When Tess finishes her story, Angel is upset. Tess points out that she and Angel share similar pasts (both have had previous sexual relationships) and asks him to forgive her in kind. Angel, however, argues that Tess is not who he believed her to be: “[F]orgiveness does not apply to this case. You were one person: now you are another” (248). Angel goes outside to walk and think, and Tess trails after him, begging him to forgive and love her. She offers to kill herself, but Angel says that will not solve their problem. He tells her to go inside and sleep while he continues to walk. When he finally comes inside, Tess is sleeping, and Angel looks at her beautiful face. At a loss for what to do, he goes to sleep in a different room.

Time passes: Angel avoids Tess and spends all of his time working at the mill or studying. Tess tells Angel that he should divorce her if he can no longer love her and is shocked when he bitterly explains that divorce is not possible. Tess tells him, “I never thought but that you could! I hoped you would not, yet I believed without a doubt that you could cast me off if you were determined” (258).