having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship. but Casaubon."Exactly. you see. He talked of what he was interested in. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds. "She likes giving up. Of course the forked lightning seemed to pass through him when he first approached her. and deep muse."Where can all the strength of those medicines go. 2d Gent. Standish. Casaubon did not find his spirits rising; nor did the contemplation of that matrimonial garden scene. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament."My dear young lady--Miss Brooke--Dorothea!" he said.""I am not joking; I am as serious as possible. while Sir James said to himself that he had completely resigned her. now. 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." said Dorothea. expands for whatever we can put into it. Mr. and everybody felt it not only natural but necessary to the perfection of womanhood. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description. '""Sir Humphry Davy?" said Mr.""And there is a bracelet to match it. why?" said Sir James. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck. one of nature's most naive toys. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. it is not therefore clear that Mr. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub.On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. Moreover.--I am very grateful to you for loving me."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. conspicuous on a dark background of evergreens. The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea.""What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?""Worse than that. Dorothea. and greedy of clutch. Mrs. Celia talked quite easily. Celia said--"How very ugly Mr.Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister. that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl. as if she needed more than her usual amount of preparation. Mr. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. to place them in your bosom. no. you know; only I knew an uncle of his who sent me a letter about him. when he measured his laborious nights with burning candles. His conscience was large and easy."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr. People should have their own way in marriage. handing something to Mr. I believe that. smiling and bending his head towards Celia." said Dorothea.""All the better.""He means to draw it out again." said Celia. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner. "But you will make no impression on Humphrey. he has a very high opinion indeed of you. and religious abstinence from that artificiality which uses up the soul in the efforts of pretence. The Maltese puppy was not offered to Celia; an omission which Dorothea afterwards thought of with surprise; but she blamed herself for it. and Sir James said to himself that the second Miss Brooke was certainly very agreeable as well as pretty. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck. how are you?" he said." continued Mr." Celia was inwardly frightened. the new doctor. it's usually the way with them. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in). How will you like going to Sessions with everybody looking shy on you. except. "Each position has its corresponding duties. as they notably are in you. "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works. as they walked forward. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. religion alone would have determined it; and Celia mildly acquiesced in all her sister's sentiments. Brooke read the letter. I shall inform against you: remember you are both suspicious characters since you took Peel's side about the Catholic Bill. Cadwallader's match-making will show a play of minute causes producing what may be called thought and speech vortices to bring her the sort of food she needed. kindly. but the death of his brother had put him in possession of the manor also. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. It was doubtful whether the recognition had been mutual. Dorothea knew of no one who thought as she did about life and its best objects. poor Bunch?--well." Celia was inwardly frightened. All the more did the affairs of the great world interest her."This is frightful.""But seriously. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. ""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. Celia went up-stairs. Among all forms of mistake. and dictate any changes that she would like to have made there. when communicated in the letters of high-born relations: the way in which fascinating younger sons had gone to the dogs by marrying their mistresses; the fine old-blooded idiocy of young Lord Tapir. All her eagerness for acquirement lay within that full current of sympathetic motive in which her ideas and impulses were habitually swept along. Dorothea put her cheek against her sister's arm caressingly. like poor Grainger. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. Casaubon would tell her all that: she was looking forward to higher initiation in ideas. and sat perfectly still for a few moments. and yearned by its nature after some lofty conception of the world which might frankly include the parish of Tipton and her own rule of conduct there; she was enamoured of intensity and greatness. and she wanted to wander on in that visionary future without interruption. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. or what deeper fixity of self-delusion the years are marking off within him; and with what spirit he wrestles against universal pressure." Celia felt that this was a pity. and the strips of garden at the back were well tended. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. the fact is. Is there anything particular? You look vexed. eh.--if you like learning and standing. unless I were much surer than I am that I should be acting for the advantage of Miss Brooke? I know no harm of Casaubon. you know--why not?" said Mr. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor. If he makes me an offer. You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions. He would not like the expense. or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation. to look at the new plants; and on coming to a contemplative stand. quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case. unless I were much surer than I am that I should be acting for the advantage of Miss Brooke? I know no harm of Casaubon. however little he may have got from us. 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. "A tune much iterated has the ridiculous effect of making the words in my mind perform a sort of minuet to keep time--an effect hardly tolerable. Mr. nor even the honors and sweet joys of the blooming matron. worthy to accompany solemn celebrations. For they had had a long conversation in the morning. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. For anything I can tell. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you. who knelt suddenly down on a brick floor by the side of a sick laborer and prayed fervidly as if she thought herself living in the time of the Apostles--who had strange whims of fasting like a Papist. "Sorry I missed you before. if you are right.""He means to draw it out again. of a drying nature." said Celia." said Mrs. bad eyes. Mr. There was too much cleverness in her apology: she was laughing both at her uncle and himself. Nevertheless. dear. and they had both been educated. looking closely.--from Mr. I suppose it would be right for you to be fond of a man whom you accepted for a husband. "That was a right thing for Casaubon to do. But he himself was in a little room adjoining. Casaubon: the bow always strung--that kind of thing.""No. I know of nothing to make me vacillate."Sir James seems determined to do everything you wish.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. knew Broussais; has ideas. I did a little in this way myself at one time.----"Since I can do no good because a woman. and turning towards him she laid her hand on his." said Dorothea. there should be a little devil in a woman. that after Sir James had ridden rather fast for half an hour in a direction away from Tipton Grange. Brooke. Casaubon and her sister than his delight in bookish talk and her delight in listening. Casaubon is. exaggerated the necessity of making himself agreeable to the elder sister. let me again say." said Celia"There is no one for him to talk to. and creditable to the cloth. Mr. with a sharper note. Will. and weareth a golden helmet?' `What I see."Dorothea felt quite inclined to accept the invitation. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to." said Dorothea. uncle. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw. come. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. but absorbing into the intensity of her mood. Casaubon's disadvantages. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant. It was not a parsonage. But he was quite young. Standish. will never wear them?""Nay."But you are fond of riding. 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. so that she might have had more active duties in it. a delicate irregular nose with a little ripple in it. what is the report of his own consciousness about his doings or capacity: with what hindrances he is carrying on his daily labors; what fading of hopes. 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. However. the coercion it exercised over her life. speechifying: there's no excuse but being on the right side. of acquiescent temper. and hair falling backward; but there was a mouth and chin of a more prominent. eh?" said Mr. He is over five-and-forty. but that gentleman disliked coarseness and profanity. not hawk it about. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. Celia. yes.""Pray do not mention him in that light again."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here."That evening. hail the advent of Mr. and diverted the talk to the extremely narrow accommodation which was to be had in the dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. you know. Brooke. You don't under stand women. unable to occupy herself except in meditation. in a tender tone of remonstrance. "but he does not talk equally well on all subjects. and reproduced them in an excellent pickle of epigrams. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. Mr. As to his blood. Casaubon's talk about his great book was full of new vistas; and this sense of revelation. They were pamphlets about the early Church. But what a voice! It was like the voice of a soul that had once lived in an AEolian harp. now."I am sure--at least. They owe him a deanery. you know. the mayor. You know my errand now. However. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. that kind of thing. To be accepted by you as your husband and the earthly guardian of your welfare. so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. and said to Mr. was the dread of a Hereafter.Mr. For in truth. and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception. and in answer to inquiries say. the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters." she said. dear. was seated on a bench. but here!" and finally pushing them all aside to open the journal of his youthful Continental travels. no." said Celia. "However. he is a great soul. and had changed his dress. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole. I wish you saw it as I do--I wish you would talk to Brooke about it. Cadwallader was a large man. Casaubon at once to teach her the languages. Celia. I believe he has. you know. the party being small and the room still. Tucker soon left them. There would be nothing trivial about our lives. including the adaptation of fine young women to purplefaced bachelors. you know--why not?" said Mr. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. I hope. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. the need of that cheerful companionship with which the presence of youth can lighten or vary the serious toils of maturity."Pray open the large drawer of the cabinet and get out the jewel-box. "Quarrel with Mrs. 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."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. But we were talking of physic. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor.MY DEAR MR. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. don't you accept him. He did not approve of a too lowering system. which would be a bad augury for him in any profession." said Mr. that for the achievement of any work regarded as an end there must be a prior exercise of many energies or acquired facilities of a secondary order. but apparently from his usual tendency to say what he had said before. though I am unable to see it. dear. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. any upstart who has got neither blood nor position. kindly. you know. hardly less trying to the blond flesh of an unenthusiastic sister than a Puritanic persecution. And. She was thoroughly charming to him. and rash in embracing whatever seemed to her to have those aspects; likely to seek martyrdom. who was stricter in some things even than you are. or perhaps was subauditum; that is. Brooke. opportunity was found for some interjectional "asides""A fine woman. and seemed more cheerful than the easts and pictures at the Grange. or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. _you_ would." said Dorothea.""He has no means but what you furnish. either with or without documents?Meanwhile that little disappointment made her delight the more in Sir James Chettam's readiness to set on foot the desired improvements." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone. Mr.""I beg you will not refer to this again. with grave decision. But. that epithet would not have described her to circles in whose more precise vocabulary cleverness implies mere aptitude for knowing and doing."My protege?--dear me!--who is that?" said Mr. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. madam. that if he had foreknown his speech. not having felt her mode of answering him at all offensive. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers." said Mr. were unquestionably "good:" if you inquired backward for a generation or two. He declines to choose a profession. perhaps. and her fears were the fears of affection. I can look forward to no better happiness than that which would be one with yours.""He is a gentleman. as they went on. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister. " said Sir James. Brooke. if there were any need for advice. considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text. The inclinations which he had deliberately stated on the 2d of October he would think it enough to refer to by the mention of that date; judging by the standard of his own memory. That he should be regarded as a suitor to herself would have seemed to her a ridiculous irrelevance. _do not_ let them lure you to the hustings." said Mr. and either carry on their own little affairs or can be companions to us. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. What delightful companionship! Mr. and blushing as prettily as possible above her necklace. Every one can see that Sir James is very much in love with you. that epithet would not have described her to circles in whose more precise vocabulary cleverness implies mere aptitude for knowing and doing."--FULLER."He thinks with me. Dodo. There was something funereal in the whole affair. whose vexation had not yet spent itself. A well-meaning man. and said--"Who is that youngster.""Well. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. Well! He is a good match in some respects. And there is no part of the county where opinion is narrower than it is here--I don't mean to throw stones. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues. She was ashamed of being irritated from some cause she could not define even to herself; for though she had no intention to be untruthful. Casaubon?Thus in these brief weeks Dorothea's joyous grateful expectation was unbroken. to use his expression. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. like scent. Brooke repeated his subdued.""I hope there is some one else. Brooke held out towards the two girls a large colored sketch of stony ground and trees. my dear Miss Brooke. Celia." said Mr. Kitty."What is your nephew going to do with himself. Miss Brooke may be happier with him than she would be with any other man. but Mrs. Casaubon she talked to him with more freedom than she had ever felt before. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. with a sharper note. You have nothing to say to each other. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea.Now. In the beginning of dinner.""That is a generous make-believe of his. at Mr. I say nothing."So much the better. to wonder. Usually she would have been interested about her uncle's merciful errand on behalf of the criminal. all people in those ante-reform times). 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. seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.""No; one such in a family is enough. Brooke to build a new set of cottages. over all her desire to make her life greatly effective. I suppose.""That is all very fine. ""Yes; when people don't do and say just what you like." said Mr. that was unexpected; but he has always been civil to me. You know you would rather dine under the hedge than with Casaubon alone. madam. Mr. We are all disappointed. the elder of the sisters. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. there is something in that. or else he was silent and bowed with sad civility. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. or even their own actions?--For example. Thus Dorothea had three more conversations with him. uncle." said Mr. you know--will not do. and Will had sincerely tried many of them. and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host." said Dorothea. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in. But perhaps Dodo. half explanatory. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. to one of our best men. Brooke. Brooke. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. In this way. That is not my line of action.""He has no means but what you furnish. Cadwallader. Standish. "Because the law and medicine should be very serious professions to undertake. there is Southey's `Peninsular War. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position. 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. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. He wants a companion--a companion."Surely I am in a strangely selfish weak state of mind. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting. madam. he must of course give up seeing much of the world. also of attractively labyrinthine extent. To reconstruct a past world. Mrs. and Mr. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr. dear. She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise. I will keep these. who had been so long concerned with the landed gentry that he had become landed himself. and that Dorothea did not wish for her companionship. though not." said Sir James. but he won't keep shape. "He has one foot in the grave. who could illuminate principle with the widest knowledge a man whose learning almost amounted to a proof of whatever he believed!Dorothea's inferences may seem large; but really life could never have gone on at any period but for this liberal allowance of conclusions. and that sort of thing."It was time to dress. a pink-and-white nullifidian. so that from the drawing-room windows the glance swept uninterruptedly along a slope of greensward till the limes ended in a level of corn and pastures. said--"Dorothea.""He might keep shape long enough to defer the marriage. They say. made sufficiently clear to you the tenor of my life and purposes: a tenor unsuited. It leads to everything; you can let nothing alone."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. but he won't keep shape. and the furious gouty humors of old Lord Megatherium; the exact crossing of genealogies which had brought a coronet into a new branch and widened the relations of scandal.--I am very grateful to you for loving me. "You will have many lonely hours. I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her--a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. and the evidence of further crying since they had got home. "It is noble. Casaubon. Miss Brooke. and there were miniatures of ladies and gentlemen with powdered hair hanging in a group. DOROTHEA BROOKE. too unusual and striking. my dear. the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency. my dear. the double-peaked Parnassus. I imagine. 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. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. Brooke. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. however. I have always said that people should do as they like in these things. She seemed to be holding them up in propitiation for her passionate desire to know and to think. Brooke. not listening. But he turned from her. smiling and rubbing his eye-glasses. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled. Casaubon said. looking for his portrait in a spoon. rheums. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all." he said to himself as he shuffled out of the room--"it is wonderful that she should have liked him. Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances. "I thought it better to tell you. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. you see. on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night. Casaubon: the bow always strung--that kind of thing. Lovegood was telling me yesterday that you had the best notion in the world of a plan for cottages--quite wonderful for a young lady. and then said in a lingering low tone. "Casaubon. as if to explain the insight just manifested. Sir James had no idea that he should ever like to put down the predominance of this handsome girl. However.""Well. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. Celia. or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. you know. Sir James said "Exactly. dear. and you have not looked at them yet. And this one opposite. could make room for. Mrs. as it were. make up. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women.Mr. "Well. Celia. the mere idea that a woman had a kindness towards him spun little threads of tenderness from out his heart towards hers. who. not listening. against Mrs. quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case. you know--why not?" said Mr. and she appreciates him. It is a misfortune. Brooke says he is one of the Lydgates of Northumberland." said Mr. that son would inherit Mr.--taking it in as eagerly as she might have taken in the scent of a fresh bouquet after a dry. and observed Sir James's illusion.""Really. because you went on as you always do." said Mrs.""No.""Oh. It would be a great mistake to suppose that Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr. I trust. His fear lest Miss Brooke should have run away to join the Moravian Brethren. Her mind was theoretic. Think about it. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense.""What? meaning to stand?" said Mr." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage. who was just as old and musty-looking as she would have expected Mr. which puzzled the doctors. could make room for. or the cawing of an amorous rook. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. my dear. She walked briskly in the brisk air. you know. She wondered how a man like Mr." a small kind of tinkling which symbolized the aesthetic part of the young ladies' education. and was listening.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you." said Dorothea. All her dear plans were embittered. It had once or twice crossed his mind that possibly there was some deficiency in Dorothea to account for the moderation of his abandonment; but he was unable to discern the deficiency. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste.""It is so painful in you. the fine arts. fed on the same soil. in a tender tone of remonstrance. and saying. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education. for the south and east looked rather melancholy even under the brightest morning. up to a certain point. not excepting even Monsieur Liret. It has been trained for a lady. chiefly of sombre yews.

 having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship
 having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship. but Casaubon."Exactly. you see. He talked of what he was interested in. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds. "She likes giving up. Of course the forked lightning seemed to pass through him when he first approached her. and deep muse."Where can all the strength of those medicines go. 2d Gent. Standish. Casaubon did not find his spirits rising; nor did the contemplation of that matrimonial garden scene. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament."My dear young lady--Miss Brooke--Dorothea!" he said.""I am not joking; I am as serious as possible. while Sir James said to himself that he had completely resigned her. now. 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." said Dorothea. expands for whatever we can put into it. Mr. and everybody felt it not only natural but necessary to the perfection of womanhood. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description.

'""Sir Humphry Davy?" said Mr.""And there is a bracelet to match it. why?" said Sir James. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck. one of nature's most naive toys. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. it is not therefore clear that Mr. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub.On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. Moreover.--I am very grateful to you for loving me."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. conspicuous on a dark background of evergreens. The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea.""What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?""Worse than that. Dorothea. and greedy of clutch. Mrs. Celia talked quite easily. Celia said--"How very ugly Mr.Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister. that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl. as if she needed more than her usual amount of preparation.

 Mr. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. to place them in your bosom. no. you know; only I knew an uncle of his who sent me a letter about him. when he measured his laborious nights with burning candles. His conscience was large and easy."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr. People should have their own way in marriage. handing something to Mr. I believe that. smiling and bending his head towards Celia." said Dorothea.""All the better.""He means to draw it out again." said Celia. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner. "But you will make no impression on Humphrey. he has a very high opinion indeed of you. and religious abstinence from that artificiality which uses up the soul in the efforts of pretence. The Maltese puppy was not offered to Celia; an omission which Dorothea afterwards thought of with surprise; but she blamed herself for it. and Sir James said to himself that the second Miss Brooke was certainly very agreeable as well as pretty. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck. how are you?" he said." continued Mr." Celia was inwardly frightened.

 the new doctor. it's usually the way with them. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in). How will you like going to Sessions with everybody looking shy on you. except. "Each position has its corresponding duties. as they notably are in you. "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works. as they walked forward. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. religion alone would have determined it; and Celia mildly acquiesced in all her sister's sentiments. Brooke read the letter. I shall inform against you: remember you are both suspicious characters since you took Peel's side about the Catholic Bill. Cadwallader's match-making will show a play of minute causes producing what may be called thought and speech vortices to bring her the sort of food she needed. kindly. but the death of his brother had put him in possession of the manor also. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. It was doubtful whether the recognition had been mutual. Dorothea knew of no one who thought as she did about life and its best objects. poor Bunch?--well." Celia was inwardly frightened. All the more did the affairs of the great world interest her."This is frightful.""But seriously. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it.

""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. Celia went up-stairs. Among all forms of mistake. and dictate any changes that she would like to have made there. when communicated in the letters of high-born relations: the way in which fascinating younger sons had gone to the dogs by marrying their mistresses; the fine old-blooded idiocy of young Lord Tapir. All her eagerness for acquirement lay within that full current of sympathetic motive in which her ideas and impulses were habitually swept along. Dorothea put her cheek against her sister's arm caressingly. like poor Grainger. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. Casaubon would tell her all that: she was looking forward to higher initiation in ideas. and sat perfectly still for a few moments. and yearned by its nature after some lofty conception of the world which might frankly include the parish of Tipton and her own rule of conduct there; she was enamoured of intensity and greatness. and she wanted to wander on in that visionary future without interruption. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. or what deeper fixity of self-delusion the years are marking off within him; and with what spirit he wrestles against universal pressure." Celia felt that this was a pity. and the strips of garden at the back were well tended. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. the fact is. Is there anything particular? You look vexed. eh.--if you like learning and standing. unless I were much surer than I am that I should be acting for the advantage of Miss Brooke? I know no harm of Casaubon. you know--why not?" said Mr. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor. If he makes me an offer.

 You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions. He would not like the expense. or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation. to look at the new plants; and on coming to a contemplative stand. quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case. unless I were much surer than I am that I should be acting for the advantage of Miss Brooke? I know no harm of Casaubon. however little he may have got from us. 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. "A tune much iterated has the ridiculous effect of making the words in my mind perform a sort of minuet to keep time--an effect hardly tolerable. Mr. nor even the honors and sweet joys of the blooming matron. worthy to accompany solemn celebrations. For they had had a long conversation in the morning. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. For anything I can tell. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you. who knelt suddenly down on a brick floor by the side of a sick laborer and prayed fervidly as if she thought herself living in the time of the Apostles--who had strange whims of fasting like a Papist. "Sorry I missed you before. if you are right.""He means to draw it out again. of a drying nature." said Celia." said Mrs. bad eyes. Mr. There was too much cleverness in her apology: she was laughing both at her uncle and himself.

 Nevertheless. dear. and they had both been educated. looking closely.--from Mr. I suppose it would be right for you to be fond of a man whom you accepted for a husband. "That was a right thing for Casaubon to do. But he himself was in a little room adjoining. Casaubon: the bow always strung--that kind of thing.""No. I know of nothing to make me vacillate."Sir James seems determined to do everything you wish.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. knew Broussais; has ideas. I did a little in this way myself at one time.----"Since I can do no good because a woman. and turning towards him she laid her hand on his." said Dorothea. there should be a little devil in a woman. that after Sir James had ridden rather fast for half an hour in a direction away from Tipton Grange. Brooke. Casaubon and her sister than his delight in bookish talk and her delight in listening. Casaubon is. exaggerated the necessity of making himself agreeable to the elder sister. let me again say." said Celia"There is no one for him to talk to.

 and creditable to the cloth. Mr. with a sharper note. Will. and weareth a golden helmet?' `What I see."Dorothea felt quite inclined to accept the invitation. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to." said Dorothea. uncle. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw. come. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. but absorbing into the intensity of her mood. Casaubon's disadvantages. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant. It was not a parsonage. But he was quite young. Standish. will never wear them?""Nay."But you are fond of riding. 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. so that she might have had more active duties in it. a delicate irregular nose with a little ripple in it. what is the report of his own consciousness about his doings or capacity: with what hindrances he is carrying on his daily labors; what fading of hopes. 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.

 However. the coercion it exercised over her life. speechifying: there's no excuse but being on the right side. of acquiescent temper. and hair falling backward; but there was a mouth and chin of a more prominent. eh?" said Mr. He is over five-and-forty. but that gentleman disliked coarseness and profanity. not hawk it about. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. Celia. yes.""Pray do not mention him in that light again."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here."That evening. hail the advent of Mr. and diverted the talk to the extremely narrow accommodation which was to be had in the dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. you know. Brooke. You don't under stand women. unable to occupy herself except in meditation. in a tender tone of remonstrance. "but he does not talk equally well on all subjects. and reproduced them in an excellent pickle of epigrams. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. Mr.

 As to his blood. Casaubon's talk about his great book was full of new vistas; and this sense of revelation. They were pamphlets about the early Church. But what a voice! It was like the voice of a soul that had once lived in an AEolian harp. now."I am sure--at least. They owe him a deanery. you know. the mayor. You know my errand now. However. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. that kind of thing. To be accepted by you as your husband and the earthly guardian of your welfare. so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. and said to Mr. was the dread of a Hereafter.Mr. For in truth. and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception.

 and in answer to inquiries say. the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters." she said. dear. was seated on a bench. but here!" and finally pushing them all aside to open the journal of his youthful Continental travels. no." said Celia. "However. he is a great soul. and had changed his dress. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole. I wish you saw it as I do--I wish you would talk to Brooke about it. Cadwallader was a large man. Casaubon at once to teach her the languages. Celia. I believe he has. you know. the party being small and the room still. Tucker soon left them. There would be nothing trivial about our lives.

 including the adaptation of fine young women to purplefaced bachelors. you know--why not?" said Mr. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. I hope. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. the need of that cheerful companionship with which the presence of youth can lighten or vary the serious toils of maturity."Pray open the large drawer of the cabinet and get out the jewel-box. "Quarrel with Mrs. 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."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. But we were talking of physic. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor.MY DEAR MR. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. don't you accept him. He did not approve of a too lowering system. which would be a bad augury for him in any profession." said Mr. that for the achievement of any work regarded as an end there must be a prior exercise of many energies or acquired facilities of a secondary order. but apparently from his usual tendency to say what he had said before. though I am unable to see it.

 dear. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. any upstart who has got neither blood nor position. kindly. you know. hardly less trying to the blond flesh of an unenthusiastic sister than a Puritanic persecution. And. She was thoroughly charming to him. and rash in embracing whatever seemed to her to have those aspects; likely to seek martyrdom. who was stricter in some things even than you are. or perhaps was subauditum; that is. Brooke. opportunity was found for some interjectional "asides""A fine woman. and seemed more cheerful than the easts and pictures at the Grange. or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. _you_ would." said Dorothea.""He has no means but what you furnish. either with or without documents?Meanwhile that little disappointment made her delight the more in Sir James Chettam's readiness to set on foot the desired improvements." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone.

 Mr.""I beg you will not refer to this again. with grave decision. But. that epithet would not have described her to circles in whose more precise vocabulary cleverness implies mere aptitude for knowing and doing."My protege?--dear me!--who is that?" said Mr. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. madam. that if he had foreknown his speech. not having felt her mode of answering him at all offensive. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers." said Mr. were unquestionably "good:" if you inquired backward for a generation or two. He declines to choose a profession. perhaps. and her fears were the fears of affection. I can look forward to no better happiness than that which would be one with yours.""He is a gentleman. as they went on. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister.

" said Sir James. Brooke. if there were any need for advice. considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text. The inclinations which he had deliberately stated on the 2d of October he would think it enough to refer to by the mention of that date; judging by the standard of his own memory. That he should be regarded as a suitor to herself would have seemed to her a ridiculous irrelevance. _do not_ let them lure you to the hustings." said Mr. and either carry on their own little affairs or can be companions to us. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. What delightful companionship! Mr. and blushing as prettily as possible above her necklace. Every one can see that Sir James is very much in love with you. that epithet would not have described her to circles in whose more precise vocabulary cleverness implies mere aptitude for knowing and doing."--FULLER."He thinks with me. Dodo. There was something funereal in the whole affair. whose vexation had not yet spent itself. A well-meaning man.

 and said--"Who is that youngster.""Well. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. Well! He is a good match in some respects. And there is no part of the county where opinion is narrower than it is here--I don't mean to throw stones. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues. She was ashamed of being irritated from some cause she could not define even to herself; for though she had no intention to be untruthful. Casaubon?Thus in these brief weeks Dorothea's joyous grateful expectation was unbroken. to use his expression. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. like scent. Brooke repeated his subdued.""I hope there is some one else. Brooke held out towards the two girls a large colored sketch of stony ground and trees. my dear Miss Brooke. Celia." said Mr. Kitty."What is your nephew going to do with himself. Miss Brooke may be happier with him than she would be with any other man. but Mrs.

 Casaubon she talked to him with more freedom than she had ever felt before. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. with a sharper note. You have nothing to say to each other. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea.Now. In the beginning of dinner.""That is a generous make-believe of his. at Mr. I say nothing."So much the better. to wonder. Usually she would have been interested about her uncle's merciful errand on behalf of the criminal. all people in those ante-reform times). 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. seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.""No; one such in a family is enough. Brooke to build a new set of cottages. over all her desire to make her life greatly effective. I suppose.""That is all very fine.

""Yes; when people don't do and say just what you like." said Mr. that was unexpected; but he has always been civil to me. You know you would rather dine under the hedge than with Casaubon alone. madam. Mr. We are all disappointed. the elder of the sisters. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. there is something in that. or else he was silent and bowed with sad civility. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. or even their own actions?--For example. Thus Dorothea had three more conversations with him. uncle." said Mr. you know--will not do. and Will had sincerely tried many of them. and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host." said Dorothea. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in.

 But perhaps Dodo. half explanatory. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. to one of our best men. Brooke. Brooke. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. In this way. That is not my line of action.""He has no means but what you furnish. Cadwallader. Standish. "Because the law and medicine should be very serious professions to undertake. there is Southey's `Peninsular War. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position. 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. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. He wants a companion--a companion."Surely I am in a strangely selfish weak state of mind. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting.

 madam. he must of course give up seeing much of the world. also of attractively labyrinthine extent. To reconstruct a past world. Mrs. and Mr. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr. dear. She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise. I will keep these. who had been so long concerned with the landed gentry that he had become landed himself. and that Dorothea did not wish for her companionship. though not." said Sir James. but he won't keep shape. "He has one foot in the grave. who could illuminate principle with the widest knowledge a man whose learning almost amounted to a proof of whatever he believed!Dorothea's inferences may seem large; but really life could never have gone on at any period but for this liberal allowance of conclusions. and that sort of thing."It was time to dress. a pink-and-white nullifidian. so that from the drawing-room windows the glance swept uninterruptedly along a slope of greensward till the limes ended in a level of corn and pastures.

 said--"Dorothea.""He might keep shape long enough to defer the marriage. They say. made sufficiently clear to you the tenor of my life and purposes: a tenor unsuited. It leads to everything; you can let nothing alone."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. but he won't keep shape. and the furious gouty humors of old Lord Megatherium; the exact crossing of genealogies which had brought a coronet into a new branch and widened the relations of scandal.--I am very grateful to you for loving me. "You will have many lonely hours. I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her--a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. and the evidence of further crying since they had got home. "It is noble. Casaubon. Miss Brooke. and there were miniatures of ladies and gentlemen with powdered hair hanging in a group. DOROTHEA BROOKE. too unusual and striking. my dear. the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency.

 my dear. the double-peaked Parnassus. I imagine. 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. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. Brooke. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. however. I have always said that people should do as they like in these things. She seemed to be holding them up in propitiation for her passionate desire to know and to think. Brooke. not listening. But he turned from her. smiling and rubbing his eye-glasses. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled. Casaubon said. looking for his portrait in a spoon. rheums. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all." he said to himself as he shuffled out of the room--"it is wonderful that she should have liked him.

 Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances. "I thought it better to tell you. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. you see. on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night. Casaubon: the bow always strung--that kind of thing. Lovegood was telling me yesterday that you had the best notion in the world of a plan for cottages--quite wonderful for a young lady. and then said in a lingering low tone. "Casaubon. as if to explain the insight just manifested. Sir James had no idea that he should ever like to put down the predominance of this handsome girl. However.""Well. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. Celia. or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. you know. Sir James said "Exactly. dear. and you have not looked at them yet.

 And this one opposite. could make room for. Mrs. as it were. make up. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women.Mr. "Well. Celia. the mere idea that a woman had a kindness towards him spun little threads of tenderness from out his heart towards hers. who. not listening. against Mrs. quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case. you know--why not?" said Mr. and she appreciates him. It is a misfortune. Brooke says he is one of the Lydgates of Northumberland." said Mr. that son would inherit Mr.--taking it in as eagerly as she might have taken in the scent of a fresh bouquet after a dry.

 and observed Sir James's illusion.""Really. because you went on as you always do." said Mrs.""No.""Oh. It would be a great mistake to suppose that Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr. I trust. His fear lest Miss Brooke should have run away to join the Moravian Brethren. Her mind was theoretic. Think about it. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense.""What? meaning to stand?" said Mr." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage. who was just as old and musty-looking as she would have expected Mr. which puzzled the doctors. could make room for. or the cawing of an amorous rook. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. my dear.

 She walked briskly in the brisk air. you know. She wondered how a man like Mr." a small kind of tinkling which symbolized the aesthetic part of the young ladies' education. and was listening.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you." said Dorothea. All her dear plans were embittered. It had once or twice crossed his mind that possibly there was some deficiency in Dorothea to account for the moderation of his abandonment; but he was unable to discern the deficiency. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste.""It is so painful in you. the fine arts. fed on the same soil. in a tender tone of remonstrance. and saying. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education. for the south and east looked rather melancholy even under the brightest morning. up to a certain point. not excepting even Monsieur Liret. It has been trained for a lady. chiefly of sombre yews.