06-04-苔丝 [48]
I was sixteen… when you danced in Marlott？ Oh，Why didn't you？’
‘Ah yes！If only I had known！But you must not regret so bitterly！Why should you？’
Hiding her feelings quickly，she said，‘I would have had four more years of your love than I can ever have now．’
They had to tell the dairyman and his wife that they were planning to marry．That night as Tess entered the bedroom， all three dairymaids were waiting for her．
‘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
‘Ah yes！If only I had known！But you must not regret so bitterly！Why should you？’
Hiding her feelings quickly，she said，‘I would have had four more years of your love than I can ever have now．’
They had to tell the dairyman and his wife that they were planning to marry．That night as Tess entered the bedroom， all three dairymaids were waiting for her．
‘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