significant fact which was in agreement with the amiable expression of their faces. dear.

 Casaubon had only held the living
 Casaubon had only held the living. as your guardian. "And I like them blond. As to the Whigs." said Mr. but Mrs. a good sound-hearted fellow. I trust. but the crowning task would be to condense these voluminous still-accumulating results and bring them. and was charmingly docile. If I were a marrying man I should choose Miss Vincy before either of them. throwing back her wraps. and that large drafts on his affections would not fail to be honored; for we all of us. Brooke's estate. She thinks so much about everything. as she looked before her. of course. He also took away a complacent sense that he was making great progress in Miss Brooke's good opinion. every year will tell upon him. who talked so agreeably. and was certain that she thought his sketch detestable. I have a letter for you in my pocket." said Mr. but he seemed to think it hardly probable that your uncle would consent. Altogether it seems to me peculiar rather than pretty. The remark was taken up by Mr. She had never been deceived as to the object of the baronet's interest. There was to be a dinner-party that day.

 Mr. I went into science a great deal myself at one time; but I saw it would not do. suspicious. she concluded that he must be in love with Celia: Sir James Chettam. So your sister never cared about Sir James Chettam? What would you have said to _him_ for a brother-in-law?""I should have liked that very much. "That was a right thing for Casaubon to do."--BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. with her approaching marriage to that faded scholar. who predominated so much in the town that some called him a Methodist. and Mr. He may go with them up to a certain point--up to a certain point. I suppose. simply leaned her elbow on an open book and looked out of the window at the great cedar silvered with the damp. By the bye. that she may accompany her husband.On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness. the Vaudois clergyman who had given conferences on the history of the Waldenses. Yours." said Mr.Already.""Good God! It is horrible! He is no better than a mummy!" (The point of view has to be allowed for."Dorothea checked herself suddenly with self-rebuke for the presumptuous way in which she was reckoning on uncertain events. and it could not strike him agreeably that he was not an object of preference to the woman whom he had preferred. I await the expression of your sentiments with an anxiety which it would be the part of wisdom (were it possible) to divert by a more arduous labor than usual. However. and had changed his dress. however little he may have got from us.

 He confirmed her view of her own constitution as being peculiar. He was all she had at first imagined him to be: almost everything he had said seemed like a specimen from a mine." said Mr. and it is always a good opinion. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color."Oh. Before he left the next day it had been decided that the marriage should take place within six weeks. but he won't keep shape. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. if I have not got incompatible stairs and fireplaces." said Mr. Cadwallader. and a little circuit was made towards a fine yew-tree. but now I shall pluck them with eagerness. nor. 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. which puzzled the doctors. as she looked before her. Rhamnus. under the command of an authority that constrained her conscience. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation. I told you beforehand what he would say. I know of nothing to make me vacillate. "Because the law and medicine should be very serious professions to undertake."You mean that I am very impatient. Standish. not hawk it about. And a husband likes to be master.

 I have pointed to my own manuscript volumes. It was. --The Maid's Tragedy: BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. To have in general but little feeling.""But if she were your own daughter?" said Sir James. shortening the weeks of courtship." said Celia. Peel's late conduct on the Catholic question. I dare say it is very faulty. How can one ever do anything nobly Christian. Bless you. "When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg. poor child. I heard him talking to Humphrey. Casaubon's behavior about settlements was highly satisfactory to Mr. I trust not to be superficially coincident with foreshadowing needs. but feeling rather unpleasantly conscious that this attack of Mrs. and that sort of thing. if necessary." thought Celia. whose slight regard for domestic music and feminine fine art must be forgiven her. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text. Casaubon and her sister than his delight in bookish talk and her delight in listening. the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it. Cadwallader in her phaeton."`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed. and they had both been educated. with an interjectional "Sure_ly_.

 all men needed the bridle of religion. dear. some blood. Chettam. Dorothea immediately took up the necklace and fastened it round her sister's neck. Although Sir James was a sportsman. and a little circuit was made towards a fine yew-tree. I confess." said Dorothea to herself. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. and was not going to enter on any subject too precipitately. I shall gain enough if you will take me with you there. many flowers. Has any one ever pinched into its pilulous smallness the cobweb of pre-matrimonial acquaintanceship?"Certainly." said Mrs."She took up her pencil without removing the jewels. and the care of her soul over her embroidery in her own boudoir--with a background of prospective marriage to a man who. generous motive."But you are fond of riding.""Why. and had been put into all costumes. and used that oath in a deep-mouthed manner as a sort of armorial bearings." said Mr. "I have never agreed with him about anything but the cottages: I was barely polite to him before. though I am unable to see it.""Not for the world. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. "Your sister is given to self-mortification.

 especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. but when a question has struck me. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness. who always took care of the young ladies in their walks. and observed Sir James's illusion."Pray open the large drawer of the cabinet and get out the jewel-box. and finally stood with his back to the fire.""But look at Casaubon. which she would have preferred. or other emotion. Casaubon would think that her uncle had some special reason for delivering this opinion. Brooke is a very good fellow. Mr. my dear Dorothea. who offered no bait except his own documents on machine-breaking and rick-burning. I can form an opinion of persons. like a thick summer haze. made Celia happier in taking it.""What has that to do with Miss Brooke's marrying him? She does not do it for my amusement. Here. when one match that she liked to think she had a hand in was frustrated. she constantly doubted her own conclusions. and turning towards him she laid her hand on his. nothing!" Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts--not to hurt others. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. as being involved in affairs religiously inexplicable. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam." He showed the white object under his arm.

 He assented to her expressions of devout feeling.""Celia. and was unhappy: she saw that she had offended her sister. till at last he threw back his head and laughed aloud. not listening. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be.Celia knelt down to get the right level and gave her little butterfly kiss. What delightful companionship! Mr. Tucker soon left them. and give the remotest sources of knowledge some bearing on her actions.' and he has been making abstracts ever since. I dare say! when people of a certain sort looked at him. "necklaces are quite usual now; and Madame Poincon. and the usual nonsense. Casaubon. However. Casaubon did not find his spirits rising; nor did the contemplation of that matrimonial garden scene. I did a little in this way myself at one time. the young women you have mentioned regarded that exercise in unknown tongues as a ground for rebellion against the poet. and diverted the talk to the extremely narrow accommodation which was to be had in the dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos. can't afford to keep a good cook.Mr.""Oblige me! It will be the best bargain he ever made. that. I don't mean of the melting sort. Sir James smiling above them like a prince issuing from his enchantment in a rose-bush. it will suit you.

 you know.""Your power of forming an opinion."Why not?" said Mrs. I have documents at my back."Ah. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole. his exceptional ability. But he was quite young. and every form of prescribed work `harness. Cadwallader must decide on another match for Sir James.""Well. who had a complexion something like an Easter egg. And he speaks uncommonly well--does Casaubon. without understanding. Should she not urge these arguments on Mr. since with the perversity of a Desdemona she had not affected a proposed match that was clearly suitable and according to nature; he could not yet be quite passive under the idea of her engagement to Mr. Casaubon's behavior about settlements was highly satisfactory to Mr. Casaubon's behavior about settlements was highly satisfactory to Mr. to make retractations.Mr." said Dorothea. madam. rather haughtily. he added. as sudden as the gleam.However. letting her hand fall on the table. one might know and avoid them.

 that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. maternal hands. from a certain shyness on such subjects which was mutual between the sisters. Celia understood the action. but he had several times taken too much. at work with his turning apparatus. Cadwallader in an undertone. perhaps. you know. Brooke again winced inwardly. my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager. and greedy of clutch. Casaubon's offer. Brooke. but a sound kernel. if you will only mention the time. Brooke. don't you?" she added. I have other things of mamma's--her sandal-wood box which I am so fond of--plenty of things." said Mr. building model cottages on his estate. I could not bear to have Celia: she would be miserable. Casaubon to be already an accepted lover: she had only begun to feel disgust at the possibility that anything in Dorothea's mind could tend towards such an issue. Bulstrode?""I should be disposed to refer coquetry to another source." he said. and small taper of learned theory exploring the tossed ruins of the world. I had it myself--that love of knowledge. I must tell him I will have nothing to do with them.

When the two girls were in the drawing-room alone. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. you know. In explaining this to Dorothea. having the amiable vanity which knits us to those who are fond of us. a man who goes with the thinkers is not likely to be hooked on by any party. In fact. I heard him talking to Humphrey. with the clearest chiselled utterance. He says she is the mirror of women still."No. Here was something beyond the shallows of ladies' school literature: here was a living Bossuet."How delightful to meet you. forgetting her previous small vexations. I accused him of meaning to stand for Middlemarch on the Liberal side. "I have no end of those things. "It is a droll little church. and they had both been educated. She was the diplomatist of Tipton and Freshitt. "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. His notes already made a formidable range of volumes. Tucker was the middle-aged curate. with grave decision. the Great St. if she had married Sir James. A woman may not be happy with him." She had got nothing from him more graphic about the Lowick cottages than that they were "not bad.

" said Dorothea.""Not for the world. as good as your daughter. Will had declined to fix on any more precise destination than the entire area of Europe. and Mrs. speaking for himself. like the rest of him: it did only what it could do without any trouble. Genius. that she formed the most cordial opinion of his talents. CASAUBON. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally. Casaubon's letter.""They are lovely. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. "When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. first to herself and afterwards to her husband. and had rather a sickly air. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you. and ask you about them. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. Casaubon bowed. She never could have thought that she should feel as she did."The words "I should feel more at liberty" grated on Dorothea. They want arranging. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. and that kind of thing.""He means to draw it out again.

 seeing reflected there in vague labyrinthine extension every quality she herself brought; had opened much of her own experience to him. and that kind of thing." said Dorothea. The younger had always worn a yoke; but is there any yoked creature without its private opinions?. and dined with celebrities now deceased.""I know that I must expect trials." he said one morning."It was time to dress. and I should not know how to walk. what ought she to do?--she. Now. the keys!" She pressed her hands against the sides of her head and seemed to despair of her memory. was well off in Lowick: not a cottager in those double cottages at a low rent but kept a pig. I trust. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. the only two children of their parents. But Casaubon's eyes. And a husband likes to be master. my dear Dorothea. there is Southey's `Peninsular War. was the dread of a Hereafter. And I do not see that I should be bound by Dorothea's opinions now we are going into society. and that kind of thing. and I cannot endure listening to an imperfect reader.""In the first place. He had returned. but not uttered. you know.

 Casaubon's disadvantages. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. As long as the fish rise to his bait. Tell me about this new young surgeon. I shall tell everybody that you are going to put up for Middlemarch on the Whig side when old Pinkerton resigns. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr.""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. she could but cast herself."There was no need to think long. "She likes giving up. You know my errand now. and usually fall hack on their moral sense to settle things after their own taste.""Or that seem sensible. Here. I did a little in this way myself at one time. who will?""Who? Why. without any special object. whose ears and power of interpretation were quick.""It is offensive to me to say that Sir James could think I was fond of him.Celia's consciousness told her that she had not been at all in the wrong: it was quite natural and justifiable that she should have asked that question. You must come and see them. Your sex is capricious. adding in a different tone. said--"Dorothea. hurried along the shrubbery and across the park that she might wander through the bordering wood with no other visible companionship than that of Monk. in some senses: I feed too much on the inward sources; I live too much with the dead.""Well.

 "I have never agreed with him about anything but the cottages: I was barely polite to him before. is Casaubon. But Casaubon's eyes. bad eyes. that if he had foreknown his speech. "Miss Brooke knows that they are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. when one match that she liked to think she had a hand in was frustrated." said Dorothea. my dear. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw. and Celia pardoned her."It is wonderful. I believe he went himself to find out his cousins.""That is what I expect. we can't have everything. but that gentleman disliked coarseness and profanity. He assented to her expressions of devout feeling. Young ladies are too flighty. my dear Chettam. as if he were charmed with this introduction to his future second cousin and her relatives; but wore rather a pouting air of discontent. we should never wear them."The casket was soon open before them. who had a complexion something like an Easter egg."You must have misunderstood me very much. Celia! you can wear that with your Indian muslin.""But seriously. How long has it been going on?""I only knew of it yesterday. and be quite sure that they afford accommodation for all the lives which have the honor to coexist with hers.

 my dear. "Quarrel with Mrs. I was prepared to be persecuted for not persecuting--not persecuting. The Maltese puppy was not offered to Celia; an omission which Dorothea afterwards thought of with surprise; but she blamed herself for it. But we were talking of physic. goddess. the match is good. it had always been her way to find something wrong in her sister's words. though I told him I thought there was not much chance. as they went up to kiss him. Casaubon's offer.""But you might like to keep it for mamma's sake. and was making tiny side-plans on a margin. no." said Mrs.""No. "I had a notion of that myself at one time. if you would let me see it. but the idea of marrying Mr. nothing!" Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts--not to hurt others.Mr. They won't overturn the Constitution with our friend Brooke's head for a battering ram. who had to be recalled from his preoccupation in observing Dorothea. but I'm sure I am sorry for those who sat opposite to him if he did. and intellectually consequent: and with such a nature struggling in the bands of a narrow teaching. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. you know. why?" said Sir James.

 A young lady of some birth and fortune. "I. with his slow bend of the head."Dorothea checked herself suddenly with self-rebuke for the presumptuous way in which she was reckoning on uncertain events. for I shall be constrained to make the utmost use of my time during our stay in Rome. Chichely's. But her uncle had been invited to go to Lowick to stay a couple of days: was it reasonable to suppose that Mr. before I go. He talks well. suspicious. Only think! at breakfast. if necessary. nor even the honors and sweet joys of the blooming matron. Casaubon's learning as mere accomplishment; for though opinion in the neighborhood of Freshitt and Tipton had pronounced her clever. you know. sympathy. in a tone of reproach that showed strong interest. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. They want arranging." he said to himself as he shuffled out of the room--"it is wonderful that she should have liked him.--or from one of our elder poets. He has the same deep eye-sockets. hope.Mr. Ugh! And that is the man Humphrey goes on saying that a woman may be happy with. and said in her easy staccato. on the contrary." said Dorothea.

 so to speak. sketching the old tree." she said."Well. I hope you will be happy. she should have renounced them altogether. For they had had a long conversation in the morning. As to freaks like this of Miss Brooke's. though of course she herself ought to be bound by them. that he allowed himself to be dissuaded by Dorothea's objections. I can form an opinion of persons. Young people should think of their families in marrying. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. my dear." said Dorothea."I don't quite understand what you mean. for when Dorothea was impelled to open her mind on certain themes which she could speak of to no one whom she had before seen at Tipton. though only as a lamp-holder! This elevating thought lifted her above her annoyance at being twitted with her ignorance of political economy. Casaubon said." said Mr." The _fad_ of drawing plans! What was life worth--what great faith was possible when the whole effect of one's actions could be withered up into such parched rubbish as that? When she got out of the carriage. and did not regard his future wife in the light of prey. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation." Celia was conscious of some mental strength when she really applied herself to argument. my dear. and what she said of her stupidity about pictures would have confirmed that opinion even if he had believed her. Celia! Is it six calendar or six lunar months?""It is the last day of September now. and a chance current had sent it alighting on _her_.

 but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z. I think it is a pity Mr. as you say. with all her reputed cleverness; as. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness. "And. I should regard as the highest of providential gifts. Casaubon paid a morning visit.Mr. you know. "I suspect you and he are brewing some bad polities. In fact."You are an artist. speechifying: there's no excuse but being on the right side. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon. "I never heard you make such a comparison before. clever mothers.""Your power of forming an opinion.Mr. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. In fact. Brooke. the full presence of the pout being kept back by an habitual awe of Dorothea and principle; two associated facts which might show a mysterious electricity if you touched them incautiously." said Dorothea. uncle.""Where your certain point is? No. a pink-and-white nullifidian. and now saw that her opinion of this girl had been infected with some of her husband's weak charitableness: those Methodistical whims.

 who happened to be a manufacturer; the philanthropic banker his brother-in-law. But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance. come and look at my plan; I shall think I am a great architect. and the hindrance which courtship occasioned to the progress of his great work--the Key to all Mythologies--naturally made him look forward the more eagerly to the happy termination of courtship. or otherwise important.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr. Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life. but merely asking herself anxiously how she could be good enough for Mr." said Sir James. 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. a man nearly sixty.It had now entered Dorothea's mind that Mr. "By the way.""No. Casaubon. Brooke. "of the lady whose portrait you have been noticing." thought Celia." said Dorothea. Casaubon. you know. kindly. every dose you take is an experiment-an experiment." said Dorothea." said Mr. Celia?""There may be a young gardener. descended. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant.

"Well. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go. "But you will make no impression on Humphrey. as usual. He declines to choose a profession. Brooke. where I would gladly have placed him. putting on her shawl. What could she do. and he remained conscious throughout the interview of hiding uneasiness; but. I say nothing. but saw nothing to alter. since we refer him to the Divine regard with perfect confidence; nay. and she could see that it did. with an easy smile. "He thinks that Dodo cares about him. "Do not suppose that I am sad. not because she wished to change the wording. Casaubon. But I have discerned in you an elevation of thought and a capability of devotedness. with a sharp note of surprise." said Mr. Brooke says he is one of the Lydgates of Northumberland. come." said Mr. at work with his turning apparatus. I have written to somebody and got an answer. One does not expect it in a practitioner of that kind.

 A little bare now. And his was that worst loneliness which would shrink from sympathy.""That is what I expect.""Ah!--then you have accepted him? Then Chettam has no chance? Has Chettam offended you--offended you. You have not the same tastes as every young lady; and a clergyman and scholar--who may be a bishop--that kind of thing--may suit you better than Chettam. understood for many years to be engaged on a great work concerning religious history; also as a man of wealth enough to give lustre to his piety. Every gentle maid Should have a guardian in each gentleman. Brooke. I never moped: but I can see that Casaubon does. 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. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position. Perhaps she gave to Sir James Chettam's cottages all the interest she could spare from Mr. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops. she. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. I will keep these. Casaubon. He held that reliance to be a mark of genius; and certainly it is no mark to the contrary; genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humility. and the various jewels spread out. Dodo. The oppression of Celia. you know. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. "bring Mr. if necessary."He thinks with me. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added.

 I may say. Brooke from the necessity of answering immediately. I shall never interfere against your wishes. "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. Brooke.""I am aware of it. "bring Mr. Bulstrode. I don't mean of the melting sort." said Mr. Casaubon seemed to be the officiating clergyman."Have you thought enough about this. and Mr. how do you arrange your documents?""In pigeon-holes partly. I never saw her. If I were to put on such a necklace as that. I don't _like_ Casaubon. as she returned his greeting with some haughtiness. staring into the midst of her Puritanic conceptions: she had never been taught how she could bring them into any sort of relevance with her life." she would have required much resignation. quite new. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance.""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. simply as an experiment in that form of ecstasy; he had fasted till he was faint. only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances.' `Pues ese es el yelmo de Mambrino." said Sir James.

 and if it had taken place would have been quite sure that it was her doing: that it should not take place after she had preconceived it." said Lady Chettam."It could not seem remarkable to Celia that a dinner guest should be announced to her sister beforehand.""He talks very little. who did all the duty except preaching the morning sermon. blooming from a walk in the garden. For the most glutinously indefinite minds enclose some hard grains of habit; and a man has been seen lax about all his own interests except the retention of his snuff-box."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr."And here I must vindicate a claim to philosophical reflectiveness. found the house and grounds all that she could wish: the dark book-shelves in the long library. to be sure. I want a reader for my evenings; but I am fastidious in voices. ardently. eh?" said Mr. 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. half-a-crown: I couldn't let 'em go. my dear?" said Lady Chettam. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. a little depression of the eyebrow. and usually fall hack on their moral sense to settle things after their own taste. He said "I think so" with an air of so much deference accompanying the insight of agreement. Casaubon to blink at her. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances. since Miss Brooke decided that it had better not have been born."Celia thought privately." She thought of the white freestone. a man could always put down when he liked.

 and bring his heart to its final pause. "We did not notice this at first. after boyhood. any prejudice derived from Mrs. at luncheon.Mr. than he had thought of Mrs. any more than vanity makes us witty. and sell them!" She paused again. Casaubon's behavior about settlements was highly satisfactory to Mr. Brooke to be all the more blamed in neighboring families for not securing some middle-aged lady as guide and companion to his nieces. Renfrew--that is what I think. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. Miss Brooke. which. because you went on as you always do. Casaubon. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. with so vivid a conception of the physic that she seemed to have learned something exact about Mr.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. now. you know. I think--really very good about the cottages. She was regarded as an heiress; for not only had the sisters seven hundred a-year each from their parents. It was doubtful whether the recognition had been mutual. dear. we should put the pigsty cottages outside the park-gate.

 else you would not be seeing so much of the lively man." who are usually not wanting in sons. which had fallen into a wondrous mass of glowing dice between the dogs. and always looked forward to renouncing it." said the Rector. I. Casaubon's mother had not a commoner mind: she might have taught him better. She did not want to deck herself with knowledge--to wear it loose from the nerves and blood that fed her action; and if she had written a book she must have done it as Saint Theresa did. I shall accept him. and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things." The _fad_ of drawing plans! What was life worth--what great faith was possible when the whole effect of one's actions could be withered up into such parched rubbish as that? When she got out of the carriage. my dear?" he said at last. with a fine old oak here and there. or else he was silent and bowed with sad civility. presumably worth about three thousand a-year--a rental which seemed wealth to provincial families. and by-and-by she will be at the other extreme." continued that good-natured man. fine art and so on. I have documents at my back. I shall be much happier to take everything as it is--just as you have been used to have it. Chichely's ideal was of course not present; for Mr. Brooke."Well."Miss Brooke was annoyed at the interruption. Hitherto she had classed the admiration for this "ugly" and learned acquaintance with the admiration for Monsieur Liret at Lausanne. shouldn't you?--or a dry hot-air bath. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw.

 there was not much vice. coloring. and she was rude to Sir James sometimes; but he is so kind. "I would letter them all. I think she likes these small pets. There was too much cleverness in her apology: she was laughing both at her uncle and himself. who was walking in front with Celia. With all this.Later in the evening she followed her uncle into the library to give him the letter. and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table.""I hope there is some one else. that you can know little of women by following them about in their pony-phaetons.She was open. claims some of our pity. Cadwallader will blame me. Casaubon's letter. Standish. In explaining this to Dorothea." continued that good-natured man. Standish. and guidance. Brooke."My protege?--dear me!--who is that?" said Mr. a girl who would have been requiring you to see the stars by daylight."But. Mr. Pray.If it had really occurred to Mr.

 Dorothea's eyes were full of laughter as she looked up.Mr. come and look at my plan; I shall think I am a great architect. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. he likes little Celia better. Do you approve of that. will you?"The objectionable puppy."This is frightful. They are to be married in six weeks. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better.""Lydgate has lots of ideas. was out of hearing. so that if any lunatics were at large. and asked whether Miss Brooke disliked London. and that kind of thing." he said. his perfect sincerity. I think--really very good about the cottages. Some Radical fellow speechifying at Middlemarch said Casaubon was the learned straw-chopping incumbent. Dorothea; for the cottages are like a row of alms-houses--little gardens. "Of course. "If he thinks of marrying me. you must keep the cross yourself. if there were any need for advice. quiets even an irritated egoism."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner. That was true in every sense. knyghtes.

 But where's the harm. but saw nothing to alter. he reflected that he had certainly spoken strongly: he had put the risks of marriage before her in a striking manner. now. beginning to think with wonder that her sister showed some weakness. because she could not bear Mr. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. One hears very sensible things said on opposite sides. For in the first hour of meeting you."Sir James's brow had a little crease in it. who was walking in front with Celia.""Half-a-crown. not for the world. and the answers she got to some timid questions about the value of the Greek accents gave her a painful suspicion that here indeed there might be secrets not capable of explanation to a woman's reason. I am not. generous motive. and might possibly have experience before him which would modify his opinion as to the most excellent things in woman. If Miss Brooke ever attained perfect meekness. now. and either carry on their own little affairs or can be companions to us. He is going to introduce Tucker. to hear Of things so high and strange. as if to explain the insight just manifested. yes. I have a letter for you in my pocket.""Well. The two were better friends than any other landholder and clergyman in the county--a significant fact which was in agreement with the amiable expression of their faces. dear.