Over the past few days, I've read the 25 pages or so of 'Interlopers at the Knap', and thankfully I was unable to predict the stoic-type ending of this Wessex tale.
This short tale revolves around Farmer Darton's dilemma of whether to marry Sally Hall or his first love, Helena, who dramatically turns up at the Knap (Sally Hall's home) in Kings-Hintock village with her dying brother, Philip Hall, and their two small children just when Darton arrives intending to marry Sally (again, the cruelty of circumstance/fate theme in Hardy). As a sub-plot, Darton's best friend, Japheth Johns, who was to have been his best man, scolds him for scorning Sally and they part ways. Of course, Darton feels the pain of being in between a rock and a hard place, and ends up going through months caught in indecision.
In time, partly prompted by Sally's insistence, Farmer Darton decides to marry Helena with whom he has a child but a generally unloving marriage which is soon ended through Helena's death. After this, Darton goes seeking Sally again, where he runs into Japheth Johns, and the reader is led to believe that it will be Johns who wins Sally's affection.
However, Sally Hall refuses Johns' offer of marriage, and repeated offers from Darton, as she says she is quite happy to stoically remain single for the rest of her days, with a possible inference being that she still feels slighted at what happened years ago when Helena turned up and ended up marrying Darton. Really never expected this ending, thought that Johns would catch Sally, as he seemed a good stoic match for her.
Still getting used to Hardy's short stories, just seems like I'm gaining an empathy with the protagonists and then it's time for the tale to end. Much prefer the great longer novels ('Tess'; 'Jude' etc.), where about 400 pages allow me to properly build up an empathy with (to fully identify with) a character.
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