Tess of the d'Urbervilles Chapter 48

While Angel has been in Brazil, he's had time to think about Tess and their situation. He even talks to another Englishman about it to get some perspective, and the man tells him that he was wrong to abandon her as he's done. Angel reconsiders his views and decides that it matters less what Tess did before she loved him because when she met him, she loved him truly and devotedly. Then he wonders why she hasn't written to him in the year since their separation, forgetting that he didn't want to hear from her until now. Meanwhile, her desperate letter is on its way to him from his parents' home.

As Tess waits to hear from him, she learns to sing all the songs that he liked when he worked at the dairy because she hopes to sing them for him if he comes back to her. Then her younger sister, Liza Lu, comes to Flintcomb Ash in the afternoon to tell Tess that their mother is dying, their father won't work, and they have no money. Tess leaves immediately even though there are a few days left in her work contract.