Liddy Smallbury

Liddy Smallbury is Bathsheba Everdene’s servant, companion, and most trusted confidante through the emotional crises of her life at Weatherbury. Less daring than her mistress but quick to observe her moods, Liddy moves from playful teasing about courtship to a more demanding form of loyalty: she hears Bathsheba’s private confession of love for Sergeant Troy, helps her through the aftermath of Fanny Robin’s death, and remains beside her when Bathsheba withdraws from the household.

Identity and Household Role

Liddy is about Bathsheba’s age and is the maltster’s great-granddaughter. The narrator describes her as elastic in nature, though less daring than Bathsheba, and notes that her earnestness combines genuine feeling with a sense of duty. Her position is formally that of a servant, but the relationship between the two women is not confined to employment: Bathsheba later insists that Liddy is her companion, and Liddy’s actions repeatedly bear out that closeness.

She is present when Bathsheba takes possession of the rooms at the farm and sorts through the late occupier’s household effects. In the busy old building, with its twisting staircase and uneven floors, Liddy shares the domestic space in which Bathsheba’s new life as mistress of the farm takes shape. Her practical proximity lets her see what Bathsheba chooses to show, and, just as often, what she tries to conceal.

The Observer of Bathsheba’s Courtships

Liddy is candid about the local gossip surrounding marriage. When Boldwood visits to ask whether anything has been heard of Fanny Robin, Liddy explains to Bathsheba that the farmer had taken Fanny in as a child, sent her to school, and helped her obtain a place at the farm. She also describes Boldwood as rich, stern-looking, and famously unmoved by the women who had tried to win him. Liddy’s account gives Bathsheba a view of his reputation that is at once informative and lightly comic.

The two women also talk about Bathsheba’s own past. Liddy asks whether any man has wanted to marry her; Bathsheba admits that Gabriel Oak once did, explaining that she liked him but considered him not good enough. Liddy imagines the satisfaction of being able to disdain a suitor, revealing both her curiosity about Bathsheba’s power to choose and her sense of how rare that freedom is for women around her.

On a Sunday afternoon, Liddy suggests trying the folk divination that uses a Bible and a key to discover whom one will marry. Bathsheba dismisses the idea as foolish, then immediately agrees to try it. The old Bible’s worn verse and rusty mark show that others have used the book in the same way before; Bathsheba blushes as she performs the ritual and refuses to tell Liddy whom she tried. Liddy then turns to Boldwood, observing that he had not looked toward Bathsheba in church. Her teasing exposes how closely she watches the shifts in Bathsheba’s attention, even when Bathsheba presents herself as indifferent.

Confidante in Love and Conflict

After Bathsheba’s encounter with Troy, she asks Liddy whether a soldier is staying in the village, describing him as handsome and gentlemanly. Liddy recognizes the man as Troy, home on furlough, and relays what she has heard of his education, rank, and reputation. Her portrait mixes admiration for his polish with warnings about his character: she calls him a gay man and says that he has wasted his gifts. Bathsheba is drawn to the stranger despite the doubts, and Liddy’s account becomes part of the information she weighs against his flattering attention.

Bathsheba’s feelings become unmistakable when the women of the household discuss her and Troy. Bathsheba interrupts their conversation to insist that she does not care for him and hates him; when Liddy agrees, Bathsheba rebukes her for what she sees as disloyalty. Alone with Liddy, she drops the denial and admits that she loves Troy to distraction, misery, and agony. She asks Liddy to believe that he is not as bad as people say and to keep the confession secret. Her abrupt movement from anger to vulnerability shows how completely she depends on Liddy’s presence even while testing it.

Liddy is hurt by Bathsheba’s outburst and says she may leave. Bathsheba immediately changes from haughtiness to entreaty, telling her that she is not merely a servant but a companion. Liddy agrees to stay, embraces and kisses her, and promises to keep the secret. The reconciliation does not erase their difference in status, but it establishes an intimate bond in which Liddy can answer Bathsheba’s demands with both affection and a measure of frankness. She even tells her that Bathsheba’s forceful moods can make her seem a match for any man, a remark that both admires her strength and hints at the strain of living close to it.

Loyalty Through Bathsheba’s Isolation

When Bathsheba returns from Bath, Gabriel Oak sees her pass in the gig with Liddy beside her. Both woman and horse appear tired, while Oak is overwhelmed with relief that Bathsheba has returned safely. The scene places Liddy in the ordinary, practical world of Bathsheba’s return, even as other characters remain caught in the uncertainties surrounding her marriage and absences.

Later, on an evening when Bathsheba sits alone beside the first fire of the season, Liddy offers to stay awake for Troy. Bathsheba says she will wait until midnight, then asks whether Liddy has heard anything strange about Fanny. The question makes Bathsheba burst into tears, though she cannot explain what has prompted them. Liddy responds with sympathy, but Bathsheba sends her away. The moment shows the limits of what Liddy can know: she can remain near Bathsheba and recognize her distress, but Bathsheba’s suspicions and grief are not yet fully shared with her.

When Bathsheba cannot bear the suspense about Fanny, she considers seeking the truth from Gabriel but cannot bring herself to knock at his door. She returns to her own house and sits in agitation. The next morning she has spent the night outside, exposed to the air around a swamp. Liddy finds her there, crossing the treacherous ground to reach her despite Bathsheba’s whispered warning that she cannot safely come across. Bathsheba’s voice has been reduced to a whisper by the night’s exposure; Liddy brings her a cloak, hat, bread and butter, and hot tea. This is not merely an exchange of confidences: Liddy supplies immediate care when Bathsheba’s distress has left her physically depleted.

Liddy also helps Bathsheba avoid the household’s notice while Fanny’s body is taken away. She checks on the removal and reports that the men have asked for Bathsheba, then tells them her mistress is unwell and cannot be seen. Bathsheba decides not to run away from Troy, reasoning that a wife who leaves may face a worse misery than one who stays. Liddy does not press her to explain what has happened. Instead, she accompanies her back by a circuitous route and follows her up the back stairs to a disused attic.

The Attic and the Meaning of Companionship

Bathsheba makes the attic a temporary refuge and asks Liddy to help furnish it with a fire, carpet, bed, table, and other necessities. When Liddy suggests needlework, knitting, or completing a sampler, Bathsheba rejects each proposal and chooses books instead. She asks for old works from her uncle’s collection, including plays and serious verse, then revises her list toward lighter titles. The room becomes a place where she can withdraw from the household while deciding how to endure the days ahead; Liddy helps make that withdrawal possible rather than demanding an explanation Bathsheba is unwilling to give.

Across these episodes, Liddy’s importance lies less in authority than in attentive companionship. She notices Bathsheba’s evasions, hears the secret beneath them, and offers practical help when the cost of keeping that secret becomes visible in Bathsheba’s body and living arrangements. Their closeness is not seamless: Bathsheba can be imperious, and Liddy can object or threaten to leave. Yet Liddy repeatedly returns to care, while Bathsheba repeatedly turns to her when she can no longer maintain a confident appearance. In a household shaped by marriage, reputation, and unequal dependence, their friendship gives Bathsheba a private relationship in which fear and weakness can briefly be spoken or silently tended.