# Third Night explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy. ## What happens The young shepherd Bill Mills, on duty alone, encounters the Duke and Duchess of Shakeforest who are searching for a mysterious figure. After they leave, the Duke returns alone and interrogates the boy, forcing him to swear a solemn oath on an ancient altar never to speak of what he has seen. The Duke then takes the boy away to be educated and elevated in station, on condition of absolute secrecy. ## Themes in this chapter ### Deception and Secrecy The Duke forces the shepherd boy to swear a terrible oath never to reveal what he has seen, binding him to a life of secrecy under threat of ruin. ### Social Class and Mobility The Duke offers to elevate the boy from a poor shepherd to a gentleman, but only if he conceals his past and the events witnessed. ### Fate and Coincidence The boy's chance presence on the hill leads to a life-altering encounter that determines his future entirely. ## Character check-ins ### Bill Mills The young shepherd boy who is on duty alone and becomes the target of the Duke's intimidation and bribery. ### Duke of Shakeforest The Duke who first appears with the Duchess, then returns alone to coerce the shepherd boy into silence with threats and promises. ### Duchess of Shakeforest The Duchess who accompanies the Duke initially, teasing him about jealousy and showing concern for the missing man. ## Key lines > I tell you he has not thought it worth while to come again! The Duke insists the man they are looking for has decided not to return. _The Duke tries to convince the Duchess to leave, suggesting the man has given up._ > I be but the under-shepherd boy, and my father he was but your humble Grace's hedger, and my mother only the cinder-woman in the backyard! The boy pleads his lowly status to avoid answering the Duke's questions. _The shepherd boy uses his humble origins as an excuse for ignorance._ > May all the host above—angels and archangels, and principalities and powers—punish me; may I be tormented wherever I am... if I ever speak of my life as a shepherd boy, or of what I have seen done on this Marlbury Down. The Duke forces the boy to swear a comprehensive curse upon himself if he ever reveals the secret. _The oath is sworn on an ancient altar, making it doubly binding in the Duke's eyes._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/third-night - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters