When we as strangers sought
Their catering care,
Veiled smiles bespoke their thought
Of what we were.
Hardy begins in the first person plural ‘we’, indicating that they are a unit of two people, probably the poet and Florence. Their relationship was fraught, despite the initial implication that they were in harmony. The description “strangers” suggests they were strangers to the inn-keepers, but ironically they were also strangers to each other in terms of their failing relationship.
At An Inn