Tess gazed desperately at the pile of furniture. The cold sunlight
of this spring evening peered invidiously upon the crocks and
kettles, upon the bunches of dried herbs shivering in the breeze,
upon the brass handles of the dresser, upon the wicker-cradle they
had all been rocked in, and upon the well-rubbed clock-case, all of
which gave out the reproachful gleam of indoor articles abandoned to
the vicissitudes of a roofless exposure for which they were never
made. Round about were deparked hills and slopes--now cut up
into little paddocks--and the green foundations that showed where
the d'Urberville mansion once had stood; also an outlying stretch
of Egdon Heath that had always belonged to the estate. Hard by,
the aisle of the church called the d'Urberville Aisle looked on
imperturbably.
"Isn't your family vault your own freehold?" said Tess's mother, as
she returned from a reconnoitre of the church and graveyard. "Why,
of course 'tis, and that's where we will camp, girls, till the place
of your ancestors finds us a roof! Now, Tess and 'Liza and Abraham,
you help me. We'll make a nest for these children, and then we'll
have another look round."
Tess listlessly lent a hand, and in a quarter of an hour the old
four-post bedstead was dissociated from the heap of goods, and
erected under the south wall of the church, the part of the building
known as the d'Urberville Aisle, beneath which the huge vaults lay.
Over the tester of the bedstead was a beautiful traceried window, of
many lights, its date being the fifteenth century. It was called
the d'Urberville Window, and in the upper part could be discerned
heraldic emblems like those on Durbeyfield's old seal and spoon.
Joan drew the curtains round the bed so as to make an excellent tent
of it, and put the smaller children inside. "If it comes to the
worst we can sleep there too, for one night," she said. "But let us
try further on, and get something for the dears to eat! O, Tess,
what's the use of your playing at marrying gentlemen, if it leaves
us like this!" Accompanied by 'Liza-Lu and the boy, she again ascended the little
lane which secluded the church from the townlet. As soon as they got
into the street they beheld a man on horseback gazing up and down.
"Ah--I'm looking for you!" he said, riding up to them. "This is
indeed a family gathering on the historic spot!" It was Alec d'Urberville.
"Where is Tess?" he asked.
Personally Joan had no liking for Alec. She cursorily signified the
direction of the church, and went on, d'Urberville saying that he
would see them again, in case they should be still unsuccessful in
their search for shelter, of which he had just heard. When they had
gone, d'Urberville rode to the inn, and shortly after came out on
foot. In the interim Tess, left with the children inside the bedstead,
remained talking with them awhile, till, seeing that no more could
be done to make them comfortable just then, she walked about the
churchyard, now beginning to be embrowned by the shades of nightfall.
The door of the church was unfastened, and she entered it for the
first time in her life.