CHAPTER THREE

A Visit to the d'Urbervilles

In Trantridge, she turned a corner and saw an amazing house. It was large and looked almost new, a deep red color against the green bushes that surrounded it. The woods behind the house were called The Chase, and they were an ancient forest. The house had a greenhouse and beautiful gardens. It was clear that the owner of the house was very rich. Tess stopped in her tracks and felt a little bit afraid. She wished she had stayed at home.

The grand house was owned by the Stoke-d'Urbervilles, a northern business family. They had taken an old-sounding name like d'Urberville when they moved to the south. This made Tess more of a real d'Urberville than this rich family, but no one knew it.

While Tess stared at the house, a young man appeared. He was about 24 years old. He was tall, dark and handsome, and had full red lips and his black mustache curled up at the ends.

"How can I help you my beautiful lady," he said as he stood in the garden. "I am Mr d'Urberville."

"I came to see your mother, sir," Tess replied. Her voice was shaking.

"I'm sorry, but she is ill. Can I help you with something?" the man asked. It was obvious that he was interested in Tess.

"I will sound foolish if I tell you," Tess said.

"It doesn't matter," Mr d'Urberville said. His voice was kind. "I like foolish things, so please tell me."

"I came to tell you that I am from the same noble family as yourself," she said quietly.

"Are you trying to tell me that I have poor relations?" asked the man.

"Yes."

"So, you are from the Stoke family," he said.

"No," said Tess. "We are d'Urbervilles."

"Ah, yes. Of course I meant to say d'Urberville."

"I have a lot of proof that we are d'Urbervilles. At my home, we have an old seal and an old silver spoon. Mother uses the spoon when she stirs the soup, so it does not look very new. She said I should come to you, since we are the oldest branches of the noble family. We need help because our horse died in an accident." Tess was very nervous.

"Your mother did the right thing," said Alec d'Urberville. "I have no regrets that you have come." As he looked at Tess, she blushed deep red. "Let us go for a walk around the gardens together until it is time for you to go home. You are very pretty, my cousin," he said.

Tess was anxious to go home, but Alec would not let her. He offered her a ripe strawberry and tried to feed it to her. Tess was shocked.

"Please," she said. "I would rather eat it myself." But Alec put the strawberry into Tess' mouth. He put roses in her hair. He filled a basket full of strawberries and flowers for her. As she ate the food he had given her, he quietly smoked a cigarette and watched her. Tess looked more grown up than she really was. Alec could not stop looking at her beauty, and Tess did not notice. Little did she know that the man smoking in front of her would be the cause of her life's greatest sorrow.

"What is your name?" Alec asked.

"Tess Durbeyfield. My family lives in Marlott."

"I'll ask mother if we have a place for you to stay in our home," he said.

After they said goodbye, Tess left for home with her basket of flowers and strawberries. This was the beginning of her terrible life. She had met the wrong man, and he had been extremely attracted to her. What Tess also did not know is that she had already met the right man, too. But to him, she was only a distant memory from the May Day dance. In life, rarely does the right man come at the right time. In this story, as with so many others, the two halves that met did not match perfectly. Tess' perfect match would not enter her life again until much later. And this delay would create terrible results.

Tess returned home the next afternoon. By the time she had reached her parents' home, her mother had already received a letter from Mrs d'Urberville. The woman had offered Tess a job at the d'Urberville house taking care of the chickens. Tess' mother, Joan Durbeyfield, was pleased and excited.

"I'm sure that this means she will recognize you as part of the d'Urberville family," said Joan. "The job taking care of chickens is Mrs d'Urberville's way of asking you to her home without making you hope for too much."

"I would prefer to stay at home with you and the children and father," said Tess. She sadly looked out the window of the modest Durbeyfield house.

"Why Tess?"

"I cannot tell you, Mother. I don't know how to say what I feel."

Tess continued to look for work. A few days later, she returned home after a long, hard day. Her younger brothers and sisters ran out to meet her, smiling and shouting. They danced around her.

"The noble gentleman has been here," they announced.

Alec d'Urberville had visited the house to see whether Tess could work for his mother. Joan Durbeyfield was very happy.

"He is very handsome, Tess," she said.

"Really? I do not agree," Tess replied. She could not hide how unhappy she was. She turned again to her mother and said, "I will think about the d'Urbervilles' offer." Tess left the room.

"It is obvious that Mr d'Urberville is in love with our Tess," Joan told her husband. "It seems like a perfect plan that he should marry her and make her into a fine lady."

John Durbeyfield felt proud of his new noble blood, even though his health was poor and he had little money. "Yes, young Mr d'Urberville wants to improve his own family line by marrying into our older family line."

It took a long time, but Tess eventually agreed to go. Her mother, brothers and sisters persuaded her, and Mrs Durbeyfield secretly made plans for Tess' wedding. When the day arrived for Tess to go to the d'Urberville house, her mother made her wear her best dress. In her Sunday clothes, Tess sadly said goodbye to her family.

"Goodbye my good girl," John Durbeyfield said to his daughter. "You tell the young Mr d'Urberville that I will sell him the family title. Yes, that's right. For a reasonable price I'll sell."

"But," shouted Tess' mother, "it will cost at least one thousand pounds."

While her father and mother argued about how much they should sell the title for, Tess wanted to cry. Her mother walked to the edge of the village with Tess. She stopped and watched her daughter walk away. She waved goodbye as an expensive carriage appeared. The man driving had nice clothes and he smoked a cigar. Tess hesitated, and then she finally stepped into the carriage.

As Joan Durbeyfield watched her daughter go away, for the first time she wondered if making Tess move to the d'Urberville house had been the right choice. That night she lay in bed worrying.

"Maybe I should have waited to see how Mr d'Urberville really felt about our daughter," she said.

"Whatever," her husband replied. He was half asleep and did not want to be disturbed. With that, Joan stopped worrying and trusted her plan again.

"If Mr d'Urberville doesn't marry our Tess when she arrives at his house, he will surely marry her later. She just needs to play her cards right."

"You mean she should talk about her noble d'Urberville blood?" asked her husband.

"No, you fool. She needs to show him how beautiful she is."

While Mr and Mrs Durbeyfield talked, Alec d'Urberville drove the carriage downhill. He hit the horse and made the animal go faster and faster. Tess was extremely frightened as she watched the trees rush by, a green mass. Alec did not notice Tess ask him to slow the carriage, and he did not slow down when she shouted and held on to his arm.

"Hold on to my waist my beauty," Alec laughed. "Put your arms around me."

"I will never," Tess said.

Alec smiled coldly. "I'll stop if you let me give you a little kiss."

Tess was terrified. "Otherwise," said Alec, "I will kill us both in this carriage."

"If that is all that will make you stop, very well," she wept. As her eyes filled with tears, she said, "I thought you might be kind to me. I don't want to kiss you or anyone else."

Finally, Tess sat still and d'Urberville gave her a kiss. She immediately wiped her cheek with a handkerchief. Her hat blew off her head and onto the road. When d'Urberville stopped the horse, Tess got off the carriage to fetch her hat. She was very angry.

"I'll walk the rest of the way," she said.

"But it is at least five or six miles from here."

"It doesn't matter," said Tess.

Now it was d'Urberville's turn to be angry. "You threw off your hat on purpose, didn't you?"

When Tess would not answer, he said terrible things to her.

"I hate you!" shouted Tess. "I'm going home."

Alec began to laugh at Tess.

"I promise never to do such a thing again," he said. "Now get in the carriage and we will go."

But Tess continued to walk towards Trantridge. The pair moved very slowly down the road, Tess on foot and d'Urberville in the carriage beside her.

(end of section)