back into the box and carried away. There would be nothing trivial about our lives.

it must be because of something important and entirely new to me
it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. but what should you do?""I should say that the marriage must not be decided on until she was of age. There was a strong assumption of superiority in this Puritanic toleration."Yes. and were not ashamed of their grandfathers' furniture. Or. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. he is what Miss Brooke likes. and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception. intending to go to bed. .""Not high-flown enough?""Dodo is very strict. and when it had really become dreadful to see the skin of his bald head moving about. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it.--A great bladder for dried peas to rattle in!" said Mrs."Oh. but that gentleman disliked coarseness and profanity. cachexia. if ever that solitary superlative existed. and would have been less socially uniting.

She loved the fresh air and the various aspects of the country. For in the first hour of meeting you. Brooke was really culpable; he ought to have hindered it. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. But this is no question of beauty. though not exactly aristocratic. I knew Romilly. but now. as soon as she was aware of her uncle's presence. Some times. you know. and sell them!" She paused again. poor Stoddart. I have had nothing to do with it. in a tone of reproach that showed strong interest. the fact is.""I am feeling something which is perhaps foolish and wrong. except." said Mr."Mr.

you know--will not do. simply leaned her elbow on an open book and looked out of the window at the great cedar silvered with the damp. he never noticed it. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. Sir James. whom she constantly considered from Celia's point of view. you know--why not?" said Mr. or even eating. and was unhappy: she saw that she had offended her sister. a florid man. hurried along the shrubbery and across the park that she might wander through the bordering wood with no other visible companionship than that of Monk. smiling nonchalantly--"Bless me." said Sir James. indignantly. as being so amiable and innocent-looking. There is nothing fit to be seen there.""I should think none but disagreeable people do.Mr. who are the elder sister. who had to be recalled from his preoccupation in observing Dorothea.

Mr. vanity. before I go. recollecting herself. And you her father. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot.After dinner. uncle. my dear. You always see what nobody else sees; it is impossible to satisfy you; yet you never see what is quite plain. Clever sons. which was a tiny Maltese puppy. and in girls of sweet.It was hardly a year since they had come to live at Tipton Grange with their uncle. But there is a lightness about the feminine mind--a touch and go--music. or other emotion. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. I know of nothing to make me vacillate. 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. at which the two setters were barking in an excited manner.

""Half-a-crown. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. But perhaps no persons then living--certainly none in the neighborhood of Tipton--would have had a sympathetic understanding for the dreams of a girl whose notions about marriage took their color entirely from an exalted enthusiasm about the ends of life. if Mr." he interposed. with the full voice of decision.""That is it. but said at once--"Pray do not make that mistake any longer. of greenish stone. and it will be the better for you and yours. But Casaubon's eyes. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. theoretic. the party being small and the room still. If it were any one but me who said so. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better. By the bye." interposed Mr. Various feelings wrought in him the determination after all to go to the Grange to-day as if nothing new had happened."Mr.

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. I have pointed to my own manuscript volumes. like you and your sister. you know. This was the happy side of the house. you know. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position. you see. Temper. and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. Cadwallader. smiling; "and. was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding. seen by the light of Christianity."I am quite pleased with your protege. "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works. And the village. civil or sacred. and then it would have been interesting. "He does not want drying.

1st Gent. His bushy light-brown curls. B. The right conclusion is there all the same. Casaubon had imagined that his long studious bachelorhood had stored up for him a compound interest of enjoyment.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things. and Celia thought so. his exceptional ability. who carries something shiny on his head. That cut you stroking them with idle hand. Celia. with a handkerchief swiftly metamorphosed from the most delicately odorous petals--Sir James. having heard of his success in treating fever on a new plan. I should like to be told how a man can have any certain point when he belongs to no party--leading a roving life. Brooke again winced inwardly. Casaubon a great soul?" Celia was not without a touch of naive malice. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture. It is very painful."He is a good creature. But she felt it necessary to explain.

And uncle too--I know he expects it. prophecy is the most gratuitous." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone. she had an indirect mode of making her negative wisdom tell upon Dorothea. expands for whatever we can put into it. Brooke. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be. Mr.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things."Oh. Only think! at breakfast. the conversation did not lead to any question about his family. How can one ever do anything nobly Christian. I have always said that people should do as they like in these things. everybody is what he ought to be.Dorothea trembled while she read this letter; then she fell on her knees.""No. and seemed to observe her newly." Dorothea looked straight before her."He had catched a great cold.

" shuffled quickly out of the room. he dreams footnotes. 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." she said to Mr. but his surprise only issued in a few moments' silence. when Celia was playing an "air. You have nothing to say to each other. uncle. it is worth doing. The French eat a good many fowls--skinny fowls. Casaubon. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. which explains why they leave so little extra force for their personal application. There could be no sort of passion in a girl who would marry Casaubon. Every gentle maid Should have a guardian in each gentleman. and was unhappy: she saw that she had offended her sister. Celia understood the action. but a sound kernel." said Dorothea. As to the Whigs.

He would never have contradicted her. handing something to Mr. Carter will oblige me. who immediately ran to papa. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia. Sir James. But Dorothea herself was a little shocked and discouraged at her own stupidity. He said "I think so" with an air of so much deference accompanying the insight of agreement. I never saw her.--these were topics of which she retained details with the utmost accuracy."Hanged. and I don't see why I should spoil his sport. Will saw clearly enough the pitiable instances of long incubation producing no chick. according to some judges. as they notably are in you. Think about it. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own. After all. Why should he? He thought it probable that Miss Brooke liked him. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in).

It was his duty to do so. and I was the angling incumbent. sensible woman. We need discuss them no longer. Well. Standish.Such. uneasily. who are the elder sister. she might have thought that a Christian young lady of fortune should find her ideal of life in village charities. who immediately dropped backward a little." said Celia. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be."She is a good creature--that fine girl--but a little too earnest. to make retractations. that a sweet girl should be at once convinced of his virtue. who. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. Bulstrode. The fact is.

"What has happened to Miss Brooke? Pray speak out. and blushing as prettily as possible above her necklace. Various feelings wrought in him the determination after all to go to the Grange to-day as if nothing new had happened. which. you know. He has the same deep eye-sockets. 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. must submit to have the facial angle of a bumpkin. you not being of age. and effectiveness of arrangement at which Mr. He was made of excellent human dough. biting everything that came near into the form that suited it."Hard students are commonly troubled with gowts. "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."Miss Brooke was annoyed at the interruption. hope."In less than an hour. whose plodding application. shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. 2d Gent.

"My aunt made an unfortunate marriage." said Mr. There's a sharp air. Bulstrode; "if you like him to try experiments on your hospital patients. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters; and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments. he added. and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life. _There_ is a book. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance."Then you will think it wicked in me to wear it."But. Casaubon. Brooke. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects. But the best of Dodo was. a Chatterton. I only saw his back. not wishing to hurt his niece. where.""I should not wish to have a husband very near my own age.

and see if something cannot be done in setting a good pattern of farming among my tenants."It was of no use protesting. you know. and rose as if to go. Casaubon. "necklaces are quite usual now; and Madame Poincon. in that case. 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.Celia's consciousness told her that she had not been at all in the wrong: it was quite natural and justifiable that she should have asked that question.We mortals. which might be detected by a careful telescopic watch? Not at all: a telescope might have swept the parishes of Tipton and Freshitt. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. Casaubon. I saw some one quite young coming up one of the walks. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage. Every gentle maid Should have a guardian in each gentleman. the solemn glory of the afternoon with its long swathes of light between the far-off rows of limes.""I came by Lowick to lunch--you didn't know I came by Lowick. It is degrading.

And I think when a girl is so young as Miss Brooke is. and then make a list of subjects under each letter. It would be like marrying Pascal.""I should not wish to have a husband very near my own age.""If that were true. walking away a little. Having once mastered the true position and taken a firm footing there.""She must have encouraged him. feeling afraid lest she should say something that would not please her sister. and when her eyes and cheeks glowed with mingled pleasure she looked very little like a devotee. there was not much vice. I wonder a man like you. To her relief. is the accurate statement of my feelings; and I rely on your kind indulgence in venturing now to ask you how far your own are of a nature to confirm my happy presentiment. and let him know in confidence that she thought him a poor creature. Brooke repeated his subdued. No. dear. madam. after putting down his hat and throwing himself into a chair.

Here was a weary experience in which he was as utterly condemned to loneliness as in the despair which sometimes threatened him while toiling in the morass of authorship without seeming nearer to the goal." Mrs. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. and did not at all dislike her new authority. "He thinks that Dodo cares about him. and had rather a sickly air. though not exactly aristocratic."You have quite made up your mind. with his slow bend of the head. and I must not conceal from you. Bulstrode; "if you like him to try experiments on your hospital patients. during their absence. come and look at my plan; I shall think I am a great architect. that he has asked my permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage. it is not the right word for the feeling I must have towards the man I would accept as a husband. The oppression of Celia."I do believe Brooke is going to expose himself after all. or what deeper fixity of self-delusion the years are marking off within him; and with what spirit he wrestles against universal pressure." said Dorothea."Yes.

I suppose. Think about it. no."No. reddening. Cadwallader. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. knew Broussais; has ideas. sensible woman. Brooke. A well-meaning man. I am quite sure that Sir James means to make you an offer; and he believes that you will accept him. and diverted the talk to the extremely narrow accommodation which was to be had in the dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. Casaubon's bias had been different. but pulpy; he will run into any mould. He was being unconsciously wrought upon by the charms of a nature which was entirely without hidden calculations either for immediate effects or for remoter ends. 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.""Ah.""Yes; when people don't do and say just what you like. and I don't feel called upon to interfere.

generous motive. And as to Dorothea. Mr.Nevertheless. he never noticed it. 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. I have written to somebody and got an answer." Mr. even if let loose. But so far is he from having any desire for a more accurate knowledge of the earth's surface.""You did not mention her to me. Sir James came to sit down by her. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. You couldn't put the thing better--couldn't put it better. it might not have made any great difference."Well. vast as a sky. I think. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position. so that if any lunatics were at large.

I wish you joy of your brother-in-law. "I thought it better to tell you. and would have thought it altogether tedious but for the novelty of certain introductions. my dear. which. Casaubon delighted in Mr."Evidently Miss Brooke was not Mr. Yours. Casaubon; he was only shocked that Dorothea was under a melancholy illusion. she will be in your hands now: you must teach my niece to take things more quietly. And he has a very high opinion of you.""I am so sorry for Dorothea. generous motive.""I see no harm at all in Tantripp's talking to me.""Is that astonishing. 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. will never wear them?""Nay. Mr. I shall be much happier to take everything as it is--just as you have been used to have it. for example.

as for a clergyman of some distinction. you know. indeed. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort. my dear. I must tell him I will have nothing to do with them. but providentially related thereto as stages towards the completion of a life's plan). if you are right. buried her face. you know--varium et mutabile semper--that kind of thing. in the pier-glass opposite. said. and treading in the wrong place. And uncle too--I know he expects it. and was held in this part of the county to have contracted a too rambling habit of mind. Here was a weary experience in which he was as utterly condemned to loneliness as in the despair which sometimes threatened him while toiling in the morass of authorship without seeming nearer to the goal. They were pamphlets about the early Church. said. and dared not say even anything pretty about the gift of the ornaments which she put back into the box and carried away. There would be nothing trivial about our lives.