When Bathsheba first appeared at the weekly Caster－ bridge market，where farmers bought and sold their wheat and animals，she caused a sensation. Men's heads turned to look at her，the only woman there. Like any woman，she was happy to be admired，but she was also deter- mined to sell her wheat at a good price，and to do business with the other farmers like a man. There was one farmer， however，who did not seem to notice her，and this annoyed her a little. It was Mr Boldwood.

One Sunday afternoon，on the thirteenth of February，Bathsheba and Liddy were in the sitting－room together. It was a dull，cold day，and they were both very bored.

‘Have you ever tried to discover who you're going to marry，miss，’asked Liddy，‘with a Bible and a key？’

‘I don't believe in such foolish games，Liddy. ’

‘Well，some people believe it works. ’

‘All right，let's try it，’said Bathsheba suddenly，jumping up from her seat. Together they opened the big family Bible and put a key on a page.

‘Now you think of someone you could marry，miss，’said Liddy，‘then read aloud the words on that page，and if the Bible moves，perhaps you'll marry him. ’

Bathsheba read the words，holding the Bible. As they watched，the Bible turned in her hands，and Bathsheba blushed.

‘Who were you thinking of？’asked Liddy curiously.

‘I'm not going to tell you，’answered her mistress.

‘By the way，did you notice Mr Boldwood in church this morning？’asked Liddy，making it very clear who she was thinking of. ‘He didn't turn his head once to look at you！’

‘Why should he？’replied Bathsheba，annoyed. ‘I didn't ask him to look at me. ’

‘Oh no. But everybody else in church was looking at you. ’

Bathsheba did not reply to this. After a few minutes she said，‘Oh，I nearly forgot the valentine card I bought yester－ day！’

‘A valentine！Who's it for，miss？Farmer Boldwood？’

‘No，of course not. It's for one of the village children，that sweet little boy of Jan Coggan's. I'll write the address on the envelope now，and we'll post it today. ’

‘What fun it would be to send it to that silly old Bold－ wood！’laughed Liddy.

Bathsheba paused to consider. It was certainly a little de－ pressing that the wealthiest and most important man in the area did not seem to admire her，as all the other men did.