In May Angel Clare returned to England with two letters in his pocket. He went briefly to his parents at Emminster and then hired a gig and set out to find his wife. His parents were shocked to see how much he had changed. His face was thin, and his eyes were anxious. He wore a beard now, which made him look much older than he was.

Clare passed the stone pillar at Cross-in-Hand and went on to Flintcomb-Ash, to the address from which her letters had been sent. None of the villagers there could remember anyone called Mrs Clare: they had known Tess only by her Christian name. Clare found this discouraging. Her refusal to use his name, like her refusal to go to his father for help, showed a dignified sense of their total separation. And here for the first time Clare understood the hardships she had suffered in his absence. The farm workers told him that Tess had gone to her parents in Marlott, and so he continued his journey.

Clare's gig entered the lovely valley in which his dear Tess had been born and descended the green slopes to the village of Marlott. The villagers told him that Mr Durbeyfield was dead, and Mrs Durbeyfield and the children had left Marlott.

Clare began to despair. He went for a walk through the village to plan his next step. He passed by the field where Tess and the village women had danced all those years ago. He passed through the graveyard and saw John Durbeyfield's grave. On the gravestone were engraved these words:

John Durbeyfield, rightly d'Urberville, direct descendant of Sir Pagan d'Urberville, a knight of William the Conqueror. HOW THE MIGHTY ARE FALLEN

The people who now lived in the Durbeyfield's cottage gave Clare Joan's present address. He hired a gig and went there as fast as he could.

Clare had never met Joan before. When she answered the door, he noticed that she was a good-looking woman in respectable widow's dress. She looked at him nervously. He told her he was Tess's husband, and that he was looking for Tess. Joan was reluctant to give him the address. She said she was sure that Tess did not wish him to find her. But Clare did not believe her. He remembered Tess's first letter. 'Please tell me her address, Mrs Durbeyfield, in kindness to a sad and lonely man!'

Finally Joan told him that Tess was at Sandbourne - a fashionable seaside resort near Egdon Heath. Clare thanked her and hurried away to catch the next train for Sandbourne.