that she would have
listened to any such hypothesis. O no--for wasn't she saying all
the time that such thoughts of the future were improper, and wasn't
Gabriel far too poor a man to speak sentiment to her? Yet he might
have just hinted about that old love of his, and asked, in a playful
off-hand way, if he might speak of it. It would have seemed pretty
and sweet, if no more; and then she would have shown how kind and
inoffensive a woman's "No" can sometimes be. But to give such cool
advice--the very advice she had asked for--it ruffled our heroine all
the afternoon.

CHAPTER LII

CONVERGING COURSES

I

Christmas-eve came, and a party that Boldwood was to give in the
evening was the great subject of talk in Weatherbury. It was not
that the rarity of Christmas parties in the parish made this one a
wonder, but that Boldwood should be the giver. The announcement
had had an abnormal and incongruous sound, as if one should hear of
croquet-playing in a cathedral aisle, or that some much-respected
judge was going upon the stage. That the party was intended to be
a truly jovial one there was no room for doubt. A large bough of
mistletoe had been brought from the woods that day, and suspended
in the hall of the bachelor's home. Holly and ivy had followed in
armfuls. From six that morning till past noon the huge wood fire
in the kitchen roared and sparkled at its highest, the kettle, the
saucepan, and the three-legged pot appearing in the midst of the
flames like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; moreover, roasting
and basting operations were continually carried on in front of the
genial blaze.

As it grew later the fire was made up in the large long hall into
which the staircase descended, and all encumbrances were cleared out
for dancing. The log which was to form the back-brand of the evening
fire was the uncleft trunk of a tree, so unwieldy that it could be
neither brought nor rolled to its place; and accordingly two men were
to be observed dragging and heaving it in by chains and levers as the
hour of assembly drew near.

In spite of all this, the spirit of revelry was wanting in the
atmosphere of the house. Such a thing had never been attempted
before by its owner, and it was now done as by a wrench. Intended
gaieties would insist upon appearing like solemn grandeurs, the
organization of the whole effort was carried out coldly, by
hirelings, and a shadow seemed to move about the rooms, sayi