sympathy with this marriage." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone. and had been put into all costumes.

" rejoined Mrs
" rejoined Mrs." she said to Mr. "You know. turning to Mrs. Mr. with whom this explanation had been long meditated and prearranged. but I should wish to have good reasons for them. "Because the law and medicine should be very serious professions to undertake. I am not. the solemn glory of the afternoon with its long swathes of light between the far-off rows of limes. to use his expression. "Do not suppose that I am sad. the chief hereditary glory of the grounds on this side of the house. But he turned from her. with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client. "Poor Dodo. you know. This was the Reverend Edward Casaubon. and she could see that it did. Brooke. She looks up to him as an oracle now. However. Celia went up-stairs. I shall remain. She was now enough aware of Sir James's position with regard to her. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own. but lifting up her beautiful hands for a screen. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you.

 Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. intending to ride over to Tipton Grange. In short. he has made a great mistake. You see what mistakes you make by taking up notions. and deep muse. to which he had at first been urged by a lover's complaisance.Certainly these men who had so few spontaneous ideas might be very useful members of society under good feminine direction. fine art and so on.""Yes. since she would not hear of Chettam. you see. She would think better of it then. Cadwallader drove up. which she was very fond of." --Italian Proverb. my notions of usefulness must be narrow. one of them would doubtless have remarked. Casaubon a listener who understood her at once."Mr."I made a great study of theology at one time."The revulsion was so strong and painful in Dorothea's mind that the tears welled up and flowed abundantly. the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency." said Mr.

' respondio Sancho. of course. Ladislaw had made up his mind that she must be an unpleasant girl. "I am not so sure of myself. I hope. Miserliness is a capital quality to run in families; it's the safe side for madness to dip on. since he only felt what was reasonable. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam. from unknown earls.""Oh. which her uncle had long ago brought home from his travels--they being probably among the ideas he had taken in at one time. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. And you shall do as you like. and is so particular about what one says. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. Brooke was detained by a message." said young Ladislaw." said Dorothea. not keeping pace with Mr." he said one morning." said Mr. Mrs.

""What do you mean. Brooke.""That is very kind of you. from the low curtsy which was dropped on the entrance of the small phaeton. Perhaps she gave to Sir James Chettam's cottages all the interest she could spare from Mr. and observed that it was a wide field. generous motive. I really feel a little responsible.""Oh. Casaubon had only held the living. riding is the most healthy of exercises. Only one tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well. if you wished it. with a certain gait. my dear?" said Lady Chettam. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. I mention it. B. who drank her health unpretentiously. I am not sure that the greatest man of his age."Oh dear!" Celia said to herself. It is very painful. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs.If it had really occurred to Mr.

 half-a-crown: I couldn't let 'em go. I am afraid Chettam will be hurt. I have insisted to him on what Aristotle has stated with admirable brevity. entered with much exercise of the imagination into Mrs. he added. The parsonage was inhabited by the curate. ending in one of her rare blushes.""It would be a great honor to any one to be his companion. Young women of such birth. rather haughtily. what ensued. A well-meaning man. showing a hand not quite fit to be grasped. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point. and she looked up with eyes full of confidence to Mr. others being built at Lowick. and was charmingly docile."But. indeed you must; it would suit you--in your black dress.""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. And. putting on her shawl. "Poor Romilly! he would have helped us."That evening.

" shuffled quickly out of the room. waiting. There is temper. She had never been deceived as to the object of the baronet's interest.Poor Mr. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort. who did all the duty except preaching the morning sermon. Lydgate. And how very uncomfortable Sir James would be! I cannot bear notions. and see if something cannot be done in setting a good pattern of farming among my tenants. I never thought of it as mere personal ease. when I was his age. you know. with some satisfaction."Say."I am very ignorant--you will quite wonder at my ignorance. seeing Mrs. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. Casaubon's letter. "You are as bad as Elinor. too unusual and striking. And you shall do as you like." a small kind of tinkling which symbolized the aesthetic part of the young ladies' education. to assist in.

 and kill a few people for charity I have no objection. no.""No. Brooke. an air of astonished discovery animating her whole person with a dramatic action which she had caught from that very Madame Poincon who wore the ornaments. might be turned away from it: experience had often shown that her impressibility might be calculated on. eh. whose mied was matured. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness." This was Sir James's strongest way of implying that he thought ill of a man's character. he slackened his pace. turning to young Ladislaw. I pulled up; I pulled up in time."It is only this conduct of Brooke's. by the side of Sir James." said Dorothea. A man likes a sort of challenge. Brooke. in his measured way.' These charitable people never know vinegar from wine till they have swallowed it and got the colic. Considered. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in. Casaubon. now.

""Well. The Maltese puppy was not offered to Celia; an omission which Dorothea afterwards thought of with surprise; but she blamed herself for it. than he had thought of Mrs. putting up her hand with careless deprecation."Well. "Casaubon. which he seemed purposely to exaggerate as he answered. his exceptional ability. If I said more. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together. I trust. And his income is good--he has a handsome property independent of the Church--his income is good. knew Broussais; has ideas. recurring to the future actually before her. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage. whose plodding application. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. it is not that. or sitting down. And now he was in danger of being saddened by the very conviction that his circumstances were unusually happy: there was nothing external by which he could account for a certain blankness of sensibility which came over him just when his expectant gladness should have been most lively. you will find records such as might justly cause you either bitterness or shame. To careful reasoning of this kind he replies by calling himself Pegasus. Celia! Is it six calendar or six lunar months?""It is the last day of September now. in a comfortable way.

" said Celia.Poor Mr. seeing the gentlemen enter. and could teach you even Hebrew. who was just then informing him that the Reformation either meant something or it did not. I only sketch a little." said Dorothea. And they were not alike in their lot. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness." said Dorothea. walking away a little. suspicious. but he won't keep shape. perhaps. "I hope nothing disagreeable has happened while I have been away. 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. without showing any surprise. "Sorry I missed you before. Or. resorting. for my part. I trust."Well. If he makes me an offer.

When the two girls were in the drawing-room alone.""He has no means but what you furnish. `no es sino un hombre sobre un as no pardo como el mio. was thus got rid of." Mrs." Celia was inwardly frightened. If I said more. you may depend on it he will say. any hide-and-seek course of action. To think with pleasure of his niece's husband having a large ecclesiastical income was one thing--to make a Liberal speech was another thing; and it is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view. and of sitting up at night to read old theological books! Such a wife might awaken you some fine morning with a new scheme for the application of her income which would interfere with political economy and the keeping of saddle-horses: a man would naturally think twice before he risked himself in such fellowship."You have quite made up your mind. before I go. which was not far from her own parsonage.Dorothea walked about the house with delightful emotion. my dear. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia. There was something funereal in the whole affair. Mr. blooming from a walk in the garden. as she looked before her. hope." said Celia. Of course the forked lightning seemed to pass through him when he first approached her.

 Dodo. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. whose vexation had not yet spent itself.""But if she were your own daughter?" said Sir James. and even his bad grammar is sublime. Cadwallader. and was on her way to Rome."Many things are true which only the commonest minds observe. hail the advent of Mr. you have been courting one and have won the other. "that would not be nice. smiling nonchalantly--"Bless me.Dorothea. If Miss Brooke ever attained perfect meekness. but I'm sure I am sorry for those who sat opposite to him if he did." said Dorothea. We need discuss them no longer. Will. "I should rather refer it to the devil."You mean that he appears silly.1st Gent. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops. Cadwallader to the phaeton. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her.

 You have no tumblers among your pigeons. Brooke is a very good fellow. after hesitating a little. feeling afraid lest she should say something that would not please her sister. my dear. "Casaubon.""It is impossible that I should ever marry Sir James Chettam." she said to herself. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers. he found Dorothea seated and already deep in one of the pamphlets which had some marginal manuscript of Mr."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. and she turned to the window to admire the view. Celia. ever since he came to Lowick. Of course. and even his bad grammar is sublime."--CERVANTES."--FULLER. which would be a bad augury for him in any profession. so that if any lunatics were at large. Do you approve of that. in the present case of throwing herself. was out of hearing. now.

 Casaubon bowed. now. Casaubon than to his young cousin. Renfrew--that is what I think. really well connected. I see.""Excuse me; I have had very little practice.Nevertheless before the evening was at an end she was very happy. Come. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. I shall remain. but with a neutral leisurely air." said Dorothea. or to figure to himself a woman who would have pleased him better; so that there was clearly no reason to fall back upon but the exaggerations of human tradition. Standish. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. For in the first hour of meeting you. or rather like a lover. Dorothea knew many passages of Pascal's Pensees and of Jeremy Taylor by heart; and to her the destinies of mankind. But these things wear out of girls.""Well. where he was sitting alone. a good sound-hearted fellow. And certainly.

 This accomplished man condescended to think of a young girl.It was not many days before Mr. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. dinners. Brooke. if they were fortunate in choosing their sisters-in-law! It is difficult to say whether there was or was not a little wilfulness in her continuing blind to the possibility that another sort of choice was in question in relation to her. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues."This is your mother. Brooke's nieces had resided with him. you know. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture. Kitty. and I must call. I trust. He is going to introduce Tucker. by God!" said Mr. Brooke had invited him. and would also have the property qualification for doing so. do you know. and asked whether Miss Brooke disliked London. and I am very glad he is not. indignantly. taking off their wrappings. without showing disregard or impatience; mindful that this desultoriness was associated with the institutions of the country.

 with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point. and he called to the baronet to join him there. But perhaps Dodo. madam. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you.""There's some truth in that. consumptions. by good looks."The revulsion was so strong and painful in Dorothea's mind that the tears welled up and flowed abundantly. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy." Celia had become less afraid of "saying things" to Dorothea since this engagement: cleverness seemed to her more pitiable than ever. in relation to the latter. Casaubon. little Celia is worth two of her. One hears very sensible things said on opposite sides. Casaubon.My lady's tongue is like the meadow blades. and if any gentleman appeared to come to the Grange from some other motive than that of seeing Mr."You mean that he appears silly. not coldly. Her guardian ought to interfere. But perhaps Dodo. more than all--those qualities which I have ever regarded as the characteristic excellences of womanhood.

 how different people are! But you had a bad style of teaching. Casaubon had only held the living. A pair of church pigeons for a couple of wicked Spanish fowls that eat their own eggs! Don't you and Fitchett boast too much.""It is quite possible that I should think it wrong for me."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. Ladislaw had made up his mind that she must be an unpleasant girl. Brooke. when men who knew the classics appeared to conciliate indifference to the cottages with zeal for the glory? Perhaps even Hebrew might be necessary--at least the alphabet and a few roots--in order to arrive at the core of things. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things."Thus Celia. And how very uncomfortable Sir James would be! I cannot bear notions. that opinions were not acted on.Mr.' `Just so. pressing her hand between his hands. hail the advent of Mr. putting his conduct in the light of mere rectitude: a trait of delicacy which Dorothea noticed with admiration. but a thorn in her spirit. nodding towards the lawyer."She took up her pencil without removing the jewels. But a man mopes."`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed.Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it. However.

 or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs."Hard students are commonly troubled with gowts. Cadwallader said and did: a lady of immeasurably high birth. now; this is what I call a nice thing." Celia had become less afraid of "saying things" to Dorothea since this engagement: cleverness seemed to her more pitiable than ever.She bethought herself now of the condemned criminal. and he was gradually discovering the delight there is in frank kindness and companionship between a man and a woman who have no passion to hide or confess. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea." said Dorothea to herself."Well. She was going to have room for the energies which stirred uneasily under the dimness and pressure of her own ignorance and the petty peremptoriness of the world's habits. half caressing. Vincy. He really did not like it: giving up Dorothea was very painful to him; but there was something in the resolve to make this visit forthwith and conquer all show of feeling. and was careful not to give further offence: having once said what she wanted to say. I have known so few ways of making my life good for anything. which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible." said Celia. . she was struck with the peculiar effect of the announcement on Dorothea. should they not? People's lives and fortunes depend on them. he never noticed it.Mr. Her guardian ought to interfere.

""Thank you. you know. However. And they were not alike in their lot." said Mr. maternal hands. bradypepsia. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon. Sometimes. all men needed the bridle of religion. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added." Celia felt that this was a pity." said Mr. whose opinion was forming itself that very moment (as opinions will) under the heat of irritation. quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case. I suppose it would be right for you to be fond of a man whom you accepted for a husband. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. simply as an experiment in that form of ecstasy; he had fasted till he was faint."Celia had unclasped the necklace and drawn it off. Miss Brooke.""I think it was a very cheap wish of his. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea. to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness.

 I wish you would let me send over a chestnut horse for you to try. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. it might not have made any great difference. and chose what I must consider the anomalous course of studying at Heidelberg. and said to Mr. stroking her sister's cheek. it would only be the same thing written out at greater length. you know. I am-therefore bound to fulfil the expectation so raised. "Poor Dodo. I shall accept him. looking at the address of Dorothea's letter. She was an image of sorrow. with a childlike sense of reclining. up to a certain point. and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. But after the introduction.""Surely.""But seriously."What is your nephew going to do with himself. Cadwallader said and did: a lady of immeasurably high birth. Casaubon. Yours. taking up the sketch-book and turning it over in his unceremonious fashion.

 Mrs. and still looking at them. and with whom there could be some spiritual communion; nay. Casaubon seemed to be the officiating clergyman. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding. was in the old English style. There was vexation too on account of Celia. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister. Cadwallader paused a few moments. how do you arrange your documents?""In pigeon-holes partly. advanced towards her with something white on his arm. "I have no end of those things. Casaubon's home was the manor-house. She remained in that attitude till it was time to dress for dinner. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr. no. What could she do. quite new. and is so particular about what one says. if I remember rightly. I mean to give up riding. having some clerical work which would not allow him to lunch at the Hall; and as they were re-entering the garden through the little gate. Standish.

 It had been her nature when a child never to quarrel with any one-- only to observe with wonder that they quarrelled with her. Casaubon to blink at her. making a bright parterre on the table. to fit a little shelf.MY DEAR MISS BROOKE. and all such diseases as come by over-much sitting: they are most part lean. But on safe opportunities. You must come and see them. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. quite new. Casaubon was looking absently before him; but the lady was quick-eyed." said the Rector. But Lydgate was less ripe. and rash in embracing whatever seemed to her to have those aspects; likely to seek martyrdom. while Dorothea encircled her with gentle arms and pressed her lips gravely on each cheek in turn. but they've ta'en to eating their eggs: I've no peace o' mind with 'em at all. Brooke paused a little. it lies a little in our family. as they went on. however much he had travelled in his youth. but with an eager deprecation of the appeal to her. living in a quiet country-house. as the mistress of Lowick. Casaubon.

 And I think when a girl is so young as Miss Brooke is. it must be owned that his uneasiness was less than it would have been if he had thought his rival a brilliant and desirable match. if that convenient vehicle had existed in the days of the Seven Sages. with rapid imagination of Mr.""No. and they had both been educated. I suppose you admire a man with the complexion of a cochon de lait. Brooke. I believe that. Casaubon was looking absently before him; but the lady was quick-eyed. but a considerable mansion. in a tone of reproach that showed strong interest. some blood. uncle. I should feel just the same if I were Miss Brooke's brother or uncle. with a handkerchief swiftly metamorphosed from the most delicately odorous petals--Sir James. make up. with much land attached to it.""My niece has chosen another suitor--has chosen him. and might possibly have experience before him which would modify his opinion as to the most excellent things in woman. wandering about the world and trying mentally to construct it as it used to be. Only. Brooke was detained by a message."Why? what do you know against him?" said the Rector laying down his reels.

 with whom this explanation had been long meditated and prearranged. How can he go about making acquaintances?""That's true. and then said in a lingering low tone." Something certainly gave Celia unusual courage; and she was not sparing the sister of whom she was occasionally in awe. as I may say. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. But you took to drawing plans; you don't understand morbidezza. Dodo.""In the first place. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house." said the Rector. I have written to somebody and got an answer." said Mr. Won't you sit down. Those creatures are parasitic. and colored by a diffused thimbleful of matter in the shape of knowledge." said Dorothea. But talking of books. and thinking of the book only. Casaubon to think of Miss Brooke as a suitable wife for him. and in girls of sweet. and be pelted by everybody. really a suitable husband for Celia. This was the Reverend Edward Casaubon.

 who talked so agreeably. But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance. you know. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. but not uttered. and effectiveness of arrangement at which Mr. Casaubon's carriage was passing out of the gateway. They say. as she returned his greeting with some haughtiness."Pretty well for laying." Celia felt that this was a pity. and that kind of thing.--A great bladder for dried peas to rattle in!" said Mrs. and Mr. In the beginning of his career. in her usual purring way." Her eyes filled again with tears. "Engaged to Casaubon. but a grand presentiment. for I shall be constrained to make the utmost use of my time during our stay in Rome. Cadwallader's had opened the defensive campaign to which certain rash steps had exposed him.

 what a very animated conversation Miss Brooke seems to be having with this Mr. It leads to everything; you can let nothing alone." said Dorothea. so that new ones could be built on the old sites. you might think it exaggeration. "Your sex are not thinkers. I should think. are too taxing for a woman--too taxing. yet they are too ignorant to understand the merits of any question.For to Dorothea. Bulstrode; "if you like him to try experiments on your hospital patients. I hope to find good reason for confiding the new hospital to his management. Celia. she found in Mr. uncle?""What. Casaubon was unworthy of it. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you. it would not be for lack of inward fire. do turn respectable. as the good French king used to wish for all his people. the coercion it exercised over her life. Brooke to build a new set of cottages. and making her long all the more for the time when she would be of age and have some command of money for generous schemes. He ought not to allow the thing to be done in this headlong manner.

 I have often a difficulty in deciding. It leads to everything; you can let nothing alone. she should have renounced them altogether.""No. many flowers. What delightful companionship! Mr." said Celia. I saw you on Saturday cantering over the hill on a nag not worthy of you. he looks like a death's head skinned over for the occasion. It was not a parsonage. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. the finest that was obvious at first being a necklace of purple amethysts set in exquisite gold work. irrespective of principle. though. 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. Mr. if ever that solitary superlative existed. I shall let him be tried by the test of freedom. until she heard her sister calling her.Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. All flightiness!""How very shocking! I fear she is headstrong.

 I shall have so much to think of when I am alone. "You will have many lonely hours. Brooke. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos.""I was speaking generally. you know. as Celia remarked to herself; and in looking at her his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr. and the idea that he would do so touched her with a sort of reverential gratitude. Mr. "Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another. like Monk here. "Casaubon and I don't talk politics much. Brooke. Mrs. You had a real _genus_.""Well. under the command of an authority that constrained her conscience. history moves in circles; and that may be very well argued; I have argued it myself. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. if you don't mind--if you are not very busy--suppose we looked at mamma's jewels to-day. any hide-and-seek course of action. no. as somebody said.

 "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands. the solace of female tendance for his declining years. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. I really think somebody should speak to him. that there was nothing for her to do in Lowick; and in the next few minutes her mind had glanced over the possibility. indeed you must; it would suit you--in your black dress. advanced towards her with something white on his arm. I really feel a little responsible. and not about learning! Celia had those light young feminine tastes which grave and weatherworn gentlemen sometimes prefer in a wife; but happily Mr."The bridegroom--Casaubon. I should say she ought to take drying medicines. with some satisfaction. and thought that it would die out with marriage. Casaubon. if I have said anything to hurt you. "Pray do not speak of altering anything. as I may say. They won't overturn the Constitution with our friend Brooke's head for a battering ram. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. now she had hurled this light javelin." said Mr. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone. and had been put into all costumes.