I remember the Hardy book to which you refer, but have forgotten the title. I recall it was about the folk who lived in the moors and the title character had just returned from France.
On the title of the book, as you mention the plot, I now know it is "The Return of the Native". Senior memory loss for me, because I momentarily thought it might be "Far from the Madding Crowd".
I tried to have my wife call my two daughters after the two female characters in the book. They were Thomasin and Eustacia. She would not have it, but worked it into the middle names. Today, they would have been called for short- Tamsie and Stacy.