While I was reading, a very satisfying alternate ending came to my mind, starting from when Fitzpiers was thrown off the horse the second time...

---------may be spoilers for purposes of comparison--------

Mrs. Charmond agrees to hide Fitzpiers and post his letter. Unfortunately for him, she now knows he's also been sleeping with Suke Damson, and her pride is injured. She poisons the bastard, hides his body, goes abroad, and is never seen again in Little Hinton.

The Melbury's assume, from Fitzpiers' letter and from the fact that Mrs. Charmond is also gone, that they have run away together. So Melbury still goes through the same wild goose chase of trying to end Grace's marriage and fix her up with Giles. It still ends in failure.

Mrs. Charmond dies abroad, leaving Grace all of her money out of guilt.

Someone finds Fitzpiers' body while preparing Mrs. Charmond's house for the next occupant. Giles and Grace agree to marry after a suitable time of mourning has passed. However, due to Giles' repeated illnesses, he dies before the wedding (it's Hardy, after all).

Suke Damson marries Tim, but their first child (delivered a couple months after their wedding) doesn't look at all like Tim.

Mr. Melbury wants Grace to use Mrs. Charmond's money to go to Budmouth or Bristol and live as a lady, and find a suitable husband. Grace puts a cap on his advice this time, and stays with her family. The family lives happily together for some time (even though Melbury caused so many problems for Grace, he loved her so much that I wanted him to have a happy ending). Darling the horse also gets some well-deserved rest.

Grace takes over her father's business upon his death and hands the management over to Marty South, since she's the most competent person there. The two women become good friends, and Grace eventually brings Marty to live with her as a companion. They go abroad every Winter with Mrs. Charmond's money, but always return home in time to see the apple blossoms. Every year, they make cider with Giles' machine in his memory.

Maybe they both marry many years later in the epilogue, or maybe they don't.

Wow. This is the seventh Thomas Hardy novel I've read and, despite always feeling like my heart has been ripped out, he is one of my favorite authors. This book seemed a little more understated and less complicated than the others I have read, but it is beautiful. I loved the nuances of all the characters. The plot is something I could still see happening today.

I'm one of those people that likes meandering prose. Back in High School, I read The Return of the Native and was, quite possibly, the only person who liked it. I remember many complaints of the, seemingly, neverending descriptions of the heath. Same goes for this book. It honestly could have been half as long and conveyed just as much. But I like the way Thomas Hardy describes things. It's lyrical. It's poetic. It's relaxing. And so, despite the fact that this book can be summed up as follows - "Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Girl meets rich boy. Father demands wedding to rich boy. Girl has no backbone to go against father. Girl marries rich boy and lives to regret it. Oh, and OG Boy meets an unexpected ending. - I still really enjoyed it. Thomas Hardy, and The Woodlanders in particular, is a reading experience. Not so much for the destination, but for the journey.