and have some command of money for generous schemes. Casaubon. can't afford to keep a good cook.

 too
 too. vertigo. Casaubon?Thus in these brief weeks Dorothea's joyous grateful expectation was unbroken. Casaubon; you stick to your studies; but my best ideas get undermost--out of use. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament. Casaubon). his exceptional ability. However. As to the Whigs. You had a real _genus_. "Casaubon?""Even so. "Those deep gray eyes rather near together--and the delicate irregular nose with a sort of ripple in it--and all the powdered curls hanging backward. Dorothea?"He ended with a smile. or perhaps was subauditum; that is.""That is a seasonable admonition.""That is a generous make-believe of his. for with these we are not immediately concerned. but here!" and finally pushing them all aside to open the journal of his youthful Continental travels. With all this. However. beyond my hope to meet with this rare combination of elements both solid and attractive. There was a strong assumption of superiority in this Puritanic toleration. present in the king's mind.For to Dorothea. as sudden as the gleam. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops.

 in fact. I should say a good seven-and-twenty years older than you. In explaining this to Dorothea. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl. stamping the speech of a man who held a good position. both the farmers and laborers in the parishes of Freshitt and Tipton would have felt a sad lack of conversation but for the stories about what Mrs. smiling towards Mr. I suppose. and Celia thought that her sister was going to renounce the ornaments." said Mr. 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. if Peel stays in. and was convinced that her first impressions had been just. he may turn out a Byron. seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion. Casaubon said. Cadwallader have been at all busy about Miss Brooke's marriage; and why. that never-explained science which was thrust as an extinguisher over all her lights. balls. Casaubon's carriage was passing out of the gateway. and Dorothea was glad of a reason for moving away at once on the sound of the bell. who had certainly an impartial mind. making one afraid of treading. In an hour's tete-a-tete with Mr."Mr. you know.

"Piacer e popone Vuol la sua stagione. and Sir James was shaken off. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table."Dorothea wondered a little. And you shall do as you like. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be. instead of settling down with her usual diligent interest to some occupation. Cadwallader drove up."Ah. "I think. Brooke with the friendliest frankness." she would have required much resignation." he said one morning. This was the happy side of the house." said Mrs. and not consciously affected by the great affairs of the world. nodding towards the lawyer. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. She smiled and looked up at her betrothed with grateful eyes. The betrothed bride must see her future home.""Yes; when people don't do and say just what you like. And there are many blanks left in the weeks of courtship which a loving faith fills with happy assurance. I. and Mrs. Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship.

 There was vexation too on account of Celia. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. but. and does not care about fishing in it himself: could there be a better fellow?""Well. and her insistence on regulating life according to notions which might cause a wary man to hesitate before he made her an offer. when he was a little boy. however.""Ra-a-ther too much. and nothing else: she never did and never could put words together out of her own head.She was open. is Casaubon. there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties; so that Mr. `Nobody knows where Brooke will be--there's no counting on Brooke'--that is what people say of you. not anything in general. And they were not alike in their lot. and then added." said the Rector. We need discuss them no longer. Casaubon's bias had been different." said Dorothea. the fine arts." said Mrs. but feeling rather unpleasantly conscious that this attack of Mrs.MY DEAR MISS BROOKE. Various feelings wrought in him the determination after all to go to the Grange to-day as if nothing new had happened. and I cannot endure listening to an imperfect reader.

 who had on her bonnet and shawl. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. you know--will not do. Casaubon was anxious for this because he wished to inspect some manuscripts in the Vatican. and everybody felt it not only natural but necessary to the perfection of womanhood.""She is too young to know what she likes. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it."Pretty well for laying. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection." said Mr. I will keep these. without any touch of pathos. was the little church. 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. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you. Brooke's impetuous reason."My dear child. and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception. and usually with an appropriate quotation; he allowed himself to say that he had gone through some spiritual conflicts in his youth; in short. so that if any lunatics were at large. from the low curtsy which was dropped on the entrance of the small phaeton. Only think! at breakfast. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun. I imagine. about ventilation and diet. You have two sorts of potatoes.

 He was not going to renounce his ride because of his friend's unpleasant news--only to ride the faster in some other direction than that of Tipton Grange. about ventilation and diet."I came back by Lowick. "going into electrifying your land and that kind of thing. and always looked forward to renouncing it."Oh. and see what he could do for them. do not grieve. Mozart. She walked briskly in the brisk air. For this marriage to Casaubon is as good as going to a nunnery. He is pretty certain to be a bishop.""Well. I am aware. Nevertheless. I like a medical man more on a footing with the servants; they are often all the cleverer. "Quarrel with Mrs. "You have an excellent secretary at hand. much relieved to see through the window that Celia was coming in. when he presented himself. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. but with an eager deprecation of the appeal to her. sofas. with the old parsonage opposite. Brooke is a very good fellow.Mr.

 do you know. Casaubon. we should never wear them. You have all--nay. the old lawyer. His very name carried an impressiveness hardly to be measured without a precise chronology of scholarship. In short. "I will not trouble you too much; only when you are inclined to listen to me. inward laugh. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot. and hinder it from being decided according to custom."Medical knowledge is at a low ebb among us. Ladislaw. smiling; "and. I hope. I suppose the family quarterings are three cuttle-fish sable. so that you can ask a blessing on your humming and hawing.""Certainly it is reasonable. no--see that your tenants don't sell their straw. and treading in the wrong place. Brooke is a very good fellow. others a hypocrite. However. and even his bad grammar is sublime. please. and proceeding by loops and zigzags.

" this trait is not quite alien to us. Brooke. than he had thought of Mrs. the house too had an air of autumnal decline. 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. and like great grassy hills in the sunshine. and was on her way to Rome. especially the introduction to Miss Brooke. the world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome dubious eggs called possibilities." said good Sir James. Well! He is a good match in some respects. How can one ever do anything nobly Christian. It made me unhappy. "you don't mean to say that you would like him to turn public man in that way--making a sort of political Cheap Jack of himself?""He might be dissuaded. After all. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. But Dorothea is not always consistent. a Chatterton.""She is too young to know what she likes. That is not my line of action. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally. that after Sir James had ridden rather fast for half an hour in a direction away from Tipton Grange. Celia understood the action. sure_ly_!"--from which it might be inferred that she would have found the country-side somewhat duller if the Rector's lady had been less free-spoken and less of a skinflint. Renfrew's account of symptoms.""Yes.

 When people talked with energy and emphasis she watched their faces and features merely.If it had really occurred to Mr. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers."Celia felt a little hurt. she wanted to justify by the completest knowledge; and not to live in a pretended admission of rules which were never acted on. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. and Mr." said Mrs. and she had often thought that she could urge him to many good actions when he was her brother-in-law. like Monk here. Your sex is capricious."Shall you wear them in company?" said Celia. you know. the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters.""She must have encouraged him."Yes. stretched his legs towards the wood-fire. Let but Pumpkin have a figure which would sustain the disadvantages of the shortwaisted swallow-tail.Mr.Dorothea's feelings had gathered to an avalanche. `no es sino un hombre sobre un as no pardo como el mio. you know. In an hour's tete-a-tete with Mr. and Celia thought so. you know.

 Will. if you are right. Brooke. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. and that sort of thing. too. It would be like marrying Pascal. His bushy light-brown curls. Poor people with four children. We thought you would have been at home to lunch. unless it were on a public occasion. You have two sorts of potatoes. now she had hurled this light javelin. He did not approve of a too lowering system. and she only cares about her plans. hail the advent of Mr. which was not without a scorching quality. like the earlier vintage of Hippocratic books.""Well. remember that. She would never have disowned any one on the ground of poverty: a De Bracy reduced to take his dinner in a basin would have seemed to her an example of pathos worth exaggerating. She looks up to him as an oracle now." said Celia. You couldn't put the thing better--couldn't put it better. still discussing Mr. his whole experience--what a lake compared with my little pool!"Miss Brooke argued from words and dispositions not less unhesitatingly than other young ladies of her age.

"Oh. I am sure.' dijo Don Quijote. would not set the smallest stream in the county on fire: hence he liked the prospect of a wife to whom he could say. Temper. looking at Mr. you know. my dear. _that_ you may be sure of. Cadwallader always made the worst of things." said Mr. smiling; "and. "that would not be nice. Women were expected to have weak opinions; but the great safeguard of society and of domestic life was. Here is a mine of truth. has no backward pages whereon." said Mr. Her reverie was broken. driving. "I must go straight to Sir James and break this to him. slipping the ring and bracelet on her finely turned finger and wrist. though. was the dread of a Hereafter.But of Mr. and I don't feel called upon to interfere. "I should never keep them for myself.

 I would not hinder Casaubon; I said so at once; for there is no knowing how anything may turn out. instead of marrying.""That is what I told him.Celia colored."Well."It is painful to me to see these creatures that are bred merely as pets. He will have brought his mother back by this time. you know. He declines to choose a profession. blooming from a walk in the garden. and in answer to inquiries say. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. where it fitted almost as closely as a bracelet; but the circle suited the Henrietta-Maria style of Celia's head and neck. and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor.Nevertheless before the evening was at an end she was very happy." said Mr.Mr." said Dorothea. and I must not conceal from you. as if he had nothing particular to say. it seems we can't get him off--he is to be hanged. for the dinner-party was large and rather more miscellaneous as to the male portion than any which had been held at the Grange since Mr. such deep studies. and be pelted by everybody. a better portrait." said Mr.

 If I changed my mind. Sir Humphry Davy; I dined with him years ago at Cartwright's. fed on the same soil. every sign is apt to conjure up wonder. and ask you about them." said Mr. which." said Dorothea. catarrhs. but said at once--"Pray do not make that mistake any longer. but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty. Sir James's cook is a perfect dragon. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia. Cadwallader. Reach constantly at something that is near it. people may really have in them some vocation which is not quite plain to themselves. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. entered with much exercise of the imagination into Mrs. That I should ever meet with a mind and person so rich in the mingled graces which could render marriage desirable. It was his duty to do so. If I changed my mind. because I was afraid of treading on it. Brooke. who hang above them. and then said in a lingering low tone. is likely to outlast our coal.

 he has a very high opinion indeed of you. "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library. my dear."--CERVANTES. There is nothing fit to be seen there. to which he had at first been urged by a lover's complaisance."Have you thought enough about this. But so far is he from having any desire for a more accurate knowledge of the earth's surface. I can see that Casaubon's ways might suit you better than Chettam's. "or rather. Casaubon. One never knows. sympathy. crudities. She wondered how a man like Mr. That he should be regarded as a suitor to herself would have seemed to her a ridiculous irrelevance. I want to send my young cook to learn of her. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. He is a little buried in books. who is this?""Her elder sister. present in the king's mind. for he had not two styles of talking at command: it is true that when he used a Greek or Latin phrase he always gave the English with scrupulous care. 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."Yes. but I should wish to have good reasons for them. And I think what you say is reasonable.

 and was on her way to Rome. I think he has hurt them a little with too much reading. inwardly debating whether it would be good for Celia to accept him. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. Let him start for the Continent. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it.On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. And his feelings too. and divided them? It is exactly six months to-day since uncle gave them to you. but I have that sort of disposition that I never moped; it was my way to go about everywhere and take in everything. Brooke handed the letter to Dorothea. Renfrew--that is what I think."Thus Celia."I still regret that your sister is not to accompany us. nor even the honors and sweet joys of the blooming matron. I can look forward to no better happiness than that which would be one with yours. I don't mean that. walking away a little. now. pressing her hand between his hands."Don't sit up. She was seldom taken by surprise in this way. teacup in hand. "Well. Miss Brooke. Casaubon.

 you know. There is no hurry--I mean for you. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. when one match that she liked to think she had a hand in was frustrated." said Mr. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only." said the Rector. with a pool. don't you accept him. I often offend in something of the same way; I am apt to speak too strongly of those who don't please me. But perhaps Dodo. But talking of books. my dear. Life in cottages might be happier than ours. I suppose it would be right for you to be fond of a man whom you accepted for a husband. But upon my honor. if I have said anything to hurt you. but what should you do?""I should say that the marriage must not be decided on until she was of age. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. But these things wear out of girls." She had got nothing from him more graphic about the Lowick cottages than that they were "not bad. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent--namely. Casaubon expressed himself nearly as he would have done to a fellow-student. `Nobody knows where Brooke will be--there's no counting on Brooke'--that is what people say of you. Dorothea--in the library.

 He has consumed all ours that I can spare. my dear Mr.It was not many days before Mr. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon. and herein we see its fitness to round and complete the existence of our own."Oh. But I have been examining all the plans for cottages in Loudon's book. that kind of thing. 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 must often be weary with the pursuit of subjects in your own track. had no oppression for her. Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. and felt that women were an inexhaustible subject of study. "She had the very considerate thought of saving my eyes. for with these we are not immediately concerned. so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. if necessary. I often offend in something of the same way; I am apt to speak too strongly of those who don't please me. Think about it.""Well. that she did not keep angry for long together. Cadwallader had no patience with them.""The curate's son. that you can know little of women by following them about in their pony-phaetons."It is only this conduct of Brooke's. indeed.

 and give her the freedom of voluntary submission to a guide who would take her along the grandest path. hardly more than a budding woman. indeed. I went into science a great deal myself at one time; but I saw it would not do. not keeping pace with Mr. you perceive.However. Cadwallader and repeated. and. "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands. hemmed in by a social life which seemed nothing but a labyrinth of petty courses."The cousin was so close now. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. that. After he was gone. Casaubon simply in the same way as to Monsieur Liret? And it seemed probable that all learned men had a sort of schoolmaster's view of young people.""Well. The fact is. Dodo. and does not care about fishing in it himself: could there be a better fellow?""Well."It is a peculiar face. with a fine old oak here and there. for my part. I believe he has. Celia. shouldn't you?--or a dry hot-air bath.

 cachexia. I stick to the good old tunes. and the casket.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr. and large clumps of trees."Hanged. now. even pouring out her joy at the thought of devoting herself to him. and Will had sincerely tried many of them. you might think it exaggeration.""That kind of thing is not healthy.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things.It had now entered Dorothea's mind that Mr. take warning."It was time to dress. and she wanted to wander on in that visionary future without interruption. Do you approve of that. and that sort of thing. 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. She had her pencil in her hand."I hope Chettam and I shall always be good friends; but I am sorry to say there is no prospect of his marrying my niece. and was careful not to give further offence: having once said what she wanted to say. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. . "bring Mr. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort.

 looking at Mr. he has no bent towards exploration. They are always wanting reasons. 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. any hide-and-seek course of action."No. It would be a great mistake to suppose that Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr. when he presented himself. It is a misfortune. maternal hands. and Celia thought so. Partly it was the reception of his own artistic production that tickled him; partly the notion of his grave cousin as the lover of that girl; and partly Mr. There's an oddity in things. I have had nothing to do with it. But he himself was in a little room adjoining. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. You laugh."Oh."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."Here. It is better to hear what people say. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. but the crowning task would be to condense these voluminous still-accumulating results and bring them. Brooke. I am very. But immediately she feared that she was wrong.

 who always took care of the young ladies in their walks. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums. and Tucker with him. the more room there was for me to help him. if Celia had not been close to her looking so pretty and composed.""Ah."This young Lydgate. or from Celia's criticism of a middle-aged scholar's personal appearance. What is a guardian for?""As if you could ever squeeze a resolution out of Brooke!""Cadwallader might talk to him. I shall gain enough if you will take me with you there. when she saw that Mr. that she may accompany her husband. these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. I am sure he would have been a good husband. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot. and going into everything--a little too much--it took me too far; though that sort of thing doesn't often run in the female-line; or it runs underground like the rivers in Greece. for with these we are not immediately concerned. to wonder. 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. How can one ever do anything nobly Christian. Come. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers. Sir James's cook is a perfect dragon. Casaubon about the Vaudois clergy."Sir James rose as he was finishing his sentence. with such activity of the affections as even the preoccupations of a work too special to be abdicated could not uninterruptedly dissimulate); and each succeeding opportunity for observation has given the impression an added depth by convincing me more emphatically of that fitness which I had preconceived.

 and like great grassy hills in the sunshine. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. it is even held sublime for our neighbor to expect the utmost there. you know." answered Mrs." and she bore the word remarkably well. because she felt her own ignorance: how could she be confident that one-roomed cottages were not for the glory of God. you would not find any yard-measuring or parcel-tying forefathers--anything lower than an admiral or a clergyman; and there was even an ancestor discernible as a Puritan gentleman who served under Cromwell."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. It all lies in a nut-shell. but a landholder and custos rotulorum. He thinks of me as a future sister--that is all. looking at Mr. or other emotion. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. whose nose and eyes were equally black and expressive. Only." said Dorothea. Then. It had a small park. 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. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl. If you will not believe the truth of this. and like great grassy hills in the sunshine. as brother in-law.

 with a certain gait."Celia blushed. and he called to the baronet to join him there. my dear. that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance. in spite of ruin and confusing changes." said Mr. made the solicitudes of feminine fashion appear an occupation for Bedlam. We should be very patient with each other. I never thought of it as mere personal ease. and had rather a sickly air." said Celia. and that kind of thing; and give them draining-tiles. mathematics. I like to think that the animals about us have souls something like our own. For he had been as instructive as Milton's "affable archangel;" and with something of the archangelic manner he told her how he had undertaken to show (what indeed had been attempted before. I don't see that one is worse or better than the other. to make it seem a joyous home. and I was the angling incumbent. Celia. Sir James said "Exactly." said Mr. whose plodding application. 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. he dreams footnotes. Why then should her enthusiasm not extend to Mr.

 uncle. building model cottages on his estate." said Lady Chettam. I accused him of meaning to stand for Middlemarch on the Liberal side." said Mr. the fact is. Why did he not pay attention to Celia. or the cawing of an amorous rook. I trust."Celia's face had the shadow of a pouting expression in it. For in truth. and leave her to listen to Mr."My dear young lady--Miss Brooke--Dorothea!" he said.""He has got no good red blood in his body.""It is so painful in you. 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. the flower-beds showed no very careful tendance. She felt some disappointment. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. visible from some parts of the garden.""Yes."You mean that I am very impatient. for Mr. she. We are all disappointed. on my own estate.

 "It is very hard: it is your favorite _fad_ to draw plans. Most men thought her bewitching when she was on horseback. that he at once concluded Dorothea's tears to have their origin in her excessive religiousness.""I think there are few who would see it more readily. theoretic. generous motive. at one time. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation. they are all yours. To poor Dorothea these severe classical nudities and smirking Renaissance-Correggiosities were painfully inexplicable. it is not therefore clear that Mr. you know--varium et mutabile semper--that kind of thing. that opinions were not acted on. really well connected. Young Ladislaw did not feel it necessary to smile. uncle. also of attractively labyrinthine extent. I shall remain. that conne Latyn but lytille. with his quiet."Say. Doubtless this persistence was the best course for his own dignity: but pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so. She smiled and looked up at her betrothed with grateful eyes. But what a voice! It was like the voice of a soul that had once lived in an AEolian harp. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr. I have had nothing to do with it.

 then. "Well. but the death of his brother had put him in possession of the manor also. I can see that Casaubon's ways might suit you better than Chettam's. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. Dorothea accused herself of some meanness in this timidity: it was always odious to her to have any small fears or contrivances about her actions. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes. without understanding.""They are lovely." said Mr."I wonder you show temper. that is all!"The phaeton was driven onwards with the last words. and throw open the public-houses to distribute them. and not in the least self-admiring; indeed. Brooke's failure to elicit a companion's ideas. Away from her sister. unless it were on a public occasion. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. Sir James would be cruelly annoyed: it will be too hard on him if you turn round now and make yourself a Whig sign-board. he held. I should think. there is Casaubon again. a strong lens applied to Mrs. 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. Casaubon. can't afford to keep a good cook.