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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．
A Changed Man
17
This was the first time she had seen or heard of d’Urberville since she had left Trantridge．And although he stood there openly as a preacher，as a religious man，she still felt afraid of him．He had changed his clothes，his hair，his moustache and his expression，but could she really believe that he had changed his most secret thoughts and beliefs？
As soon as she recovered from her surprise，she moved away so that he would not notice her．But he suddenly caught sight of her，and the effect on him was electric．His enthusiasm faded，his voice hesitated，his lips trembled，his eyes dropped in confusion．Tess walked rapidly away along the road．
However，as she walked she felt he must be looking at her back as she walked away．And now she knew she could never escape the past，as she had hoped．Reminders of her past would surround her until she died．As she walked uphill she heard footsteps behind her，and，turning，saw that it was the one person in the whole world she did not want to meet this side of the grave．
‘Tess！’he said．‘I'm Alec d’Urberville！’
‘I see you are，’she said coldly．They walked on together．
‘You may wonder why I'm following you．Well，I feel you are the person I would most like to save from hell．So I have