Well, the pot is boiling! Tilla thinks Ruso will sell her so she runs away. She is sheltered by Britons, then tries to return to her village. Romans capture her. Returned to (evil) Priscus who will probably kill her. I was right, he is the murderer. Ruso spends all his money to retrieve a boy who is being torn from his mother and sold into slavery. But wait . . . he now needs the money to keep Priscus from selling Trilla into slavery. And there's more. One of the other girls is giving birth -- and only Trilla can save her (she's a midwife.) But Trilla has a poison acorn in her mouth that she will chomp down on if anyone invades her territory. So, Ruso talks her into being a midwife. Baby born successfully, of course. Mom alive, of course. Now can Ruso talk her into being his wife. (Turns out she's the daughter of a centurion, so not really of slave stock.) I'll know tomorrow, but my guess is that all will work out well. Fun, but hardly historical fiction. Author uses phrases like "low-life" and "I worked my balls off." No attempt even to duplicate the language.
"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other. Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy. It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...
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