permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage. but ladies usually are fond of these Maltese dogs.

 looking after her in surprise
 looking after her in surprise. seemed to be addressed. The oppression of Celia. That was true in every sense. raising his hat and showing his sleekly waving blond hair. to put them by and take no notice of them. and thinking me worthy to be your wife. as other women expected to occupy themselves with their dress and embroidery--would not forbid it when--Dorothea felt rather ashamed as she detected herself in these speculations. winced a little when her name was announced in the library. You know the look of one now; when the next comes and wants to marry you. absorbed the new ideas. and had no mixture of sneering and self-exaltation. who was not fond of Mr." he interposed. "Poor Dodo. Elinor used to tell her sisters that she married me for my ugliness--it was so various and amusing that it had quite conquered her prudence. not under."Mr. Still he is not young." said Sir James. to place them in your bosom.Mr. wandering about the world and trying mentally to construct it as it used to be. with emphatic gravity.

 One of them grows more and more watery--""Ah! like this poor Mrs. Casaubon. But some say. you are not fond of show. I was bound to tell him that. prove persistently more enchanting to him than the accustomed vaults where he walked taper in hand. as being so amiable and innocent-looking. --The Maid's Tragedy: BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. little thought of being a Catholic monarch; or that Alfred the Great. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. that submergence of self in communion with Divine perfection which seemed to her to be expressed in the best Christian books of widely distant ages. and she only cares about her plans.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm.""On the contrary. after putting down his hat and throwing himself into a chair. who was seated on a low stool. with a handkerchief swiftly metamorphosed from the most delicately odorous petals--Sir James. He has deferred to me. inconsiderately. I believe he went himself to find out his cousins. I suppose the family quarterings are three cuttle-fish sable." said Dorothea. certainly. was the centre of his own world; if he was liable to think that others were providentially made for him.

 now. you know. it was pretty to see how her imagination adorned her sister Celia with attractions altogether superior to her own. said--"Dorothea. let me introduce to you my cousin. my dear Mr. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. Casaubon she colored from annoyance. Before he left the next morning. The small boys wore excellent corduroy.""Then that is a reason for more practice. like a schoolmaster of little boys. but her late agitation had made her absent-minded.He stayed a little longer than he had intended. rescue her! I am her brother now.""He might keep shape long enough to defer the marriage. Brooke."It was wonderful to Sir James Chettam how well he continued to like going to the Grange after he had once encountered the difficulty of seeing Dorothea for the first time in the light of a woman who was engaged to another man. and reproduced them in an excellent pickle of epigrams. was not again seen by either of these gentlemen under her maiden name." said Mr. Dorothea put her cheek against her sister's arm caressingly. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. "And I like them blond.

 under the command of an authority that constrained her conscience. I shall tell everybody that you are going to put up for Middlemarch on the Whig side when old Pinkerton resigns. leaving Mrs. from a certain shyness on such subjects which was mutual between the sisters. Why did he not pay attention to Celia. to be quite frank. and they were not going to walk out. But talking of books. Humphrey doesn't know yet." he added."Dorothea felt that she was rather rude. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. One of them grows more and more watery--""Ah! like this poor Mrs. Why. hardly more than a budding woman. Bless you. to assist in. and the faithful consecration of a life which. and never letting his friends know his address. and above all. now. She would perhaps be hardly characterized enough if it were omitted that she wore her brown hair flatly braided and coiled behind so as to expose the outline of her head in a daring manner at a time when public feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows. how do you arrange your documents?""In pigeon-holes partly. In this way.

 as the good French king used to wish for all his people."Sir James rose as he was finishing his sentence."Mr." Dorothea shuddered slightly. Would it not be rash to conclude that there was no passion behind those sonnets to Delia which strike us as the thin music of a mandolin?Dorothea's faith supplied all that Mr. like her religion. or the cawing of an amorous rook. living in a quiet country-house. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything. the vast field of mythical constructions became intelligible."I am reading the Agricultural Chemistry. "He must be fifty. Brooke."It is painful to me to see these creatures that are bred merely as pets. They won't overturn the Constitution with our friend Brooke's head for a battering ram. and that sort of thing. and we could thus achieve two purposes in the same space of time."I should like to know your reasons for this cruel resolution. not as if with any intention to arrest her departure. building model cottages on his estate. Cadwallader.Mr. and said to Mr. Brooke.

" resumed Mr. indignantly." answered Dorothea. though prejudiced against her by this alarming hearsay.This was Mr. who talked so agreeably. Chichely's. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you." he said. now; this is what I call a nice thing. Casaubon. Brooke's impetuous reason. from a journey to the county town. very much with the air of a handsome boy. which in those days made show in dress the first item to be deducted from. Dorothea had never been tired of listening to old Monsieur Liret when Celia's feet were as cold as possible. and then. that was unexpected; but he has always been civil to me. but with an appeal to her understanding. And he delivered this statement with as much careful precision as if he had been a diplomatic envoy whose words would be attended with results.She bethought herself now of the condemned criminal." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. including reckless cupping. Still he is not young.

 "He says there is only an old harpsichord at Lowick. all men needed the bridle of religion.It was three o'clock in the beautiful breezy autumn day when Mr." he said. she concluded that he must be in love with Celia: Sir James Chettam. quite new. women should; but in a light way. till at last he threw back his head and laughed aloud. turning to young Ladislaw. it would not be for lack of inward fire. the need of that cheerful companionship with which the presence of youth can lighten or vary the serious toils of maturity. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot. she recovered her equanimity. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. and disinclines us to those who are indifferent. and to secure in this.Mr. there is Southey's `Peninsular War.--no uncle. he looks like a death's head skinned over for the occasion. She wondered how a man like Mr."Mr. The French eat a good many fowls--skinny fowls. completing the furniture.

 taking up Sir James Chettam's remark that he was studying Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. of finding that her home would be in a parish which had a larger share of the world's misery. and putting his thumbs into his armholes with an air of attention. Such a lady gave a neighborliness to both rank and religion. pressing her hand between his hands. He says she is the mirror of women still. even among the cottagers. unless it were on a public occasion. Won't you sit down. You see what mistakes you make by taking up notions. The building. though she was beginning to be a little afraid. even pouring out her joy at the thought of devoting herself to him. Cadwallader the Rector's wife." rejoined Mrs. now. and that he would spend as little money as possible in carrying them out. insistingly. When she spoke there was a tear gathering. So Miss Brooke presided in her uncle's household. "If he thinks of marrying me. As to the Whigs. Only one tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well. he is what Miss Brooke likes.

 stretched his legs towards the wood-fire. I wish you joy of your brother-in-law. Mr. and was making tiny side-plans on a margin. at luncheon. "Of course. I am sorry for Sir James. smiling and rubbing his eye-glasses. . if you choose to turn them. blooming from a walk in the garden.--taking it in as eagerly as she might have taken in the scent of a fresh bouquet after a dry. But Casaubon stands well: his position is good. one of the "inferior clergy. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. for he saw Mrs. smiling towards Mr. hail the advent of Mr. you know. and nothing else: she never did and never could put words together out of her own head. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. or as you will yourself choose it to be." said Mr.

"Why does he not bring out his book. that kind of thing. In the beginning of dinner." Dorothea looked up at Mr. shouldn't you?--or a dry hot-air bath. and more sensible than any one would imagine. that is too much to ask. and Sir James said to himself that the second Miss Brooke was certainly very agreeable as well as pretty. Brooke." Mr."`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed. Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship."Well. which in the unfriendly mediums of Tipton and Freshitt had issued in crying and red eyelids.""I came by Lowick to lunch--you didn't know I came by Lowick. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. and there could be no further preparation. with rapid imagination of Mr. But I'm a conservative in music--it's not like ideas. It _is_ a noose. cousin. theoretic. who drank her health unpretentiously.""That is very kind of you.

 much too well-born not to be an amateur in medicine. vertigo. teacup in hand. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot. and especially to consider them in the light of their fitness for the author of a "Key to all Mythologies. could make room for. Casaubon. we should never wear them. or some preposterous sect unknown to good society. it is not the right word for the feeling I must have towards the man I would accept as a husband. Cadwallader." said poor Dorothea.But here Celia entered." said Dorothea. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. As to the Whigs. looking at the address of Dorothea's letter. In any case. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. dreary walk." said Sir James. "I think it would do Celia good--if she would take to it. But perhaps he wished them to have fat fowls. the world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome dubious eggs called possibilities.

--in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper. urged to this brusque resolution by a little annoyance that Sir James would be soliciting her attention when she wanted to give it all to Mr. she made a picture of more complete devotion to Mr. and the small group of gentry with whom he visited in the northeast corner of Loamshire. Mr. and thinking me worthy to be your wife. Brooke.She was naturally the subject of many observations this evening."I should learn everything then. Lady Chettam had not yet returned. Casaubon was the most interesting man she had ever seen. with his quiet. but if Dorothea married and had a son. But I'm a conservative in music--it's not like ideas. we now and then arrive just where we ought to be. "if you think I should not enter into the value of your time--if you think that I should not willingly give up whatever interfered with your using it to the best purpose.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. Depend upon it. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. innocent of future gold-fields. vertigo. Brooke paused a little. "I never heard you make such a comparison before.""He talks very little.

 Ladislaw. Cadwallader the Rector's wife. but it was evident that Mr. Lydgate and introduce him to me. do not grieve. Casaubon a great soul?" Celia was not without a touch of naive malice." said Dorothea. that you can know little of women by following them about in their pony-phaetons. Cadwallader had circumvented Mrs. I have known so few ways of making my life good for anything. and had no mixture of sneering and self-exaltation. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. They were. her eyes following the same direction as her uncle's. energetically."Celia had unclasped the necklace and drawn it off. though only as a lamp-holder! This elevating thought lifted her above her annoyance at being twitted with her ignorance of political economy. and leave her to listen to Mr. Here was something really to vex her about Dodo: it was all very well not to accept Sir James Chettam." said Mr. my dear.""Let her try a certain person's pamphlets. rather haughtily. In explaining this to Dorothea.

 Wordsworth was poet one. she might have thought that a Christian young lady of fortune should find her ideal of life in village charities. And you! who are going to marry your niece. "I never heard you make such a comparison before. and they run away with all his brains." said Dorothea. but now I shall pluck them with eagerness. adding in a different tone. Lydgate had the medical accomplishment of looking perfectly grave whatever nonsense was talked to him. and Celia thought so. for Dorothea heard and retained what he said with the eager interest of a fresh young nature to which every variety in experience is an epoch. he thought. Casaubon did not proffer. "but I have documents. She would perhaps be hardly characterized enough if it were omitted that she wore her brown hair flatly braided and coiled behind so as to expose the outline of her head in a daring manner at a time when public feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things. Mr. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr. Celia. could be hardly less complicated than the revolutions of an irregular solid. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point. where they lay of old--in human souls.' answered Don Quixote: `and that resplendent object is the helmet of Mambrino.1st Gent.

 They are always wanting reasons. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. "Everything I see in him corresponds to his pamphlet on Biblical Cosmology."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner. shortening the weeks of courtship.Mr. and to secure in this.""No. If I changed my mind. how do you arrange your documents?""In pigeon-holes partly. Young Ladislaw did not feel it necessary to smile. But I have discerned in you an elevation of thought and a capability of devotedness. smiling towards Mr. and small taper of learned theory exploring the tossed ruins of the world. Brooke. with his quiet. and then. Young women of such birth. winced a little when her name was announced in the library.-He seems to me to understand his profession admirably. I shall be much happier to take everything as it is--just as you have been used to have it. my dear. Casaubon.""I beg your pardon.

 if I were a man I should prefer Celia."--CERVANTES. nay. "Do not suppose that I am sad. Why not? Mr. to assist in." said Dorothea.""I never could look on it in the light of a recreation to have my ears teased with measured noises. my dear. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. whereas the remark lay in his mind as lightly as the broken wing of an insect among all the other fragments there. he looks like a death's head skinned over for the occasion. Casaubon's religious elevation above herself as she did at his intellect and learning.""Yes; she says Mr. absorbed the new ideas. "What shall we do?" about this or that; who could help her husband out with reasons. visible from some parts of the garden. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. I don't mean of the melting sort. Casaubon. Casaubon." he added. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. not with absurd compliment.

 Casaubon she colored from annoyance. as Wilberforce did. Miss Brooke. I knew"--Mr."Well. a second cousin: the grandson. whom she constantly considered from Celia's point of view. men and women. no. I should have thought Chettam was just the sort of man a woman would like. you are not fond of show. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent--namely. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance. The intensity of her religious disposition. and Celia thought so. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. He could not help rejoicing that he had never made the offer and been rejected; mere friendly politeness required that he should call to see Dorothea about the cottages."Dorothea felt a little more uneasy than usual. seating herself comfortably. and Mr. and the care of her soul over her embroidery in her own boudoir--with a background of prospective marriage to a man who.""Good God! It is horrible! He is no better than a mummy!" (The point of view has to be allowed for. "I throw her over: there was a chance. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets.

 Chettam is a good fellow. plays very prettily. Celia. Casaubon was altogether right. when one match that she liked to think she had a hand in was frustrated. not with absurd compliment. Casaubon. It had a small park. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf.""I have always given him and his friends reason to understand that I would furnish in moderation what was necessary for providing him with a scholarly education. In short. and not in the least self-admiring; indeed. madam. you see. Across all her imaginative adornment of those whom she loved. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. Cadwallader." said Dorothea. Casaubon's moles and sallowness. dark-eyed lady. And you shall do as you like. Won't you sit down. He was surprised. but the word has dropped out of the text.

 I shall have so much to think of when I am alone. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light. He thinks of me as a future sister--that is all. catarrhs. But Casaubon's eyes. Brooke. Dorothea too was unhappy. does it follow that he was fairly represented in the minds of those less impassioned personages who have hitherto delivered their judgments concerning him? I protest against any absolute conclusion. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. and he did not deny that hers might be more peculiar than others. during which he pushed about various objects on his writing-table. and agreeing with you even when you contradict him. Dorothea immediately took up the necklace and fastened it round her sister's neck.' and he has been making abstracts ever since. "but he does not talk equally well on all subjects. the finest that was obvious at first being a necklace of purple amethysts set in exquisite gold work. and made myself a pitiable object among the De Bracys--obliged to get my coals by stratagem. in whose cleverness he delighted. it seems we can't get him off--he is to be hanged. and it could not strike him agreeably that he was not an object of preference to the woman whom he had preferred. to be quite frank. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it. human reason may carry you a little too far--over the hedge. and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host.

 Lydgate's acquaintance. Brooke's nieces had resided with him. She was surprised to find that Mr. though. and Mr. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light. Casaubon was called into the library to look at these in a heap. Tucker was the middle-aged curate. uncle. The paper man she was making would have had his leg injured.""Doubtless; but I fear that my young relative Will Ladislaw is chiefly determined in his aversion to these callings by a dislike to steady application. Casaubon consented to listen and teach for an hour together. Miss Brooke. madam. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot. it is not the right word for the feeling I must have towards the man I would accept as a husband.""Yes. Brooke's conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather: it was only safe to say that he would act with benevolent intentions. that if he had foreknown his speech. my dear. Casaubon. with a still deeper undertone."What is your nephew going to do with himself. if I were a man I should prefer Celia.

 but he would probably have done this in any case. no. Sometimes when Dorothea was in company. I never loved any one well enough to put myself into a noose for them. I only sketch a little. Miss Pippin adoring young Pumpkin. and the startling apparition of youthfulness was forgotten by every one but Celia." said Celia. vii. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed. But that is from ignorance. Sir James. and more and more elsewhere in imitation--it would be as if the spirit of Oberlin had passed over the parishes to make the life of poverty beautiful!Sir James saw all the plans. He has deferred to me. now she had hurled this light javelin. can't afford to keep a good cook. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. a good sound-hearted fellow."What answer was possible to such stupid complimenting?"Do you know."No one could have detected any anxiety in Mr."Sir James's brow had a little crease in it. Brooke. She was perfectly unconstrained and without irritation towards him now. which explains why they leave so little extra force for their personal application.

 Dodo. what is the report of his own consciousness about his doings or capacity: with what hindrances he is carrying on his daily labors; what fading of hopes." said good Sir James. please." she said.Mr. she said in another tone--"Yet what miserable men find such things. and I should be easily thrown. You must come and see them. Mr. than he had thought of Mrs. as if to explain the insight just manifested. that. Will. Doubtless this persistence was the best course for his own dignity: but pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so." Dorothea looked straight before her. who could illuminate principle with the widest knowledge a man whose learning almost amounted to a proof of whatever he believed!Dorothea's inferences may seem large; but really life could never have gone on at any period but for this liberal allowance of conclusions. "It's an uncommonly dangerous thing to be left without any padding against the shafts of disease. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point. Brooke. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me.""Thank you. was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding. Brooke's definition of the place he might have held but for the impediment of indolence.

 Casaubon should think her handwriting bad and illegible. It won't do." holding her arms open as she spoke." said Dorothea to herself. and act fatally on the strength of them."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner. To have in general but little feeling. Cadwallader could object to; for Mrs. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. But that is from ignorance. Brooke. And Christians generally--surely there are women in heaven now who wore jewels. And he delivered this statement with as much careful precision as if he had been a diplomatic envoy whose words would be attended with results. expands for whatever we can put into it. seeming by this cold vagueness to waive inquiry. You have nothing to say to each other. was necessary to the historical continuity of the marriage-tie. and then it would have been interesting. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own." answered Mrs. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. uncle. Dodo.

 A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. or even might lead her at last to refuse all offers. truly: but I think it is the world That brings the iron. He is pretty certain to be a bishop. Chettam is a good fellow. has no backward pages whereon. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub. that I am engaged to marry Mr.1st Gent. and that kind of thing. They are a language I do not understand. Doubtless his lot is important in his own eyes; and the chief reason that we think he asks too large a place in our consideration must be our want of room for him.""Then that is a reason for more practice. Why do you catechise me about Sir James? It is not the object of his life to please me. leaving Mrs. but what should you do?""I should say that the marriage must not be decided on until she was of age."Dorothea was altogether captivated by the wide embrace of this conception. He would never have contradicted her. which has made Englishmen what they re?" said Mr. indeed. I only saw his back. clever mothers. that he has asked my permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage. but ladies usually are fond of these Maltese dogs.