on the heath, until
I take a house in Budmouth for the school, we can do it at a very
little expense."

"How long shall we have to live in the tiny cottage, Clym?"

"About six months. At the end of that time I shall have finished my
reading--yes, we will do it, and this heartaching will be over. We
shall, of course, live in absolute seclusion, and our married life
will only begin to outward view when we take the house in Budmouth,
where I have already addressed a letter on the matter. Would your
grandfather allow you?"

"I think he would--on the understanding that it should not last longer
than six months."

"I will guarantee that, if no misfortune happens."

"If no misfortune happens," she repeated slowly.

"Which is not likely. Dearest, fix the exact day."

And then they consulted on the question, and the day was chosen. It
was to be a fortnight from that time.

This was the end of their talk, and Eustacia left him. Clym watched
her as she retired towards the sun. The luminous rays wrapped her up
with her increasing distance, and the rustle of her dress over the
sprouting sedge and grass died away. As he watched, the dead flat
of the scenery overpowered him, though he was fully alive to the
beauty of that untarnished early summer green which was worn for the
nonce by the poorest blade. There was something in its oppressive
horizontality which too much reminded him of the arena of life; it
gave him a sense of bare equality with, and no superiority to, a
single living thing under the sun.

Eustacia was now no longer the goddess but the woman to him, a being
to fight for, support, help, be maligned for. Now that he had reached
a cooler moment he would have preferred a less hasty marriage; but
the card was laid, and he determined to abide by the game. Whether
Eustacia was to add one other to the list of those who love too hotly
to love long and well, the forthcoming event was certainly a ready way
of proving.

VI

Yeobright Goes, and the Breach Is Complete

All that evening smart sounds denoting an active packing up came from
Yeobright's room to the ears of his mother downstairs.

Next morning he departed from the house and again proceeded across the
heath. A long day's march was before him, his object being to secure
a dwelling to which he might take Eustacia when she became his wife.
Such a house, small, secluded, and with its windows boarded up, he had
casually observed a month earlier, about