Alec begins his conversion from a fervent minister to his old self when he sees Tess. He blames her for his “backsliding” and proposes that she leave the farm at Flintcomb to marry him. She rebuffs him several times but is worn down by his persistence. Her weak point is his mentioning that he could provide for her family if she would be his live-in love. Alec says “I have enough and more than enough to put you out of anxiety, both for yourself and your parents and sisters.” Tess objects vehemently saying, “‘If you want to help them—God knows they need it—do it without telling me.” Tess’ doubts as to Alec’s sincerity about being a minister are confirmed when he renounces his calling to pursue Tess once again. Thus, Hardy demonstrates the shallowness of recent converts when compared to the simple beliefs of a simple country girl.
In a turn of curious events, when Alec first sees Tess, they both walk and converse until they come to a roadside marker called “Cross-in Hand.” Alec assumes that the marker denotes a former boundary or meeting place. Tess later learns that the marker is not a “Holy Cross,” but a symbol of man who had sold his soul to Satan—“It was put up in wuld times by relations of a malefactor who was tortured there by nailing his hand to a post and afterwards hung. The bones lie underneath. They say he sold his soul to the devil, and that he walks at times.”
That Hardy would include such a marker and tale indicates that he wants readers to gain some understanding from it. And so a careful reader must wonder at its significance. Thus the cross becomes not a religious symbol, but a perverse reminder of a man (Alec) and the promise he exacted from Tess not to tempt him anymore—“put your hand upon that stone hand, and swear that you will never tempt me—by your charms or ways.” But, in fact, he cannot resist her.
