The Mayor of Casterbridge
Thomas Hardy
Contributed by Bobbie Heil
Chapter 30
Summary

The move Farfrae had referred to is to Lucetta’s house. Lucetta had arrived before Farfrae from Port Bredy in order to break the news and prepare for his return. Lucetta, upon learning that Farfrae has not told Elizabeth-Jane of their marriage, goes upstairs to converse with her young companion.

Elizabeth-Jane ignorantly questions why the church bells are ringing, probably for someone’s marriage, she guesses. Lucetta switches the subject and asks Elizabeth-Jane to recall her story about the woman with two suitors. Elizabeth-Jane reveals that she has guessed that the woman is Lucetta, and Lucetta, glad to relieve her soul, confesses to Elizabeth-Jane the new progress in her love life. She is adamant that since the first man’s wife had returned that the man no longer owed her anything. However, Elizabeth-Jane, guessing sadly at the identity of the first man, is stout with her convictions, telling Lucetta that she firmly believes that she does in fact owe allegiance to the first man because of their prior intimacies. She continues harshly by telling Lucetta that if she does not marry her father, then she should not marry at all.

Right then, Elizabeth-Jane notices Lucetta’s wedding ring and assumes that Lucetta has indeed married her father, but she soon realizes that the marriage has been to Farfrae. Lucetta tells her that they both wish her to stay on in the house, but Elizabeth-Jane cannot face such a livelihood and decides instead to move out that very night. She finds suitable lodging and thinks about how she will support herself.

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