Chapter 31
Tess sends her mother a letter asking for advice about telling Angel of her seduction and the child she bore. Joan Durbeyfield writes back telling Tess to say nothing of it to Angel because Angel will be happier not knowing. Tess gladly follows her mother's advice and gives herself up to the joy she feels just being in love and being adored.
Angel wants her to pick a wedding date, and although Tess hesitates to name one, Angel tells the dairyman and the dairy workers that they are engaged.
That night Izz, Rhetty, and Marian gather around Tess in their room over the milk house and assure her that they don't hate her because she is the one Angel chose. They feel that she is the best one of them for him, and their kindness and honest love for Angel makes her feel guilty enough to want to tell Angel about Alec before they are married. She thinks it is really the only fair thing to do.
Topic Tracking: Sacrifice 8
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