He did not covet the post relatively to the farm: in relation to herself, as beloved by him and unmarried to another, he had coveted it.

His readings of her seemed now to be vapoury and indistinct.

His lecture to her was, he thought, one of the absurdest mistakes.

Far from coquetting with Boldwood, she had trifled with himself in thus feigning that she had trifled with another.

He was inwardly convinced that, in accordance with the anticipations of his easy-going and worse-educated comrades, that day would see Boldwood the accepted husband of Miss Everdene.