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Neither Angel Clare nor his family had originally chosen farming as a profession for him． When he was a boy， people admired his great qualities．Now he was a man， something vague and undecided in his look showed that he had no particular purpose in life．He was the youngest son of a poor parson．One day when he was studying at home， his father discovered that Angel had ordered a book of philosophy， which questioned the Church's teaching． How could his son become a priest if he read such books？ Angel explained that he did not in fact wish to enter the Church like his brothers， because the Church's views were too strict and did not allow free thinking． The simple parson was shocked． He was a man of fixed ideas and a firm believer． And if Angel did not want to become a priest， what was the use of sending him to study at Cambridge？ For the parson the whole point of going to university was to become a minister of God．

‘I want to use my mind，’Angel insisted．‘ I want to read philosophy．I want to question my belief，so that what is left after I have questioned it， will be even stronger．’

‘But Angel，your mother and I have saved and saved to send you to university like your brothers． But how can we send you there if it is not in the service of God？’

So Angel did not have the advantage of a university education． After some years studying at home he decided to learn farming．He thought this kind of work could give him what he most valued，independence and freedom to think．So he came to Talbothays at twenty－six，as a student．

At first he stayed up in his room most of the time in the evenings，reading and playing his harp．But he soon preferred to read human nature by taking his meals in the general dining－room with the dairy people． The longer he stayed， the more Clare liked living with these simple country people． No longer did he see them as lacking in intelligence． He realized they were no different from him： he and they were all people walking on the dusty road which ends in death．He began to like working outside． He was learning about nature and about life． He came to know the changing seasons，morning and evening，different winds，waters and mists，shade and silence，and the voices of nature．All this he had never known before．

For several days after Tess's arrival，Clare，sitting reading a book，hardly noticed she was there．But one morning at breakfast he was reading music and listening to the tune in his head，when he heard a musical voice which seemed to become part of his tune． He looked round at Tess， seated at the table．

‘What a fresh and pure daughter of nature that dairymaid is！’thought Angel．He seemed to remember something about her，something which took him back into a happy past， before decision made his life difficult． This memory made him look more often at Tess than the other dairymaids．