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When Tess arrived home the following afternoon a letter had already been received by her mother．It appeared to come from Mrs d’Urberville，and offered Tess work looking after chickens． Joan Durbeyfield was delighted．

‘It's just a way of getting you there without raising your hopes．She's going to recognize you as family，I'm sure of it．’

‘I would rather stay here with father and you，’said Tess，looking out of the window．

‘But why？’

‘I'd rather not tell you， mother．I don't really know．’

A few days later when Tess came back from looking for work， the children came running out and danced round her．

‘The gentleman's been here！’they shouted．

Joan was full of smiles． Mrs d’Urberville's son had called，and asked if Tess could come or not．

‘He's a very handsome man！’said Mrs Durbeyfield．

‘I don't think so，’said Tess coldly．‘I'll think it over．’She left the room．

‘He's in love with her， you can see that，’said Mrs Durbeyfield to her husband．‘No doubt he'll marry her and she'll be a fine lady．’

John Durbeyfield had more pride in his new-found blood than energy or health．‘That's what young Mr d’Urberville is trying to do！Improve his blood by marrying into the old line！’

Persuaded by her mother and the children，Tess finally agreed to go．Mrs Durbeyfield secretly made wedding plans．Then the day came when Tess， wearing her best Sunday clothes on her mother's orders，said goodbye to her family．

‘Goodbye，my girl，’said Sir John，waking from a short sleep．‘Tell young d’Urberville I'll sell him the title，yes，sell it，at a reasonable price．’

‘Not for less than a thousand pounds！’cried Lady Durbeyfield．

‘No，tell him he can have it for a hundred！No，fifty， no—twenty！Yes，twenty pounds，that's the lowest．Family honour is family honour and I won't take any less！’

Tess felt like crying but turned quickly and went out．Her mother went with her to the edge of the village．There she stopped and stood waving goodbye，and watched her daughter walking away into the distance． A waggon came to take her bags，and then a fashionable little carriage appeared．It was driven by a well-dressed young man smoking a cigar．After a moment's hesitation，Tess stepped in．

Joan Durbeyfield，watching，wondered for the first time if she had been right in encouraging Tess to go． That night she said to her husband，‘Perhaps I should have found out how the gentleman really feels about her．’

‘Yes，perhaps you ought，’murmured John，half asleep．Joan's natural trust in the future came back to her．

‘Well，if he doesn't marry her before，he'll marry her after．If she plays her cards right．’

‘If he knows about her d’Urberville blood，you mean？’

‘No，stupid，if she shows him her pretty face．’

Meanwhile Alec d’Urberville was whipping his horse and driving the carriage faster and faster downhill．The trees rushed past at great speed．Tess was feeling thoroughly frightened．He took no notice when she asked him to slow down．She cried out and held on to his arm in fear．

‘Don't touch my arm， hold on to my waist！’he shouted． At the top of another hill he said，laughing，‘Put your arms around me again， my beauty！’

‘Never！’said Tess independently．

‘Let me give you one little kiss， Tess， and I'll stop！’

‘Will nothing else do？’cried Tess in despair．‘Oh， very well！’

As they raced on，he was on the point of kissing her，when she suddenly moved aside，so that he almost fell off．

‘I'll break both our necks！’he swore passionately．

‘I thought you would be kind to me，’said Tess，her eyes filling with tears．‘I don't want to kiss anybody！’

But he insisted，so in the end she sat still and d’Urberville kissed her．No sooner had he done so than she wiped the place on her cheek with her handkerchief．Just then her hat blew off into the road and d’Urberville stopped the horse．Tess jumped down to get it，then turned triumphantly to Alec．

‘I shall walk from here，’she said firmly．

‘But it's five or six miles more．’

‘I don't care．’

‘You made that hat blow off on purpose！You did，didn't you？’

She was silent．He swore angrily at her．

‘Don't use such bad words！’cried Tess．‘I shall go back to mother！I hate you！’

D’Urberville suddenly started laughing．

‘Look，I promise never to do that again，’he said．‘Come，let me take you in the carriage．’

But she refused， and began to walk in the direction of Trantridge．So they progressed slowly，d’Urberville driving the carriage beside Tess．