They saw her white shape draw near to the spring-cart, on which her

box was already placed. But before she had quite reached it another

vehicle shot out from a clump of trees on the summit, came round the

bend of the road there, passed the luggage-cart, and halted beside

Tess, who looked up as if in great surprise.

Her mother perceived, for the first time, that the second vehicle was

not a humble conveyance like the first, but a spick-and-span gig or

dog-cart, highly varnished and equipped. The driver was a young man

of three- or four-and-twenty, with a cigar between his teeth; wearing

a dandy cap, drab jacket, breeches of the same hue, white neckcloth,

Advertisement..

stick-up collar, and brown driving-gloves--in short, he was the

handsome, horsey young buck who had visited Joan a week or two before

to get her answer about Tess. Mrs Durbeyfield clapped her hands like a child.

Then she looked

down, then stared again. Could she be deceived as to the meaning of

this? "Is dat the gentleman-kinsman who'll make Sissy a lady?" asked the

youngest child. Meanwhile the muslined form of Tess could be seen standing still,

undecided, beside this turn-out, whose owner was talking to her.

Her seeming indecision was, in fact, more than indecision: it was

misgiving. She would have preferred the humble cart. The young

man dismounted, and appeared to urge her to ascend. She turned her

face down the hill to her relatives, and regarded the little group.

Something seemed to quicken her to a determination; possibly the

thought that she had killed Prince. She suddenly stepped up; he

mounted beside her, and immediately whipped on the horse. In a

moment they had passed the slow cart with the box, and disappeared

behind the shoulder of the hill.

Directly Tess was out of sight, and the interest of the matter as a

drama was at an end, the little ones' eyes filled with tears. The

youngest child said, "I wish poor, poor Tess wasn't gone away to be a

lady!" and, lowering the corners of his lips, burst out crying. The

new point of view was infectious, and the next child did likewise,

and then the next, till the whole three of them wailed loud. There were tears also in Joan Durbeyfield's eyes as she turned to

go home. But by the time she had got back to the village she was

passively trusting to the favour of accident. However, in bed that

night she sighed, and her husband asked her what was the matter.

"Oh, I don't know exactly," she said. "I was thinking that perhaps

it would ha' been better if Tess had not gone."




Most Popular