Beauty in Loneliness: After All
- As the spring turns to summer, Bathsheba's bad mood slowly lifts. She still spends most of her time alone, though. She visits her husband's grave one day, and smiles at the fact that he now lies right next to his true love, Fanny Robin. The two of them even share a tombstone. Then she starts to cry uncontrollably.
- When she turns back, she finds that Gabriel Oak is standing behind her. She wipes her tears and asks if he's going into the church. He answers that he is indeed.
- Mr. Oak apologizes for bringing up a business matter, but he feels that he needs to tell her right away that he will soon leave England to live in California. Bathsheba begs him not to leave, but he says that there's no longer anything for him in Weatherbury.
- She awaits his departure with total dread, since now she'll barely have anyone left, especially no one as loyal as Gabriel. She also notices that in the weeks leading up to his departure, he starts to walk the other way whenever he sees her coming on a path.
- When she finally receives a letter saying that he is about to go, Bathsheba starts to cry bitter tears.
- Finally, she forgets her pride and goes to his house in the evening, even though it's not appropriate for a single woman to go to a single man's place at night.
- She complains one last time about how he's leaving her all alone. He simply answers that if she doesn't want him to leave, he won't. She just has to ask him to stay.
- Finally, Gabriel comes out and says that now that he has inherited Boldwood's farm (as its chief manager), he thinks he's rich enough to marry Bathsheba.
- And after just a little more hemming and hawing, Bathsheba and Oak decide to get married.
- If she'd only said yes at the beginning of the book, she could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.