Editing Tess of the d'Urbervilles (section)

===The Maiden===
Tess Durbeyfield, a country girl of 16, is the eldest child of John Durbeyfield, a haggler, and his wife Joan. When the local [[parson]] tells John that "Durbeyfield" is a corruption of "D'Urberville" and that he is descended from an ancient [[Normans|Norman]] family, John celebrates by getting drunk. Tess drives to market in her father's place, but falls asleep at the reins; the wagon crashes and the family's only horse is killed. Feeling guilty, she agrees to visit Mrs d'Urberville, a rich widow, to "claim kin", unaware that the widow's late husband Simon Stoke had adopted the surname to distance himself from his tradesman's roots.

Alec d'Urberville, the son, is attracted to Tess and finds her a job as his mother's poultry keeper. Tess resists Alec's manipulative attentions. One night, on the pretence of rescuing her from a fight, Alec takes her on his horse to a remote spot, and it is implied that he rapes her.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Watts |first1=Cedric |title=Thomas Hardy 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' |date=2007 |publisher=Humanities-Ebooks |location=Penrith |isbn=9781847600455 |pages=32–3}}</ref>