can I say yes or no when--'
He settled the matter by clasping his arm round her as he desired,
and Tess expressed no further negative. Thus they sidled
slowly onward till it struck her they had been advancing for an
unconscionable time--far longer than was usually occupied by the
short journey from Chaseborough, even at this walking pace, and
that they were no longer on hard road, but in a mere trackway.
'Why, where be we?' she exclaimed.
'Passing by a wood.'
'A wood--what wood? Surely we are quite out of the road?'
'A bit of The Chase--the oldest wood in England. It is a lovely
night, and why should we not prolong our ride a little?'
'How could you be so treacherous!' said Tess, between archness and
real dismay, and getting rid of his arm by pulling open his fingers
one by one, though at the risk of slipping off herself. 'Just when
I've been putting such trust in you, and obliging you to please you,
because I thought I had wronged you by that push! Please set me
down, and let me walk home.'
'You cannot walk home, darling, even if the air were clear. We are
miles away from Trantridge, if I must tell you, and in this growing
fog you might wander for hours among these trees.'
'Never mind that,' she coaxed. 'Put me down, I beg you. I don't
mind where it is; only let me get down, sir, please!'
'Very well, then, I will--on one condition. Having brought you
here to this out-of-the-way place, I feel myself responsible for
your safe-conduct home, whatever you may yourself feel about it.
As to your getting to Trantridge without assistance, it is quite
impossible; for, to tell the truth, dear, owing to this fog, which so
disguises everything, I don't quite know where we are myself. Now,
if you will promise to wait beside the horse while I walk through the
bushes till I come to some road or house, and ascertain exactly our
whereabouts, I'll deposit you here willingly. When I come back I'll
give you full directions, and if you insist upon walking you may; or
you may ride--at your pleasure.'
She accepted these terms, and slid off on the near side, though not
till he had stolen a cursory kiss. He sprang down on the other side.
'I suppose I must hold the horse?' said she.
'Oh no; it's not necessary,' replied Alec, patting the panting
creature. 'He's had enough of it for to-night.'
He turned the horse's head into the bushes, hitched him on to a
bough, and made a sort of couch or nest for her in the deep mass of
dead leaves.
'Now, you sit there,' he said. 'The leaves have not got damp as yet.
Just give an eye to the horse--it will be quite sufficient.'
He took a few steps away from her, but, returning, said, 'By the bye,
Tess, your father has a new cob to-day. Somebody gave it to him.'
'Somebody? You!'
D'Urberville nodded.
'O how very good of you that is!' she exclaimed, with a painful sense
of the awkwardness of having to thank him just then.
