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It was eleven o’clock before all the family were in bed，and two o’clock next morning was the latest time to set off with the beehives．It was a distance of twenty or thirty miles on bad roads to Casterbridge，where the Saturday market was held．At half-past one Mrs Durbeyfield came into the bedroom where Tess and all the children slept．

‘The poor man can't go，’she whispered．Tess sat up in bed．

‘But it's late for the bees already．We must take them today．’

‘Maybe a young man would go？’asked Mrs Durbeyfield doubtfully．‘One of the ones dancing with you yesterday？’

‘Oh no，not for the world！’said Tess proudly．‘And let everybody know the reason？I'd be so ashamed！I think I could go if little Abraham came with me．’

Tess and Abraham dressed， led out the old horse Prince with the loaded waggon，and set off in the dark．They cheered themselves up with bread and butter and conversation．

‘Tess！’said Abraham， after a silence．

‘Yes， Abraham．’

‘Aren't you glad that we're a noble family？’

‘Not particularly．’

‘But you're glad you're going to marry a gentleman？’

‘What？’said Tess，lifting her face．

‘Our noble relations are going to help you marry a gentleman．’

‘Me？Our noble relations？We haven't any．Whatever put that into your head？’

‘I heard them talking about it at home．There's a rich lady of our family out at Trantridge，and mother said that if you claimed relationship with her，she'd help you marry a gentleman．’

His sister became suddenly silent．Abraham talked on， not noticing her lack of attention．

‘Did you say the stars were worlds，Tess？’

‘Yes．’

‘All like ours？’

‘They seem like our apples—most of them good， a few bad．’

‘Which do we live on？A good one or a bad one？’

‘A bad one．’

‘If we lived on a good one，how would things be different？’

‘Well，father wouldn't be ill and cough as he does，and mother wouldn't always be washing．’

‘And you would have been a ready-made rich lady，and not have to marry a gentleman．’

‘Oh，Aby，don't—don't talk of that any more！’

Abraham finally went to sleep on the waggon．Tess drove the horse． Gradually she fell into a dream． She could see her father，foolish in his pride， and the rich gentleman of her mother's imagination laughing at the poor Durbeyfield family．

Suddenly she awoke from her dream to noise and violent movement．Something terrible had happened．She jumped down and discovered that the post carriage，speeding along the dark road， had driven into her slow and unlighted waggon．Poor Prince was seriously hurt，and as she watched he fell to the ground．

‘You were on the wrong side，’said the post driver．‘I must go on with the post， but I'll send somebody to help you as soon as I can．You'd better stay here with your waggon．’

He went on his way， while Tess stood and waited，tears pouring down her cheeks． Daylight came． Prince lay there，unmoving，his eyes half open．

‘It's all my fault，’cried Tess．‘What will mother and father live on now？Aby，Aby，wake up！We can't go on with our beehives—Prince is dead！’When Aby realized what had happened， his face looked like an old man's．

‘It's because we live on a bad star，isn't it，Tess？’he said through his tears．

Finally a man arrived with a horse，to take the waggon on to Casterbridge to deliver the beehives，and then collect Prince on the way back．When they got home，Tess broke the news to her parents．They were not angry with her，but she blamed herself completely．

When Durbeyfield heard he would only get a few shillings for Prince's dead body，he rose to the occasion．

‘We d’Urbervilles don't sell our horses for cat's meat！’he insisted．And the following day he worked harder than usual in digging a grave，where Prince was buried．All the children cried：

‘Has he gone to heaven？’asked Abraham in tears．But Tess did not cry．Her face was dry and pale．She felt she had murdered a friend．