When it is opened it is revealed that the former maid was with child.
The appearance of a mysterious coffin ruins the protagonist's first wedding. When it is opened it is revealed that the former maid was with child. This causes the husband to leave Weatherbury Farm and he is thought to be lost at Sea. By the time he returns, however, his wife has already been remarried to a conservative farmer, who promptly shoots the sergeant and kills him. By the end of the novel the mess caused by Fanny Robin's corpse between Troy and Boldwood, must be sorted out by the shepherd Gabriel Oak who also eventually marries Batsheba Everdeene. FTP identify this 1874 novel by Thomas Hardy.
The appearance of a mysterious coffin ruins the protagonist's first wedding.
Far From the Madding Crowd