whisper. "I have pressed her upon the subject, and she inclines to be kind to me, and to think of me as a husband at a long future time, and that's enough for me. How can I expect more? She has a notion that a widow should not marry within seven years of her husband's death—that her own self shouldn't, I mean—because his body was not found. It may be merely this legal reason which influences her, or it may be a religious one, but she is reluctant to talk on the point. Yet she has promised—implied—that she will ratify an engagement to-night."
"Seven years," murmured Oak.
"No, no—it's no such thing!" he said, with impatience. "Five years, nine months, and a few days. Fifteen months nearly have passed since his death, and is there anything so wonderful in an engagement of little more than five years?"
Don't build 'It seems long in a forward view too much upon such promises, sir. Remember, you have once been deceived. Her maning may be good; but there—she's young yet."
"Deceived? Never!" said Boldwood, vehemently. "She never promised me at that first time, and hence she did not break her promise. If she promises me, she'll marry me. Bathsheba is a woman to her word."
