Throughout her tribulations, Bathsheba comes to rely increasingly on her oldest and, as she admits to herself, only real friend, Gabriel. When he gives notice that he is leaving her employ, she realises how important he has become to her well - being. That night, she goes alone to visit him in his cottage, to find out why he is deserting her. Pressed, he reluctantly reveals that it is because people have been injuring her good name by gossiping that he wants to marry her. She exclaims that it is "... too absurd -- too soon -- to think of, by far! '' He bitterly agrees that it is absurd, but when she corrects him, saying that it is only "too soon '', he is emboldened to ask once again for her hand in marriage. She accepts, and the two are quietly wed.
who does bathsheba choose in far from the madding crowd
Gabriel