Tess of the D'Urbervilles

arters in an old thatched cottage standing in an enclosure that had once been a garden, but was now a trampled and sanded squ

descendants of these bygone owners felt it almost as a slight 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 generations be

e formerly stood chairs supporting sedate agriculturists. The chimney-corner and once blazing hearth was now filled with inverted beehives, in which the hens

od was surrounded by a wall, and co

ngements, according to her skilled ideas as the daughter of a professed poulterer, the door in t

d; but perceiving that Tess did not quite understand

!' sai

er arms, and followed the maid-servant, who had likewise taken two, to the adjacent mansion, which, though ornate and imposing, showed traces everywhere on this s

sixty, or even less, wearing a large cap. She had the mobile face frequent in those whose sight has decayed by stages, has been laboriously striven after, and reluctantly

ailiff tells me you are quite the proper person. Well, where are they? Ah, this is Strut! But he is hardly so lively today, is he? He is alarmed at

xamining their beaks, their combs, the manes of the cocks, their wings, and their claws. Her touch enabled her to recognize them in a moment, and to discover if a single feather were

ocks and hens had been submitted to the old woman - Hamburghs, Bantams, Cochins, Brahmas, Dorkings, and such other sorts as

ed, and herself and the maidservant the parson and curate of the parish bringing them up. At the end of the cere

le, Ma

histle

omplishment was one which she did not care to profess in genteel

o my bullfinches; as I cannot see them I like to hear them, and we teach `em airs that way. Tell her where the cages are

ed to 'em this morning,

Poo

nto furrows of repugnance, an

ing the size of the house she had expected no more. But she was far from being aware that the old lady had never heard a word of the so-called kinship. She gathered that no great affection f

curious to test her powers in the unexpected direction asked of her, so as to ascertain her chance of retaining her post. As soon as she was alone within the walled garden she sat herself down on a coop,

ent among the ivy-boughs which cloaked the garden-wall no less than the cottage. Looking that way she beheld a form springing from the coping to the plot. It

f mockery]. I have been watching you from over the wall sitting - like Im-patience on a monument, and pouting up that pretty red mouth to whistling

oss, but I d

their musical education. How selfish of her! As if attending to these curst cocks an

arly to do it, and to be r

en - I'll give you

said Tess, withdrawi

he wire netting, and you can keep on the other; so you may feel quite sa

tled a line of `Take, O take those lips aw

said d'Ur

demand, and at last, to get rid of him, she did put up her lips as directed for producing a cle

d her with `

and unexpectedly emitting a real round sound. The momentary pleasure of success g

ould not come near you; and, in spite of such temptation as never before fell to

w much of he

of her books just now, but you will be quite in favour if you treat her live-stock well. Good mor

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- which that young man carefully cultivated in her by playful dialogue, and by lastingly calling her his cousin when they were alone - removed much of her original shyness of him, without, however, implanting any feeling which could engend

sical mother numerous airs that suited those songsters admirably. A far more satisfactory time than when she practised in the garden was this whistling by the cages e

cages were ranged, giving her lesson as usual, she thought she heard a rustling behind the bed. The old lady was not present, and turning round the girl had an impression that the toes of a pair of boots were visible below the fringe of the curtains. Thereupon her whistling became so dis