Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Chapter X. Respecting the sub-title, to which allusion was made above, I may add that it was appended at the last moment, after reading the final proofs, as being the estimate left in a candid mind of the heroine’s character—an estimate that nobody would be likely to dispute. It was disputed more than anything else in the book. _Melius fuerat non scibere._ But there it stands. The novel was fi...