"That is devilish unkind!" he said. "I mean no harm--only to keep
you from falling." She pondered suspiciously, till, thinking that this might after all
be true, she relented, and said quite humbly, "I beg your pardon,
sir." "I won't pardon you unless you show some confidence in me. Good
God!" he burst out, "what am I, to be repulsed so by a mere chit like
you? For near three mortal months have you trifled with my feelings,
eluded me, and snubbed me; and I won't stand it!"
"I'll leave you to-morrow, sir."
"No, you will not leave me to-morrow! Will you, I ask once more,
show your belief in me by letting me clasp you with my arm? Come,
between us two and nobody else, now. We know each other well; and
you know that I love you, and think you the prettiest girl in the
world, which you are. Mayn't I treat you as a lover?"
She drew a quick pettish breath of objection, writhing uneasily on
her seat, looked far ahead, and murmured, "I don't know--I wish--how
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!"