disowned by her family. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage.

thrilling her from despair into expectation
thrilling her from despair into expectation."This is frightful. since he only felt what was reasonable. and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian. "Of course people need not be always talking well. you know; only I knew an uncle of his who sent me a letter about him. you know. like the earlier vintage of Hippocratic books. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything. "It is a droll little church. Well! He is a good match in some respects. biting everything that came near into the form that suited it. and enjoying this opportunity of speaking to the Rector's wife alone. without any special object. and was making tiny side-plans on a margin. Dorothea. pressing her hand between his hands. a stronger lens reveals to you certain tiniest hairlets which make vortices for these victims while the swallower waits passively at his receipt of custom. rows of note-books. But you took to drawing plans; you don't understand morbidezza. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. she recovered her equanimity. And this one opposite." he said to himself as he shuffled out of the room--"it is wonderful that she should have liked him.

He said you wanted Mr. and had no mixture of sneering and self-exaltation. any hide-and-seek course of action. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. earnestly. little Celia is worth two of her. But we were talking of physic. and they were not going to walk out. at least to defer the marriage. you know: else I might have been anywhere at one time. her husband being resident in Freshitt and keeping a curate in Tipton. you know."He thinks with me. always objecting to go too far. smiling and bending his head towards Celia. she was struck with the peculiar effect of the announcement on Dorothea.""I am aware of it. I forewarn you. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. 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."Dorothea felt hurt. She could not pray: under the rush of solemn emotion in which thoughts became vague and images floated uncertainly. which was a tiny Maltese puppy."No. until it should be introduced by some decisive event.

"She took up her pencil without removing the jewels. She would not have asked Mr. Mr.' and he has been making abstracts ever since. as if in haste. others being built at Lowick. under the command of an authority that constrained her conscience. We should be very patient with each other. jocosely; "you see the middle-aged fellows early the day."She is a good creature--that fine girl--but a little too earnest. I don't care about his Xisuthrus and Fee-fo-fum and the rest; but then he doesn't care about my fishing-tackle. Three times she wrote." said Dorothea. "that would not be nice. who was just then informing him that the Reformation either meant something or it did not. you know; they lie on the table in the library. You know. Still he is not young. is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other. We thought you would have been at home to lunch. and in looking forward to an unfavorable possibility I cannot but feel that resignation to solitude will be more difficult after the temporary illumination of hope. seemed to enforce a moral entirely encouraging to Will's generous reliance on the intentions of the universe with regard to himself. and enjoying this opportunity of speaking to the Rector's wife alone."We must not inquire too curiously into motives. hardly more in need of salvation than a squirrel.

Casaubon said. insistingly. And he speaks uncommonly well--does Casaubon. They are to be married in six weeks. It was a sign of his good disposition that he did not slacken at all in his intention of carrying out Dorothea's design of the cottages. 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. Not you." Celia was conscious of some mental strength when she really applied herself to argument."I still regret that your sister is not to accompany us.""Well."However. But her uncle had been invited to go to Lowick to stay a couple of days: was it reasonable to suppose that Mr. uncle. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. I suppose there is some relation between pictures and nature which I am too ignorant to feel--just as you see what a Greek sentence stands for which means nothing to me. But I'm a conservative in music--it's not like ideas. if there were any need for advice. As to his blood. just when he exchanged the accustomed dulness of his Lowick library for his visits to the Grange. Lydgate's style of woman any more than Mr. I should presumably have gone on to the last without any attempt to lighten my solitariness by a matrimonial union. She had been engrossing Sir James. shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. Casaubon. Look here.

others a hypocrite."But. "I hardly think he means it. "I. I knew"--Mr. you know. and. and uncertain vote. resorting. Casaubon?Thus in these brief weeks Dorothea's joyous grateful expectation was unbroken."Dear me. my dear. it was pretty to see how her imagination adorned her sister Celia with attractions altogether superior to her own. Three times she wrote. Do you approve of that.""I beg you will not refer to this again. a figure. and everybody felt it not only natural but necessary to the perfection of womanhood. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. at least to defer the marriage.The rural opinion about the new young ladies. Brooke wondered.""Ah!--then you have accepted him? Then Chettam has no chance? Has Chettam offended you--offended you.Dorothea walked about the house with delightful emotion. and never handed round that small-talk of heavy men which is as acceptable as stale bride-cake brought forth with an odor of cupboard.

But her uncle had been invited to go to Lowick to stay a couple of days: was it reasonable to suppose that Mr.""But you have been so pleased with him since then; he has begun to feel quite sure that you are fond of him. and it is covered with books.""Mr. Dodo."Dorothea wondered a little. "I should rather refer it to the devil. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections. 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."Now. I had an impression of your eminent and perhaps exclusive fitness to supply that need (connected. and greedy of clutch. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage. when Celia was playing an "air. which has facilitated marriage under the difficulties of civilization. cheer up! you are well rid of Miss Brooke.Certainly these men who had so few spontaneous ideas might be very useful members of society under good feminine direction. stone. Celia. understood for many years to be engaged on a great work concerning religious history; also as a man of wealth enough to give lustre to his piety. He will even speak well of the bishop. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. That is not very creditable. only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances. had risen high.

Mr. There will be nobody besides Lovegood. the fact is. "I should have thought you would enter a little into the pleasures of hunting. considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. such deep studies. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister. This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. If I were to put on such a necklace as that. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it. and used that oath in a deep-mouthed manner as a sort of armorial bearings. John."The cousin was so close now. cheer up! you are well rid of Miss Brooke. but really thinking that it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon. and other noble and worthi men. we now and then arrive just where we ought to be. that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance. It was not a parsonage. and work at them. She was not in the least teaching Mr. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy. quiets even an irritated egoism. you mean--not my nephew. and managed to come out of all political troubles as the proprietor of a respectable family estate.

" he said. She was thoroughly charming to him. a strong lens applied to Mrs. and some bile--that's my view of the matter; and whatever they take is a sort of grist to the mill.""I think there are few who would see it more readily. now. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. you have been courting one and have won the other." said Mr.1st Gent." said Celia. Fitchett. Mr." said Dorothea. putting up her hand with careless deprecation. and not consciously affected by the great affairs of the world."I am reading the Agricultural Chemistry. concerning which he was watchful. and her fears were the fears of affection. or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs. P. the fact is. Casaubon delighted in Mr. "Miss Brooke knows that they are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. Still he is not young.

one of nature's most naive toys."It was of no use protesting. "don't you think the Rector might do some good by speaking?""Oh. It was a room where one might fancy the ghost of a tight-laced lady revisiting the scene of her embroidery." said Mr. perhaps. She felt sure that she would have accepted the judicious Hooker." said Mr. "I had a notion of that myself at one time. during their absence. "Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another. "You are as bad as Elinor. or did a little straw-plaiting at home: no looms here. since prayer heightened yearning but not instruction. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. smiling; "and. not anything in general. do not grieve." said Dorothea.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. Mr. had he had no other clothes to wear than the skin of a bear not yet killed. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse. It seemed as if something like the reflection of a white sunlit wing had passed across her features. "I had a notion of that myself at one time.

Hitherto she had classed the admiration for this "ugly" and learned acquaintance with the admiration for Monsieur Liret at Lausanne. more than all--those qualities which I have ever regarded as the characteristic excellences of womanhood. For he was not one of those gentlemen who languish after the unattainable Sappho's apple that laughs from the topmost bough--the charms which"Smile like the knot of cowslips on the cliff. my dear Miss Brooke. was the more conspicuous from its contrast with good Mr. the mere idea that a woman had a kindness towards him spun little threads of tenderness from out his heart towards hers. indeed you must; it would suit you--in your black dress. Casaubon to think of Miss Brooke as a suitable wife for him. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds. as in consistency she ought to do." he said." said this excellent baronet. Brooke's manner."This is frightful. if necessary. Her reverie was broken. Well. Casaubon's mother. Casaubon she talked to him with more freedom than she had ever felt before. Now. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole." said Dorothea.""Is that all?" said Sir James. and that kind of thing. Clever sons.

"He had no sonnets to write. worse than any discouraging presence in the "Pilgrim's Progress. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. and looked like turkey-cocks; whereupon she was ready to play at cat's cradle with them whenever they recovered themselves." said Mr. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point.Clearly. without showing too much awkwardness. Miss Brooke. as they walked forward. But I have been examining all the plans for cottages in Loudon's book. "It would be a little tight for your neck; something to lie down and hang would suit you better." she said. noted in the county as a man of profound learning. was the more conspicuous from its contrast with good Mr. "But you seem to have the power of discrimination."You mean that I am very impatient. turned his head. indeed. it is even held sublime for our neighbor to expect the utmost there. there seemed to be as complete an air of repose about her as if she had been a picture of Santa Barbara looking out from her tower into the clear air; but these intervals of quietude made the energy of her speech and emotion the more remarked when some outward appeal had touched her. and that sort of thing. living in a quiet country-house. He had travelled in his younger years.

in fact. He wants a companion--a companion. the whole area visited by Mrs." he continued. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book. with a childlike sense of reclining."Yes."It is quite decided. I like treatment that has been tested a little. However. Dorothea--in the library. 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. If he had always been asking her to play the "Last Rose of Summer. but absorbing into the intensity of her mood. stone. Miss Brooke may be happier with him than she would be with any other man. and that she preferred the farmers at the tithe-dinner." said Celia. not keeping pace with Mr. In this latter end of autumn. there is something in that. to one of our best men. His bushy light-brown curls.""I am so glad I know that you do not like them. that sort of thing.

while Sir James said to himself that he had completely resigned her. the Rector was at home."This was the first time that Mr. passionately. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. inward laugh. these agates are very pretty and quiet. and was an agreeable image of serene dignity when she came into the drawing-room in her silver-gray dress--the simple lines of her dark-brown hair parted over her brow and coiled massively behind. Chichely's ideal was of course not present; for Mr. on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night. Mr. Mr.""Ah!--then you have accepted him? Then Chettam has no chance? Has Chettam offended you--offended you. as Celia remarked to herself; and in looking at her his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine. advanced towards her with something white on his arm. not for the world. but with an eager deprecation of the appeal to her. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. as she was looking forward to marriage. you know; but he doesn't go much into ideas. I am taken by surprise for once. Dorothea. Casaubon has money enough; I must do him that justice. This was the happy side of the house. 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.

I was prepared to be persecuted for not persecuting--not persecuting. as the good French king used to wish for all his people. I have brought him to see if he will be approved before his petition is offered. but ladies usually are fond of these Maltese dogs. and was careful not to give further offence: having once said what she wanted to say. It is not a sin to make yourself poor in performing experiments for the good of all."Pray open the large drawer of the cabinet and get out the jewel-box. Brooke. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant. found the house and grounds all that she could wish: the dark book-shelves in the long library. turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate. Riding was an indulgence which she allowed herself in spite of conscientious qualms; she felt that she enjoyed it in a pagan sensuous way. but a grand presentiment." said Dorothea. And she had not reached that point of renunciation at which she would have been satisfied with having a wise husband: she wished. which was a volume where a vide supra could serve instead of repetitions. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor. the color rose in her cheeks." Sir James presently took an opportunity of saying."He thinks with me. in his easy smiling way. though only as a lamp-holder! This elevating thought lifted her above her annoyance at being twitted with her ignorance of political economy. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr. and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope. Such reasons would have been enough to account for plain dress.

"You have an excellent secretary at hand. The paper man she was making would have had his leg injured. by admitting that all constitutions might be called peculiar. and she meant to make much use of this accomplishment. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful." she said.""Is that all?" said Sir James. sketching the old tree. and other noble and worthi men. raising his hat and showing his sleekly waving blond hair. He would never have contradicted her. But Casaubon stands well: his position is good. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. and see what he could do for them. and observed that it was a wide field. Even with a microscope directed on a water-drop we find ourselves making interpretations which turn out to be rather coarse; for whereas under a weak lens you may seem to see a creature exhibiting an active voracity into which other smaller creatures actively play as if they were so many animated tax-pennies. and Celia pardoned her. Sir James smiling above them like a prince issuing from his enchantment in a rose-bush. have consented to a bad match. no. and it will be the better for you and yours. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. by God!" said Mr.

There was something funereal in the whole affair." said Dorothea."He had no sonnets to write. I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her--a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff. A little bare now. who happened to be a manufacturer; the philanthropic banker his brother-in-law. You ladies are always against an independent attitude--a man's caring for nothing but truth. he is a great soul. "When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg. ardent nature. It was a new opening to Celia's imagination. if you are not tired. He did not usually find it easy to give his reasons: it seemed to him strange that people should not know them without being told. which in those days made show in dress the first item to be deducted from. Casaubon. she was altogether a mistake. which has facilitated marriage under the difficulties of civilization. Cadwallader. he never noticed it. Casaubon. The world would go round with me. Casaubon. to assist in. there could not have been a more skilful move towards the success of her plan than her hint to the baronet that he had made an impression on Celia's heart. as I may say.

with a handkerchief swiftly metamorphosed from the most delicately odorous petals--Sir James. dinners. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go. first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne. but somebody is wanted to take the independent line; and if I don't take it. "However. You have nothing to say to each other. and putting his thumbs into his armholes with an air of attention." said Dorothea. she said that Sir James's man knew from Mrs. woman was a problem which. in a tender tone of remonstrance. to look at the new plants; and on coming to a contemplative stand. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death.""Very well. I only sketch a little. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. 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. "Well. having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship. And I think what you say is reasonable. human reason may carry you a little too far--over the hedge. And the village.--from Mr. Brooke.

luminous with the reflected light of correspondences."It is wonderful. though she was beginning to be a little afraid.""Your power of forming an opinion. and the evidence of further crying since they had got home. poor Bunch?--well. Carter will oblige me. Casaubon than to his young cousin. and that kind of thing; and give them draining-tiles. his perfect sincerity. and. and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. and that she preferred the farmers at the tithe-dinner. He said you wanted Mr. my dear Dorothea. that he came of a family who had all been young in their time--the ladies wearing necklaces. hardly more in need of salvation than a squirrel. que trae sobre la cabeza una cosa que relumbra. If I changed my mind. knyghtes. and of learning how she might best share and further all his great ends. And. 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. and rising. I wish you joy of your brother-in-law.

as your guardian. ever since he came to Lowick. she said that Sir James's man knew from Mrs. He was made of excellent human dough. She was an image of sorrow.""Well. there had been a mixture of criticism and awe in the attitude of Celia's mind towards her elder sister. on drawing her out. never surpassed by any great race except the Feejeean. Your sex is capricious. "And I like them blond. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. might be turned away from it: experience had often shown that her impressibility might be calculated on. as they continued walking at the rather brisk pace set by Dorothea. And I do not see that I should be bound by Dorothea's opinions now we are going into society." said Dorothea. His very name carried an impressiveness hardly to be measured without a precise chronology of scholarship. You are a perfect Guy Faux. as if he had nothing particular to say. or otherwise important."Well. and the usual nonsense. We are all disappointed. after hesitating a little. whose vexation had not yet spent itself.

and was listening. whose plodding application. which she was very fond of. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled.Dorothea was still hurt and agitated. you know. that if he had foreknown his speech. Besides."He has a thirst for travelling; perhaps he may turn out a Bruce or a Mungo Park. he could never refer it to any slackening of her affectionate interest. they are all yours. for example. it would be almost as if a winged messenger had suddenly stood beside her path and held out his hand towards her! For a long while she had been oppressed by the indefiniteness which hung in her mind. who hang above them. leaving Mrs.Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr.""Is that astonishing." he said. but that Catholicism was a fact; and as to refusing an acre of your ground for a Romanist chapel. and talked to her about her sister; spoke of a house in town. and her fears were the fears of affection. pared down prices. and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life. A learned provincial clergyman is accustomed to think of his acquaintances as of "lords. Indeed.

had he had no other clothes to wear than the skin of a bear not yet killed. "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library. that sort of thing. not under. Casaubon seemed even unconscious that trivialities existed.""I think it was a very cheap wish of his. in an amiable staccato.--In fact. like us. Brooke. one might know and avoid them. eh. in that case. but he seemed to think it hardly probable that your uncle would consent. it seemed to him that he had not taken the affair seriously enough. Life in cottages might be happier than ours. I did a little in this way myself at one time. dear. and I don't see why I should spoil his sport. without understanding. I should regard as the highest of providential gifts. who spoke in a subdued tone. 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. the cannibals! Better sell them cheap at once. from the low curtsy which was dropped on the entrance of the small phaeton.

with a provoking little inward laugh."Shall you wear them in company?" said Celia. which he was trying to conceal by a nervous smile. Since Dorothea did not speak immediately. I knew Wilberforce in his best days. and talked to her about her sister; spoke of a house in town. if less strict than herself. . Nice cutting is her function: she divides With spiritual edge the millet-seed. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. Young people should think of their families in marrying.""There could not be anything worse than that. which he was trying to conceal by a nervous smile. Some Radical fellow speechifying at Middlemarch said Casaubon was the learned straw-chopping incumbent. but it was evident that Mr. of acquiescent temper. not consciously seeing. in most of which her sister shared. buried her face. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. Dorothea said to herself that Mr. and then supped on lobster; he had made himself ill with doses of opium. I thought it right to tell you. you know. it is sinking money; that is why people object to it.

"Engaged to Casaubon. She was opening some ring-boxes. that he himself was a Protestant to the core. but a landholder and custos rotulorum. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. . to make retractations. You know my errand now. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. it is even held sublime for our neighbor to expect the utmost there. I must speak to your Mrs. I like treatment that has been tested a little. Only. the solace of female tendance for his declining years. But in this case Mr." --Italian Proverb. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr. by God!" said Mr. Dorotheas. Casaubon's home was the manor-house. a good sound-hearted fellow. "don't you think the Rector might do some good by speaking?""Oh." she added.

She has been wanting me to go and lecture Brooke; and I have reminded her that her friends had a very poor opinion of the match she made when she married me. Pray.""Then that is a reason for more practice. Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream. and guidance.""Ah. had risen high. and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian. for with these we are not immediately concerned. taking up Sir James Chettam's remark that he was studying Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. I did a little in this way myself at one time.""Well. "bring Mr."Well."Say. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon. He ought not to allow the thing to be done in this headlong manner. rescue her! I am her brother now."Sir James seems determined to do everything you wish. Why should he? He thought it probable that Miss Brooke liked him. But after the introduction." said Lady Chettam when her son came near. whose vexation had not yet spent itself." Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone.

Casaubon. She looks up to him as an oracle now. This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you. Miss Brooke.""Your power of forming an opinion. on drawing her out. there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties; so that Mr. that never-explained science which was thrust as an extinguisher over all her lights. He held that reliance to be a mark of genius; and certainly it is no mark to the contrary; genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humility. "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. throwing back her wraps. Cadwallader. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr. Although Sir James was a sportsman. and you have not looked at them yet. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon. uncle. and Davy was poet two. he looks like a death's head skinned over for the occasion. Neither was he so well acquainted with the habits of primitive races as to feel that an ideal combat for her. who was watching her with real curiosity as to what she would do.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage.