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As the carriage drove on through Blackmoor Vale，Tess now began to awake from her sorrow and wonder how she could face her parents．She left the carriage and came into Marlott on foot．When she entered the little cottage， her mother was doing the washing as usual．

‘Why Tess！’she cried when she saw her daughter．‘I thought you were married！Really married this time！’

‘Yes，mother，I am．’

‘Then where's your husband？’

‘Gone away for a time．’

‘Gone away！When were you married then？Tuesday，as you said？’

‘Yes，mother．’

‘Married on Tuesday and today it's only Saturday，and he's gone away！What strange husbands you seem to find，Tess！’

‘Mother！’Tess ran across to Joan and put her head on Joan's shoulder．‘You told me I mustn't tell him．But I did-I couldn't help it—and he went away！’

‘Oh you fool，you little fool！’cried her mother．

‘I know，I know，’sobbed Tess．‘But he was so good！I couldn't lie to him．And if only you knew how much I loved him and how much I wanted to marry him！’

‘Well，it's too late now，’said Mrs Durbeyfield．‘Whatever will your father say？ He was very proud of your marriage．He's been telling them at the public house that you'll help his noble family become great again．Oh，there he is now！’

Tess ran upstairs，but through the thin walls she could hear the whole story being told to Sir John．

‘People will laugh at me in the village！’he said．‘Do you think he really did marry her，Joan？Or is it like the first？’

Tess could listen no more．Even her own family did not believe her．She could not stay．She gave her mother half the money which Clare had given her，and told her family she was going to join him．And so she left Marlott again，looking for work．

Angel Clare also returned home．He had spent three weeks since his wedding trying to remain calm and continue his studies，but with the disturbing picture of Tess always in his mind．He was beginning to wonder if he had treated her unfairly．She had been so much a part of his plans for the future that he was now thinking of countries where they could farm together．The idea of Brazil attracted him．The countryside，people and habits would be so different．Perhaps they could make a new life there together．So he went back to Emminster to tell his parents his new plan．

‘But where's your wife，dear Angel？’cried his mother when he arrived．

‘She's at her mother's for the moment．I've come home in rather a hurry，because I've decided to go to Brazil．’

‘Brazil！But they're all Roman Catholics there！’

‘Are they？I hadn't thought of that．’

But Mr and Mrs Clare were even more interested in their son's marriage than in Brazil's religion．

‘Angel，we do want to meet your wife．We are not in the least angry about this rather hurried wedding，so why haven't you brought her？It seems strange．’

Angel explained that she would be staying at her mother's while he went to Brazil alone to see if the country was suitable．He planned to bring her to meet his parents before he went there a second time，with her．But his mother was disappointed at not seeing Tess．She watched her son as he ate，and asked questions．

‘Is she very pretty？’

‘She certainly is！’

‘And a maiden of course？’

‘Of course．’

‘I imagine you were her first love？’

‘Exactly．’

His father asked no questions，but when the moment for evening prayers arrived，he chose a passage from the Bible．

‘This passage is very suitable，as you are here，Angel．It is in praise of a pure wife．’

‘We shall all think of her as your father reads it，’ added his mother．As they listened to the ancient，beautiful words，Angel felt like crying．

His mother said，‘You see，Angel，the perfect woman，the Bible tells us，is a working woman，not a fine lady，a girl just like your wife．A girl who uses her hands and heart and head for others．I wish I could have met her，Angel．As she is pure，she is fine enough for me．’

Clare's eyes were full of tears．He quickly said goodnight and went to his room．His mother followed and stood at his door looking anxiously at him．

‘Angel，why are you going away so soon？Have you quarrelled with your wife in these three weeks？Angel，is she …is she a woman with a past？’The mother's instinct had found the cause of her son's worries．

‘She is totally pure！’he replied，and felt that he had to tell that lie，even if he went to hell there and then for it．

‘Then never mind the rest．There are few better things in nature than a pure country girl．’

Clare felt furious with Tess，because she had forced him to deceive his parents．Then he remembered her sweet voice， and the touch of her fingers on his face，and her warm breath on his lips．But this well－meaning young man，despite his advanced ideas，was still limited in his thinking．He could not see that Tess was in character as pure as the pure wife in the Bible．

The next day Clare left Emminster and began to prepare for his journey to Brazil．One day，returning from doing some business with a farmer，he happened to meet one of the dairymaids from Talbothays，Izz Huett．He knew her secret：she was an honest girl who loved him and who might have made as good a farmer's wife as Tess．He learnt from Izz that，of the other dairymaids，Retty had become ill，and Marian had started drinking．And Izz herself？

‘Suppose I had asked you to marry me，Izz？’he asked．

‘I would have said“yes”，and you would have had a woman who loved you！’

A wild anger took hold of Clare．Society and its rules had trapped him in a corner．Why shouldn't he take his revenge on society？

‘I'm going to Brazil，Izz，without Tess．We have separated for personal reasons．I may never be able to love you，but will you come with me？’

‘Yes，I will，’said Izz after a pause．

‘You know it's wrong in the eyes of the world，don't you？Do you love me very much？More than Tess？’

‘I do，yes，oh，I do love you，but not more than Tess．Nobody could！She would have laid down her life for you．’

Clare was silent．A sob rose inside him．He heard Izz's words again and again in his head：She would have laid down her life for you．

‘I'm sorry，Izz，’he said suddenly．‘Please forget what I said just now！I must be mad！’

‘Oh please take me！Oh，I shouldn't have been so honest！’sobbed Izz．

‘Izz，by your honesty you have saved me from doing something wicked．Thank you for that．And please forgive me！’

And so Angel said goodbye to the miserable girl．But he did not turn towards Tess's village．He continued with his plan，and five days later left the country for Brazil．

And so the months passed．Tess found occasional dairy work for the spring and summer．She sent all Angel's money to her family，who as usual had many expenses and hardly any income．She was too proud to ask Angel's family for more money．That winter she went to work at another farm，where Marian was working．Here the earth was poor，and the work was difficult．But Tess did not mind the hard work in the fields．As she and Marian dug out the vegetables in the pouring rain，they talked of Talbothays and of the sunny green fields and of Angel Clare．Tess did not tell Marian everything，so Marian could not understand why the couple were apart．

They wrote to Izz，asking her to join them if she had no other work．It was the coldest winter for years，but Tess and Marian had to go on working in the snow．Tess realized that the farmer was the same Trantridge man who had recognized her in the market town，and had been knocked down by Angel．He made her work twice as hard as the others．

When Izz came，Tess saw her whispering to Marian．Tess had a feeling it was important．‘Is it about my husband？’she asked Marian later．

‘Well yes，Izz said I shouldn't tell．But he asked her to run away to Brazil with him！’

Tess's face went as white as the snow on the ground．

‘What happened？’

‘He changed his mind．But he was going to take her！’

Tess burst out crying．‘I must write to him！It's my fault！I shouldn't have left it to him！He said I could write to him！I've been neglecting him！’

But in the evening，in her room，she could not finish her letter to him．She looked at her wedding ring，which she wore round her neck in the day，and kept on her finger all night．What kind of husband would ask Izz to go to Brazil with him so soon after parting from his wife？

But this new information made her think again of visiting Angel's family in Emminster．She wanted to know why he had not written to her．She could meet his parents，who would surely be kind to her in her loneliness．So she decided to walk there from the farm at Flintcomb－Ash on a Sunday， her only free day．It was fifteen miles each way．She dressed in her best，encouraged by Marian and Izz，who sent her on her way at four o’clock in the morning．The girls sincerely loved Tess and wished for her happiness．It was a year since her wedding，and on that bright cold morning her unspoken hope was to win over her husband's family and so persuade him back to her．

Although she started cheerfully，she began to lose her courage as she approached Emminster．The church looked forbidding．Perhaps the rather strict parson would not approve of her travelling so far on a Sunday．But she had to go on．She took off her thick walking boots and hid them behind a tree，changing into her pretty shoes．She would collect the boots on the way out of town．

She took a deep breath and rang the bell at the parson's house．Nobody answered．She tried again．Silence．It was almost with relief that she turned and walked away．Then she suddenly remembered that they must all be at church．So she waited in a quiet part of the street until people began to stream out of church．She immediately recognized Angel's brothers and even overheard some of their conversation．

‘Poor Angel！’one of them said．‘There's that nice girl，Mercy Chant．Why on earth didn't he marry her instead of rushing into marriage with a dairymaid？’

‘It's certainly very strange．But his ideas have always been most odd．’

They joined Mercy Chant as she came out of church，and walked together along the road Tess had walked into Emminster．

‘Look，here's a pair of old boots，’said one of the brothers，noticing Tess's boots behind the tree．

‘Excellent walking boots，I see，’said Miss Chant．‘How wicked to throw them away！Give them to me．I'll find a poor person who would like them．’

Tess walked quickly past them，tears running down her face．She continued walking as fast as she could away from Emminster．How unlucky that she had met the sons and not the father！Angel's parents would have taken poor lonely Tess to their hearts immediately，as they did every other lost soul，without thought of family or education or wealth．

She grew more and more tired and depressed as she walked the fifteen miles back to Flintcomb－Ash，where only hard work awaited her．But on the way she noticed a crowd listening to a preacher and she stopped for a while to join them．The preacher was describing with enthusiasm how he had been wicked for years and how a certain parson had pointed it out to him：this had gradually turned him from wickedness．But Tess was more shocked by the voice than the words．She moved round behind the crowd to look at his face．As the afternoon sun shone full on him， she recognized Alec d’Urberville．