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 wall opened and a servant in white cap and apron entered. She had come from the manor-house.

‘Mrs. D’Urberville wants the fowls as usual,’ she said; but perceiving that Tess did not quite understand, she explained, ‘Mis’ess is a old lady, and blind.’

‘Blind!’ said Tess.

Almost before her misgiving at the news could find time to shape itself she took, under her companion’s direction, two of the most beautiful of the Hamburghs in her arms, and followed the maidservant, who had likewise taken two, to the adjacent mansion, which, though ornate and imposing, showed traces everywhere on this side that some occupant of its chambers could bend to the love of dumb creatures—feathers floating within view of the front, and hen-coops standing on the grass.

In a sitting-room on the ground-floor, ensconced in an armchair with her back to the light, was the owner and mistress of the estate, a white-haired woman of not more than sixty, or even less, wearing a large cap. She had the mobile face frequent in those whose sight has decayed by