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nydus/Tess of the d’UrbervillesPublic

A young woman of poor and uneducated parents is driven by guilt to try to redeem her family’s fortunes.

Page 177 of 565
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XIX

lent a hand in getting the cows together of late, and at the fifth or sixth time she turned her eyes, as she rested against the cow, full of sly inquiry upon him.

“ Mr. Clare, you have ranged the cows!” she said, blushing; and in making the accusation, symptoms of a smile gently lifted her upper lip in spite of her, so as to show the tips of her teeth, the lower lip remaining severely still.

“Well, it makes no difference,” said he. “You will always be here to milk them.”

“Do you think so? I hope I shall! But I don’t know .”

She was angry with herself afterwards, thinking that he, unaware of her grave reasons for liking this seclusion, might have mistaken her meaning. She had spoken so earnestly to him, as if his presence were somehow a factor in her wish. Her misgiving was such that at dusk, when the milking was over, she walked in the garden alone, to continue her regrets that she had

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