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John Durbeyfield has an encounter with a man while on his way home, and the man tells him that his family is descended from a noble family, the d'Urbervilles. Meanwhile, Tess Durbeyfield is celebrating at the MayDay festival with other local people when her father comes by on a carriage that was ordered by the man who told him of his noble lineage to take him home. He gets laughed at by many of the people at the festival, but Tess defends him. -
Tess is going to bring her fathers beehives to the market with her brother because their father is too drunk to do it himself. In the way there, their carriage collides with another and their old family horse is killed. Tess feels guilty about this, so she decides she will agree to go to the d'Urbervilles and work for some money like her mom wants her to, so she can get a new horse for the family. -
As Tess leaves for the d'Urbervilles to take the job offer she got from them, escorted by the son of the d'Urbervilles, who she met when she went to their house after her horse died, her whole family is crying, especially her mother who feel suneasy about her being with Alec. Her suspicions prove to be valid, as Alec is a weirdo in every sense on the word. He drives recklessly and refuses to slow down unless Tess allows him to kiss her. She eventually ends up finishing the journey on foot. -
Alec is still creating a lot of problems for Tess. Many of Tess's friends are mad at her because Tess has Alec's attention all to herself. It doesn't help when Alec shows up to take Tess away on his horse. When they leave, Alec lets the horse go off the path into the woods, and continues to beg Tess to allow him to be her lover. Denied. Again. Alec gets off the horse to go search for something in the woods. When he returns, Tess is asleep on the horse. He does about what you'd expect he would. -
Tess decides to leave the d'Urbervilles early because she realizes she feels no love for Alec. Alec finds her on the path while she is on her way home and offers to take her the rest of the way. She refuses. When she arrives at home her mother is very surprised to see her. She is also upset that Tess has decided against marrying Alec. Tess gets visited by her friends, which temporarily makes her happy, but when they leave, she is sad again. She doesn't know what to do with herself. -
The child of Tess and Alec gets sick one day and Tess worries it may die if she doesn't christen it properly. She christens it herself, but the baby still dies the next morning. She asks the parson if the baby still qualifies for a christian burial. He says that he cannot bury the baby, but she can do it herself. She buries the baby, Sorrow, in a corner of the churchyard. Following this, Tess realizes she will never be happy in Marlott. She gets a job as a milkmaid, and leaves home again. -
Tess goes to work at a dairy company called Talbothay's. She wastes no time getting to work when she arrives. She starts to learn more about the place and the people there, particularly one man named Angel, who she recognizes from the MayDay festival back home. We learn that Angel is one of three brothers, and despite being very smart, decided not to go to college because of the religious expectations. They gradually get closer and talk about their lives back home and life as a whole. -
Tess and Angel are beginning to cause some conversation at the dairy farm. People are saying they are in love, and it is becoming very obvious that there is something of the sort between them. It is causing a disruption in the production of butter at the farm, which according to the people who have worked there for a while, is something that always happne when two of the workers are in love. Tess and Angel continue to spend more and more time together. Its only a matter of time now, right?