Far From the Madding Crowd: Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

A group of parishioners (mostly women and girls) is just about to leave All Saints’ church after a service when a young cavalry soldier enters the church. The officiating curate whispers with the soldier, and then the clerk and his wife join them. Believing that there is going to be a wedding, most of the women sit back down. The clocktower strikes half-past 11. The women begin to whisper among themselves, wondering where the bride is, while the soldier waits stoically. At a quarter to 12, the clock rings again, and the women nervously giggle. When it strikes 12, no one makes a sound.

Finally, the young soldier gives up on waiting and leaves the church. But when he reaches the square, he runs into a woman who looks anxious and then afraid upon seeing the expression on his face. She tells the man, Frank, that she made a mistake and had been waiting for him at the wrong church—All Souls’ instead of All Saints’. She wasn’t too worried because she figured they could get married tomorrow instead, but Frank replies that he doesn’t want to go through this experience again any time soon. The woman tries to convince him that her mistake wasn’t so awful, but he tells her that “God knows” when they’ll get married and then rushes away.