He drew rein, and as they slowed he was on th e point of imprinting the desired salute, when, as if hardly yet aware of her own m odesty, she dodged aside.His arms being occupied with the reins there was le ft him no p ower to prevent her manoeuvre.
“Now, damn it—I'll break both o ur necks！”swore her capriciously passonate co mpanion.“So y ou can g o fro m y our word like that, y ou y oung witch, can you?”
“Very well, ”said Tess, “I'll not move since you be so determined！But I—thought you would be kind to me, and protect me, as my kinsman！”
“Kinsman be hanged！Now！”
“But I don't want anybody to kiss me, s ir！”sh e implor ed, a big tear beginning to roll down her face, and the corners of her mouth trembling in her attempts not to cry.“And I wouldn't ha'come if I had known！”
He was inexorable, and she sat sti ll, and d'Urberville gave her the kiss of mastery.No sooner had h e done so th an she flush ed with shame, too k out h er handkerchief, and wiped the spot o n her cheek th at had b een touched by his lips.H is ard our was nettled at th e s ight, for the act on h er part had b een unconsciously done.
“You are mighty sensitive for a cottage girl！”said the young man.
Tess made n o reply to this remark, of which, indeed, she d id not qu ite comprehend the dr ift, unheeding the snub she had ad ministered by her instinctive rub upon her cheek.She h ad, in fact, undone the kiss, as far as su ch a thing was physically possible.With a dim sense that he was vexed she looked steadily ahead as they trotted on near Melbury Down and Wingreen, till s he saw, to her consternation, that there was yet another descent to be undergone.
“You shall be made sor ry for that！”he resu med, his injured tone s till remaining, as he flourished the whip anew.“Unless, that is, you agree willingly to let me do it again, and no handkerchief.”
She sighed.“Very well, sir！”she said.“Oh—let me get my hat！”
At the moment of speak ing her hat had blown off in to the road, their present speed on th e upland being b y no means slow.D'Urberville pulled up, and said he would get it for her, but Tess was down on the other side.
She turned back and picked up the article.
“You look p rettier with it off, upon m y soul, if that's possible, ”he said, contemplating her over the back of the veh icle.“Now then, u p again！Wh at's the matter?”
The hat was in place and tied, but Tess had not stepped forward.
“No, sir, ”she said, revealing the red and ivory of her mouth as her eye lit in defiant triumph; “not again, if I know it！”
“What—you won't get up beside me?”
“No; I shall walk.”
“'Tis five or six miles yet to Trantridge.”
“I don't care if'tis dozens.Besides, the cart is behind.”
“You artful hussy！Now, tell me—didn't you make th at hat b low off o n purpose?I'll swear you did！”
Her strategic silence confirmed his suspicion.
Then d'Urberville cursed and swore at her, and called her everything he could think of for the tr ick.Turning the horse su ddenly he tried to driv e back upon her, and so hem her in between the gig and the hedge.But he could not do this short of injuring her.
“You ought to be ashamed of y ourself for us ing such wick ed words！”cried Tess with spirit, from the top of the hedge into which she had scrambled.“I don't like'ee at all！I hate and detest you！I'll go back to mother, I will！”
D'Urberville's bad tem per cleared u p at s ight of hers; and he lau ghed heartily.
“Well, I lik e you all the better, ”he s aid.“Come, let there be peace.I'll never do it any more against your will.My life upon it now！”
Still Tess could not be induced to remount.She did not, however, object to his keeping his g ig alongside h er; and in th is manner, at a s low pace, th ey advanced to wards the v illage of Tr antridge.Fro m time to t ime d'Urberville exhibited a sort of fierce distress at the sight of the tramping he had driven her to undertake by his misd emeanour.She might in truth hav e safely trusted him now; but he had forfeited her conf idence for the time, and s he kept o n th e ground, progressing thoughtfully, as if wondering whether it would be wiser to return home.Her reso lve, however, had been taken, and it seemed vacillating even to ch ildishness to abandon it no w, unless for graver r easons.How could she face her parents, get back her box, and disconcert the whole scheme for the rehabilitation of her family on such sentimental grounds?
A few minutes later the chimneys of The Slopes appeared in view, and in a snug nook to the right the poultry-farm and cottage of Tess's destination.
9
The community of fowls to which Tess had been appointed assupervisor, purveyor, nurse, surgeon, and friend, made its headquarters in an old thatched cottage standing in an enclosure th at had once been a garden, but was now a tram pled and sanded squ are.The house was overrun with ivy, its chimney being enlarged by the boughs of the par asite to the aspect of a ruined tower.The lower room s were entirely given over to the b irds, who walked about them with a prop rietary air, as though the place had been built by themselves, and not by certain dusty copyholders who now lay east and west in the chur chyard.The descendants of these by gone owners felt it almost as aslight to their family when the house which had so much of their affection, had cost so much of their forefathers'money, and had been in their possession for several gen erations b efore the d'Urbervilles came and built h ere, was indifferently turned into a fowl-house by Mrs.Stoke-d'Urberville as soon as the prop erty fell in to h and according to law.”'Twas good enough f or Christians in grandfather's time, ”they said.
The roo ms wherein do zens of inf ants had wailed at their n ursing no w resounded with the tapping of nascent chicks.Distracted hens in coops occupied sp ots where f ormerly stoo d chairs sup porting s edate agr iculturists.The chi mneycorner and once blaz ing hearth w as now fille d with inve rted beehives, in which the hens laid their eggs; while out of doors the p lots that each succeeding householder had carefully shaped with his spade were torn by the cocks in wildest fashion.
The garden in which th e cottage stood was surrounded by a wall, an d could only be entered through a door.
When Tess had occup ied herself ab out an hour the next morning i n altering and improving the arrangements, according to her skilled ideas as the daughter of a professed poulterer, the door in the wall op ened and a servant in white cap and apron entered.She had come from the manorhouse.
“Mrs.d'Urberville wants the fowls as usual, ”she said; but perceiving that Tess did not quite understand, she explained, “Mis'ess is a old lady, and blind.”
“Blind！”said Tess.
Almost before her misgiving at the news could find time to shape itself she took, under her co mpanion's direction, two of the most beautiful o f th e Hamburghs in her ar ms, and fo llowed th e maid-servant, who had likewise taken two, to th e ad jacent mansion, which, though ornate and imposing, showed traces every where on this side that so me occupan t of its chamber s could bend to the love of dumb creatures—feathers floating within view of the front, and hen-coops standing on the grass.