Tess of the d'Urbervilles: Chapter 56 Summary & Analysis

Mrs. Brooks, the landlady of The Herons, grows curious about the aftermath of Angel's visit to the d'Urbervilles so she eavesdrops at their door. She hears moaning, and through the keyhole sees a woman kneeling in despair. A man asks what the matter is.

Mrs. Brooks hears snatches of a lament from the woman. She says that the man never relented in his cruel persuasion, and used her family's needs against her, and mocked her that her husband would never return. She finally believed him, but now her husband has returned, and she has lost him again because of the man, and she fears her husband is ill and will die for her sins. Mrs. Brooks sees that her lips are bleeding from clenching her teeth, and then an argument starts and Mrs. Brooks runs downstairs.

She enters her own room which is directly below the d'Urbervilles'. She hears nothing through the ceiling, so she finishes her breakfast and knits. Then she sees Tess passing outside and into the street with a veil over her face. Mrs. Brooks goes back to knitting, wondering about the couple, but then she notices a red spot on the white ceiling. It grows quickly until it looks like an ace of hearts. Mrs. Brooks touches it and sees that it is blood.

She goes upstairs and listens through the door, but can only hear an ominous dripping. She runs out for help and then returns with a man and enters the apartment. The man looks in the back room and comes back shocked, saying there is a dead man who has been stabbed with a knife. They raise the alarm and later the surgeon finds that the small wound touched the man's heart, and the news of the murder spreads through the village.