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‘You are going to marry him！’said Marian．
‘Yes，some day，’said Tess．
‘Going to marry him，a gentleman！’said Izz．
‘It's strange，’said Marian，‘to think Tess will be his wife， not a fine lady，but a girl who lives like us．’
‘Do you all hate me for it？’asked Tess in a low voice．
‘I want to hate you，but I cannot！’said Retty．
‘That's how I feel！’said Marian and Izz．
‘He ought to marry one of you，’murmured Tess．‘You are all better than I am！’
‘No，no，dear Tess，’they all said．
‘I think I ought to make him marry one of you even now！’ she sobbed．they went up to her and calmed her and helped her to bed．Before they went to sleep，Marian whispered，‘You will think of us when you are his wife，Tess，and how we did not hate you，because we did not expect to be chosen by him．’
The girls did not know that Tess cried even more at this， and that she decided she would tell Angel all her history．
Because of this，she would not set a date for the wedding． She wanted to stay as she was，not move forward into a new life．But soon it was clear that the dairyman did not want so many dairymaids at this time of year．Tess would have to leave the dairy at Christmas．
‘I'm afraid I'm glad of it，’said Angel to her，‘because now we must decide when to marry．We can't go on like this for ever．’
‘I wish we could．I wish it could be always summer and autumn，with you always loving me！’
‘I always shall．’
‘Oh，I know you will！Angel，I'll fix the day！’
So they decided on 31st December．The wedding was to take place as privately as possible at the dairy．Tess now felt she could not stop things happening，and agreed passively to whatever Angel suggested．In fact Angel's plans were a little hurried．He had not meant to marry so soon．But he wanted to keep her with him，to help her with her reading and studying， so that he could present her proudly as a lady to his parents． He also planned to spend some time studying work in a flour－ mill．They could spend their honeymoon staying in the old farmhouse which had once belonged to the d’Urbervilles， while Angel studied at the mill nearby．
The day，the impossible day of their wedding，came closer． His wife，Tess said to herself．Could it ever be？
Angel and Tess decided to spend a day together shopping on Christmas Eve．They went into town in a borrowed carriage． The town was full of strangers，who stared at Tess，happy and beautiful on Angel's arm．At the end of the day，Tess was waiting for Angel to bring the horse and carriage，when two men passed her in the street．
‘She's a lovely maiden，’one said to his friend．
‘She's lovely，yes．But she's no maiden，replied the other．
Angel returned at that moment and heard these words． Wildly angry at this insult to Tess，he hit the man in the face． The man said quickly：
‘I'm sorry，sir，I must have made a mistake．’
Angel accepted this，gave the man some money，said goodnight，and drove off with Tess．The two men went in the opposite direction．
‘And was it a mistake？’asked the second man．
‘Certainly not，’said his friend．
On the way home Tess was very serious．She felt she could not tell him the truth to his face，but there was another way． So she went to her room and wrote a four－page letter describing exactly what had happened three or four years ago． In the night she crept up to Angel's room and pushed the letter under his door．
Next morning she looked anxiously at him，but he kissed her as usual．He said nothing about the letter．Had he read it？ Did he forgive her？ Every morning and night he was the same， until finally the wedding day came．
Tess had not invited her family from Marlott．Angel had written to his．His brothers had not replied，and his parents wrote that they hoped he was not hurrying into marriage， but that he was old enough to decide for himself．Angel did not mind，because he was planning to introduce Tess to them as a d’Urberville as well as a dairymaid，some months later．
Tess was still worried about her confession，and left the crowd of busy people downstairs to creep silently up to Angel's bedroom．There she found her letter unopened，just under the carpet．He had not seen it．She could not let him read it now， in the middle of the preparations．She found him alone for a moment．
‘I must confess all my mistakes to you！’she said，trying to keep her words light．
‘Not today，my sweet！We'll have plenty of time later on！ I'll confess mine too．’
‘Then you really don't want me to？’
‘I don't，Tessy，really．’
From now on，her one desire，to call him husband，and then if necessary to die，carried her on．She moved in a cloud．
There were few people in the church．At one point she let her shoulder touch Clare's arm，to be sure that he was really there．It was only when she came out that she noticed the carriage they were driving back in．She felt she must have seen it in a dream．
‘Oh，maybe you know the story of the d’Urberville carriage，’said Angel，‘and this one reminds you of it．In the past a certain d’Urberville committed a crime in his carriage， and since then d’Urbervilles see or hear the old carriage whenever… But it's rather depressing to talk about．’
‘Is it when we are going to die，Angel，or is it when we have committed a crime？’
‘Now，Tess！’He kissed her．But she had no energy left． She was now Mrs Angel Clare，but wasn't she really Mrs Alexander d’Urberville？
Later that afternoon they left the dairy．All the dairy people watched them leave，and Clare kissed the dairymaids goodbye． As he was thanking the dairyman，a cock crowed just in front of him．
‘That's bad！’whispered the dairymen to each other． ‘When a cock crows at a husband like that…’and they laughed together behind their hands．
‘Go away！’shouted Mr Crick at the cock．Later he said to his wife，‘Why did it have to crow at Mr Clare like that？’
‘It only means a change in the weather，’said Mrs Crick， ‘not what you think．That's impossible．’
Tess and Angel arrived at the old d’Urberville farmhouse．It was empty，although a woman came to cook and clean for them．They had their tea together，and Clare delighted in eating from the same plate as Tess．Looking at her he thought，‘Do I realize how important I am to this woman？ And how I must look after her？I must never forget to think about her feelings！’
It started to rain as it grew dark outside．Finally a man arrived from the dairy with their bags．
‘I'm sorry I'm late， sir，’he said，‘but terrible things have been happening at the dairy You remember the cock crowing？ Well，whatever it means，poor little Retty Priddle has tried to drown herself！’
‘What happened？’asked Angel．
‘Well，after you left，she and Marian walked from one public house to another，drinking．Retty was found in the river，later on．And Marian was found drunk in a field！’
‘And Izz？’asked Tess．
‘Izz is at home as usual，but very sad and depressed．’
As the man left，Tess sat sadly by the fire，looking into it． They were simple innocent girls who had not been loved．It was wicked of her to take all the love without paying for it． She would pay：she would tell，there and then．
Angel was sitting beside her，holding her hand．Their faces were red in the firelight．
‘This morning，’he said suddenly，‘ we said we would both confess our mistakes．I must tell you something and you must forgive me．Perhaps I ought to have told you before．I've put off telling you，because I didn't want to lose you．’
‘Angel，I'm sure I'll forgive you…A wild hope was making Tess's heart beat faster．
‘Well，wait a minute．You know how much I believe in goodness and purity But I myself，when I was in London years ago，did wrong with a woman I hardly knew．It lasted two days．I came home and I have never done anything like it since．Do you forgive me？’
‘Oh Angel，of course I do！And I am almost glad，because now you can forgive me！I have a confession too．’
‘Ah yes，well confess，you wicked little girl！It can hardly be more serious than mine．’