CHAPTER TEN

Angel's Offer

When Angel returned to the dairy, it was afternoon. The weather was hot and everyone was asleep. The milkers woke up very early and rested in the afternoon. Angel heard a noise. When he looked up, Tess was standing in front of him. She did not see him. She raised her arms above her head. Then she saw Angel. Tess was very surprised.

"Mr Clare," she said. "You frightened me." She looked happy and scared at the same time.

Clare put his arms around Tess.

"Tess," he whispered. "Please don't call me Mr Clare. I came back just to see you."

They held one another and stood in the sun. He looked at her blue eyes and thought that she was very beautiful.

"I must go to work," said Tess. They walked to the farm together.

The heat made Tess feel like she was in a dream.

"I have a question to ask you," said Angel. "I want to get married soon. I will be a farmer and want a wife who knows about farms. Will you be my wife Tess?"

Tess looked worried. She loved Angel, but she had not thought that he would ask her to marry him.

"Oh Mr Clare, I am so sorry. I can't be your wife," Tess cried. Her heart broke.

Clare was shocked. "Don't you love me? I can't believe this."

"Of course I love you. I want to marry you, but I can't."

"Tess, have you agreed to marry someone else?"

"No," said Tess. She was very unhappy.

"Then why won't you say yes?"

Tess was very quiet. Then she said, "Your father is a minister. Your mother will want you to marry a lady."

"No," said Angel. "I went home to ask them if I could marry you."

"I cannot do it."

"I will give you time," said Angel.

Tess tried to work again, but she was crying too much. She could not say why she was sad, not even to Clare. He tried to make Tess happy again. He talked about other things like the good work his father did. He mentioned the young man who had said bad things to his father. He said this man was from near Trantridge and that he had a blind mother.

Tess now looked very upset and old. Clare did not notice. They finished working. Clare asked Tess about marriage again.

"No," said Tess. She could only think of Alec d'Urberville.

She went with the other milkmaids to see the cows. Angel watched her walk and thought about how much he loved her. He knew that she was the right woman for him.

Clare was sure that Tess would agree to marry him. So a few days later, he asked Tess again.

"Tess, why did you say no?"

"I don't think I'm good enough. Your family would not respect me."

"But you're wrong. My father and mother would love you. I don't care what my brothers think." Angel had to hold her so she could not walk away.

"I know that you love me Tess. Please say yes."

Tess was very sad. "I know I am not good enough for you. I can't promise to marry you."

"But you would make me happy."

"No, you're wrong," Tess said.

Tess went to the fields to cry. She was afraid that she would say yes if she did not walk away from him.

"I can't believe no one has told him about me," she thought. "Trantridge is only forty miles away."

Tess had a double life. When she was with Angel, he asked her to marry him. She wanted to keep her promise to herself, but she wanted to say yes.

"I know I will say 'yes'," she told herself. "But he may die when he finds out the truth about me."

One Sunday morning, Mr Crick said, "I have news for you all. It's Jack Dollop."

"The lover who was put in the butter churn?" asked Angel. "Did he marry the young milkmaid?"

"No," said Crick. "He married an older woman in a great hurry. He thought she was rich. Then she told him that she lost her money when they got married. Now they fight all the time."

"She should have told him the truth before they married," said Marian.

"She should have seen that he only wanted her money and said no," Retty said.

"What do you think, Tess?" asked Crick.

"I don't know," said Tess. She could not eat. She went to walk in the fields and think about the story.

She still told Angel she would not marry him. Now, he looked for her all the time. She knew she could not say no for much longer. She loved him so much that he seemed like a god to her. She knew he would love and protect her forever. This made her want to marry him and tell him the truth about her past.

One early morning when Tess was leaving her room, Clare stopped her.

"Tess," he said, "You must give me an answer or I will leave the farm. It would not be safe for you if I stayed. What do you say?"

"I will think about it, Mr Clare."

"At least call me Angel."

"Would that mean I agree to marry you?" asked Tess.

"It would only mean that you love me. And you told me that long ago."

"If I must, I will call you Angel."

Tess smiled and Angel kissed her cheek.

After work, all the dairy people went outside. Tess tried to make Angel like the other milkmaids.

"They would all make better wives than I. And they could love you as much as I do."

"Oh Tess, stop," said Clare. Tess was happy to hear this. She knew what she had to say.

(end of section)