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Tess took her seat in the van going back to Shaston. She had roses at her breast, roses in her hat, roses and strawberries in her basket to the brim. Her fellow travellers wondered at it. The van traveled only up to Shaston. One had to walk quite a few miles from that mountain town into the vale of Marlott. So Tess stayed there for the night with a cottage-woman they knew.
When Tess entered the house the following afternoon, she found her mother very happy. Thus, something had happened in the meantime. Mother told her that there had been a letter from Mrs. d’Urberville. She wanted her to look after a little fowl-farm. ‘I don’t altogether think I ought to go’ said Tess thoughtfully. Tess hesitated and hesitated to go there.
For a week she searched without success some light occupation in the immediate neighborhood. As she entered the house, one of the children told her. ‘The gentleman’s been here!’. Her mother told her how he wanted her to look after the fowl-farm. Tess did not give her approval still, “I’ll think it over,” she said, leaving the room. Meanwhile, Mrs. Durbeyfield impressed upon her husband the need of Tess going and serving there. There was every chance, in her opinion of the gentleman marrying Tess. While Tess was walking thoughtfully over Prince’s grave, mother once again wanted to know her decision. The children also pressed her to go.