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‘I…I…it seems so foolish！’
‘Never mind，’said he kindly．‘I like foolish things．Try again，my dear．’
‘I came，sir，to tell you we are of the same family as you．’
‘Aha！Poor relations？’
‘Yes．’
‘Stokes？’
‘No，d’Urbervilles．’
‘Oh yes，of course，I mean d’Urbervilles．’
‘We have several proofs that we are d’Urbervilles．We have an old silver spoon and a seal at home．But mother uses the spoon to stir the soup．Mother said we ought to tell you，as we are the oldest branch of the family and we've lost our horse in an accident．’
‘Very kind of your mother，’said Alec d’Urberville，‘and I certainly don't regret it．’He looked admiringly at Tess，whose face blushed a deep pink．‘And so you've come on a friendly visit？’
‘I suppose I have，’murmured Tess， looking uncomfortable．
‘Let us walk round the gardens until you have to go home，my pretty cousin．’Tess wanted to leave as soon as possible，but the young man insisted．He took her to the greenhouses．
‘Do you like strawberries？’he asked．
‘Yes，’said Tess，‘when they are ready．’
‘These are ready now，’and so saying，d’Urberville picked one and held it to her mouth．
‘No no！’she said．‘I'd rather take it myself．’
But Alec put it into her mouth．He put roses into her hair and filled her basket with strawberries and flowers． He gave her food to eat，and watched her，while he quietly smoked a cigarette． She looked more adult and womanly than she really was．Alec could not take his eyes off her．She did not know as she smiled innocently at the flowers that behind the cigarette smoke was the cause of future sorrow in her life．
‘What is your name？’asked Alec．
‘Tess Durbeyfield．We live at Marlott．’
‘I must see if my mother can find a place for you．’They said goodbye and she set off home carrying her strawberries and flowers．
This then was the beginning． Why did she have to meet the wrong man， and one who was so strongly attracted to her？Yet to the right man， she was only a half…forgotten impression from an evening's dancing in a country field．In life， the right man to love hardly ever comes at the right time for loving．Nature does not often answer a call for love， until the caller is tired of calling．In this case，as in millions，it was not the two halves of a perfect whole who met．A missing half wandered somewhere else，arriving much later．This delay was to have tragic results．
4
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．
5
The chickens for which Tess was responsible lived in an old cottage on Mrs d’Urberville's land．On her first day Tess had to take some of the chickens to show to their owner．She immediately realized the old lady was blind．Mrs d’Urberville held each bird and felt it carefully to see that it was in good health．At the end she suddenly asked Tess a question．
‘Can you whistle？’
‘Whistle，Ma’am？’
‘Yes，whistle tunes．I want you to practise and whistle to my birds every day．’
‘Yes，Ma’am．’
Tess was not surprised at Mrs d’Urberville's cold manner，and did not expect any more of such a great lady．However，she did not realize that the old lady had never even heard about the family connection．
Tess began to enjoy her new work with the chickens，and the next day in the cottage garden she decided to practise whistling as instructed．She was shocked to find that she had completely forgotten how to whistle．Suddenly she noticed a movement behind a tree near the wall．It was Alec d’Urberville．
‘Well，cousin T