Tess of the d'Urbervilles Chapter 28

Angel asks her again why she won't marry him if she loves him as she seems to, and he refuses to accept the excuse that she is from a different social class because it does not matter to him whether she's lower class or middle class. She agrees that she will tell him what makes her unworthy of him on Sunday, and he almost mocks her in agreeing to wait because he does not believe that anyone who looks and acts as innocent as Tess could be anything but spotless. He thinks that the experience that she's worrying over will be something quite trivial that she's blown out of proportion.

Tess, meanwhile, is so anxious that everyone leaves her alone for the rest of the week. She feels the inevitability of giving in to Angel's proposal, but she thinks that it's unfair to him to let him marry her without knowing the full story of her life. Yet she is greatly tempted to marry him and be happy until he finds out about Alec. She is torn about what to do and says, "I can't bear to let anybody have him but me! Yet it is wrong Tess him, and may kill him when he knows!" Chapter 28, pg. 175

Topic Tracking: Sacrifice 7