals
for
whose
misdeeds
other
men
wrongfully
suffered
—
that
in
escaping
the
law
they
had
not
escaped
their
own
consciences
,
and
had
taken
to
the
trade
as
a
lifelong
penance
.
Else
why
should
they
have
chosen
it
?
In
the
present
case
such
a
question
would
have
been
particularly
apposite
.
The
reddleman
who
had
entered
Egdon
that
afternoon
was
an
instance
of
the
pleasing
being
wasted
to
form
the
ground
-
work
of
the
singular
,
when
an
ugly
foundation
would
have
done
just
as
well
for
that
purpose
.
The
one
point
that
was
forbidding
about
this
reddleman
was
his
colour
.
Freed
from
that
he
would
have
been
as
agreeable
a
specimen
of
rustic
manhood
as
one
would
often
see
.
A
keen
observer
might
have
been
inclined
to
think
—
which
was
,
indeed
,
partly
the
truth
—
that
he
had
relinquished
his
proper
station
in
life
for
want
of
interest
in
it
.
Moreover
,
after
looking
at
him
one
would
have
hazarded
the
guess
that
good
nature
,
and
an
acuteness
as
extreme
as
it
could
be
without
verging
on
craft
,
formed
the
framework
of
his
character
.
While
he
darned
the
stocking
his
face
became
rigid
with
thought
.
Softer
expressions
followed
this
,
and
then
again
recurred
the
tender
sadness
which
had
sat
upon
him
during
his
drive
along
the
highway
that
afternoon
.
Presently
his
needle
stopped
.
He
laid
down
the
stocking
,
arose
from
his
seat
,
and
took
a
leathern
pouch
from
a
hook
in
the
corner
of
the
van
.
This
contained
among
other
articles
a
brown
-
paper
packet
,
which
,
to
judge
from
the
hinge
-
like
character
of
its
worn
folds
,
seemed
to
have
been
carefully
opened
and
closed
a
good
many
times
.
He
sat
down
on
a
three
-
legged
milking
stool
that
formed
the
only
seat
in
the
van
,
and
,
examining
his
packet
by
the
light
of
a
candle
,
took
thence
an
old
letter
and
spread
it
open
.
The
writing
had
originally
been
traced
on
white
paper
,
but
the
letter
had
now
assumed
a
pale
red
tinge
from
the
accident
of
its
situation
;
and
the
black
strokes
of
writing
thereon
looked
like
the
twigs
of
a
winter
hedge
against
a
vermilion
sunset
.
The
letter
bore
a
date
some
two
years
previous
to
that
time
,
and
was
signed
“
Thomasin
Yeobright
.
”
It
ran
as
follows
:
—
DEAR
DIGGORY
VENN
,
—
The
question
you
put
when
you
overtook
me
coming
home
from
Pond
-
close
gave
me
such
a
surprise
that
I
am
afraid
I
did
not
make
you
exactly
understand
what
I
meant
.
Of
course
,
if
my
aunt
had
not
met
me
I
could
have
explained
all
then
at
once
,
but
as
it
was
there
was
no
chance
.
I
have
been
quite
uneasy
since
,
as
you
know
I
do
not
wish
to
pain
you
,
yet
I
fear
I
shall
be
doing
so
now
in
contradicting
what
I
seemed
to
say
then
.
I
cannot
,
Diggory
,
marry
you
,
or
think
of
letting
you
call
me
your
sweetheart
.
I
could
not
,
indeed
,
Diggory
.
I
hope
you
will
not
much
mind
my
saying
this
,
and
feel
in
a
great
pain
.
It
makes
me
very
sad
when
I
think
it
may
,
for
I
like
you
very
much
,
and
I
always
put
you
next
to
my
cousin
Clym
in
my
mind
.
There
are
so
many
reasons
why
we
cannot
be
married
that
I
can
hardly
name
them
all
in
a
letter
.
I
did
not
in
the
least
expect
that
you
were
going
to
speak
on
such
a
thing
when
you
followed
me
,
because
I
had
never
thought
of
you
in
the
sense
of
a
lover
at
all
.
You
must
not
becall
me
for
laughing
when
you
spoke
;
you
mistook
when
you
thought
I
laughed
at
you
as
a
foolish
man
.
I
laughed
because
the
idea
was
so
odd
,
and
not
at
you
at
all
.
The
great
reason
with
my
own
personal
self
for
not
letting
you
court
me
is
,
that
I
do
not
feel
the
things
a
woman
ought
to
feel
who
consents
to
walk
with
you
with
the
meaning
of
being
your
wife
.
It
is
not
as
you
think
,
that
I
have
another
in
my
mind
,
for
I
do
not
encourage
anybody
,
and
never
have
in
my
life
.
Another
reason
is
my
aunt
.
She
would
not
,
I
know
,
agree
to
it
,
even
if
I
wished
to
have
you
.
She
likes
you
very
well
,
but
she
will
want
me
to
look
a
little
higher
than
a
small
dairy
-
farmer
,
and
marry
a
professional
man
.
I
hope
you
will
not
set
your
heart
against
me
for
writing
plainly
,
but
I
felt
you
might
try
to
see
me
again
,
and
it
is
better
that
we
should
not
meet
.
I
shall
always
think
of
you
as
a
good
man
,
and
be
anxious
for
your
well
-
doing
.
I
send
this
by
Jane
Orchard
’
s
little
maid
,
—
And
remain
Diggory
,
your
faithful
friend
,
THOMASIN
YEOBRIGHT
.
To
MR
.
VENN
,
Dairy
-
farmer
.
Since
the
arrival
of
that
letter
,
on
a
certain
autumn
morning
long
ago
,
the
reddleman
and
Thomasin
had
not
met
till
today
.
During
the
interval
he
had
shifted
his
position
even
further
from
hers
than
it
had
originally
been
,
by
adopting
the
reddle
trade
;
though
he
was
really
in
very
good
circumstances
still
.
Indeed
,
seeing
that
his
expenditure
was
only
one
-
fourth
of
his
income
,
he
might
have
been
called
a
prosperous
man
.
