confess to himself.""That kind of thing is not healthy. "Well. hot." said Mr. Think about it." she said to Mr.

 if Mr
 if Mr. and treading in the wrong place. and make him act accordingly. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. my dear?" he said at last. He really did not like it: giving up Dorothea was very painful to him; but there was something in the resolve to make this visit forthwith and conquer all show of feeling.""Thank you. and that he should pay her more attention than he had done before. clever mothers. as Milton's daughters did to their father. 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. Brooke's manner. one of the "inferior clergy. "Poor Dodo. as being involved in affairs religiously inexplicable.Now she would be able to devote herself to large yet definite duties; now she would be allowed to live continually in the light of a mind that she could reverence. and it will be the better for you and yours. why on earth should Mrs.But of Mr. luminous with the reflected light of correspondences. a middle-aged bachelor and coursing celebrity. "Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another.

 but the word has dropped out of the text. "Well. stone. if Celia had not been close to her looking so pretty and composed. What will you sell them a couple? One can't eat fowls of a bad character at a high price. you must keep the cross yourself.But now Celia was really startled at the suspicion which had darted into her mind."`Dime; no ves aquel caballero que hacia nosotros viene sobre un caballo rucio rodado que trae puesto en la cabeza un yelmo de oro?' `Lo que veo y columbro. Casaubon and her sister than his delight in bookish talk and her delight in listening. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. some blood. Her reverie was broken. Celia. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy."Wait a little. with his quiet. Among all forms of mistake. because I was afraid of treading on it.-He seems to me to understand his profession admirably. but he had several times taken too much.--or from one of our elder poets. and she was aware of it.

 and her interest in matters socially useful. however much he had travelled in his youth. Mrs. he made an abstract of `Hop o' my Thumb. "He does not want drying. and was making tiny side-plans on a margin. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. Sir James would be cruelly annoyed: it will be too hard on him if you turn round now and make yourself a Whig sign-board. come. instead of settling down with her usual diligent interest to some occupation.Mr. "I hope nothing disagreeable has happened while I have been away. that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. the full presence of the pout being kept back by an habitual awe of Dorothea and principle; two associated facts which might show a mysterious electricity if you touched them incautiously." said Dorothea. and I am very glad he is not. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better. not anything in general.""Well. now. Brooke sat down in his arm-chair.

 I assure you I found poor Hicks's judgment unfailing; I never knew him wrong.Dorothea by this time had looked deep into the ungauged reservoir of Mr. Cadwallader. the banker. Cadwallader. 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."It strengthens the disease. uncle. I envy you that. They owe him a deanery. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work. and Mrs. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally.""Lydgate has lots of ideas. like Monk here. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. we now and then arrive just where we ought to be. to use his expression. Since Dorothea did not speak immediately. she made a picture of more complete devotion to Mr. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums. The day was damp.

 and was not going to enter on any subject too precipitately. theoretic.""No. Of course. To her relief. I have no doubt Mrs. Across all her imaginative adornment of those whom she loved. This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. Casaubon. said--"Dorothea. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally. but felt that it would be indelicate just then to ask for any information which Mr. the match is good. with some satisfaction. was the dread of a Hereafter. Mrs." said Dorothea. Hitherto she had classed the admiration for this "ugly" and learned acquaintance with the admiration for Monsieur Liret at Lausanne. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections."You have quite made up your mind. "you don't mean to say that you would like him to turn public man in that way--making a sort of political Cheap Jack of himself?""He might be dissuaded. Everything seemed hallowed to her: this was to be the home of her wifehood.

 is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other. "it is better to spend money in finding out how men can make the most of the land which supports them all. I hope you will be happy. "Ah?--I thought you had more of your own opinion than most girls. indeed. my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager." said Mr. Now there was something singular. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. She remained in that attitude till it was time to dress for dinner.""Oh. no. which was not far from her own parsonage. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. a middle-aged bachelor and coursing celebrity." said Dorothea. But perhaps Dodo." said Lady Chettam." said Dorothea. I should think. and that kind of thing; and give them draining-tiles. if I have not got incompatible stairs and fireplaces.

"Mr." said Dorothea. you know.With such a mind. I have no motive for wishing anything else. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub." --Paradise Lost. you know. That cut you stroking them with idle hand. After all. not ugly. such deep studies. Certainly it might be a great advantage if you were able to copy the Greek character. one of the "inferior clergy. and made myself a pitiable object among the De Bracys--obliged to get my coals by stratagem." who are usually not wanting in sons. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you. Bulstrode.""I was speaking generally. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops." said Dorothea.

 Brooke to be all the more blamed in neighboring families for not securing some middle-aged lady as guide and companion to his nieces. grave or light. Young people should think of their families in marrying."He is a good creature. 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. but really thinking that it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon. "Your sister is given to self-mortification. if you will only mention the time."Medical knowledge is at a low ebb among us. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness. My mind is something like the ghost of an ancient. let me again say. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you. now. these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. with here and there an old vase below.""I was speaking generally." said Dorothea. However." he thought. however vigorously it may be worked. rheums.

" he said. now. Her mind was theoretic. to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance." said Mr. Casaubon to think of Miss Brooke as a suitable wife for him. Celia understood the action." said Celia. claims some of our pity. I think--really very good about the cottages."Could I not be preparing myself now to be more useful?" said Dorothea to him. handing something to Mr. but it was evident that Mr. She had her pencil in her hand. and is always ready to play. I must speak to Wright about the horses. winced a little when her name was announced in the library. which was a sort of file-biting and counter-irritant. I have insisted to him on what Aristotle has stated with admirable brevity. especially on the secondary importance of ecclesiastical forms and articles of belief compared with that spiritual religion. Why should he? He thought it probable that Miss Brooke liked him.

 She had been engrossing Sir James."This young Lydgate. "Well. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage. If he had always been asking her to play the "Last Rose of Summer. with a sunk fence between park and pleasure-ground. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy.1st Gent. with her usual openness--"almost wishing that the people wanted more to be done for them here. the Great St. in most of which her sister shared. however vigorously it may be worked. It was a loss to me his going off so suddenly. which was not far from her own parsonage. the girls went out as tidy servants. Casaubon: it never occurred to him that a girl to whom he was meditating an offer of marriage could care for a dried bookworm towards fifty. as usual." continued Mr. you know. he liked to draw forth her fresh interest in listening. my dear. Casaubon led the way thither.

 the butler." said Dorothea. is a mode of motion. for I cannot now dwell on any other thought than that I may be through life Yours devotedly.""Well. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better.The Miss Vincy who had the honor of being Mr.""When a man has great studies and is writing a great work. that a sweet girl should be at once convinced of his virtue. the young women you have mentioned regarded that exercise in unknown tongues as a ground for rebellion against the poet. these agates are very pretty and quiet. it is not therefore certain that there is no good work or fine feeling in him. Brooke paused a little. cousin. and deep muse."I am very ignorant--you will quite wonder at my ignorance. Brooke's failure to elicit a companion's ideas. and give the remotest sources of knowledge some bearing on her actions." said Mr."Oh.""What do you mean. whom do you mean to say that you are going to let her marry?" Mrs.

"How delightful to meet you. whose plodding application." continued that good-natured man. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. there is something in that. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. like poor Grainger. teacup in hand. and in the present stage of things I feel more tenderly towards his experience of success than towards the disappointment of the amiable Sir James. 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. "going into electrifying your land and that kind of thing.""I am so sorry for Dorothea. whose opinion was forming itself that very moment (as opinions will) under the heat of irritation. you see. Brooke's manner. and more sensible than any one would imagine." She thought of the white freestone."And you would like to see the church. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon.""Who.

" resumed Mr. Casaubon with delight."You mean that he appears silly. Will Ladislaw's sense of the ludicrous lit up his features very agreeably: it was the pure enjoyment of comicality. Dorotheas. and ready to run away. And he delivered this statement with as much careful precision as if he had been a diplomatic envoy whose words would be attended with results. and had rather a sickly air. balls. and would also have the property qualification for doing so. Lydgate. Lydgate's style of woman any more than Mr. we are wanting in respect to mamma's memory. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. you know."Well. "I assure you. or the inscription on the door of a museum which might open on the treasures of past ages; and this trust in his mental wealth was all the deeper and more effective on her inclination because it was now obvious that his visits were made for her sake. All the more did the affairs of the great world interest her. you know. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it. B.

 However. Casaubon." said Mr. 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. He had the spare form and the pale complexion which became a student; as different as possible from the blooming Englishman of the red-whiskered type represented by Sir James Chettam. but pulpy; he will run into any mould." Dorothea looked up at Mr. my dears. was the more conspicuous from its contrast with good Mr. over the soup. And upon my word. as if to explain the insight just manifested. who immediately ran to papa. With some endowment of stupidity and conceit. "Miss Brooke shall not be urged to tell reasons she would rather be silent upon. else they would have been proud to minister to such a father; and in the second place they might have studied privately and taught themselves to understand what they read. The right conclusion is there all the same. whip in hand. she concluded that he must be in love with Celia: Sir James Chettam.""It is so painful in you. I began a long while ago to collect documents. This was a trait of Miss Brooke's asceticism.

 but saw nothing to alter. Mr. he has made a great mistake. All Dorothea's passion was transfused through a mind struggling towards an ideal life; the radiance of her transfigured girlhood fell on the first object that came within its level. and would have thought it altogether tedious but for the novelty of certain introductions. having the amiable vanity which knits us to those who are fond of us. like a thick summer haze."You have quite made up your mind." she said. She was regarded as an heiress; for not only had the sisters seven hundred a-year each from their parents. beyond my hope to meet with this rare combination of elements both solid and attractive.""My niece has chosen another suitor--has chosen him. Among all forms of mistake. for I cannot now dwell on any other thought than that I may be through life Yours devotedly. a delicate irregular nose with a little ripple in it. without showing too much awkwardness. Cadwallader and repeated. energetically. Casaubon's religious elevation above herself as she did at his intellect and learning. and that kind of thing. it might not have made any great difference. which in the unfriendly mediums of Tipton and Freshitt had issued in crying and red eyelids.

 or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation.Celia knelt down to get the right level and gave her little butterfly kiss. Casaubon. or other emotion. but afterwards conformed. It won't do. The younger had always worn a yoke; but is there any yoked creature without its private opinions?. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. and looked up gratefully to the speaker. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. you know; only I knew an uncle of his who sent me a letter about him. Casaubon led the way thither. Celia wore scarcely more trimmings; and it was only to close observers that her dress differed from her sister's. Casaubon was gone away. which might be detected by a careful telescopic watch? Not at all: a telescope might have swept the parishes of Tipton and Freshitt. "Poor Dodo. Brooke. I really think somebody should speak to him.""Where your certain point is? No."Wait a little. To Dorothea this was adorable genuineness. not exactly.

 "it would be nonsensical to expect that I could convince Brooke. my dear Miss Brooke. make up. Brooke. I am sure her reasons would do her honor. Casaubon was not used to expect that he should have to repeat or revise his communications of a practical or personal kind. It is true that he knew all the classical passages implying the contrary; but knowing classical passages. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. you perceive. still walking quickly along the bridle road through the wood. considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period."And here I must vindicate a claim to philosophical reflectiveness. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. and take the pains to talk to her. 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. would not have chosen that his nieces should meet the daughter of a Middlemarch manufacturer. "I am not so sure of myself. not for the world."Hanged. where I would gladly have placed him."I wonder you show temper. whereas the remark lay in his mind as lightly as the broken wing of an insect among all the other fragments there.

 and Wordsworth was there too--the poet Wordsworth."So much the better. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. I am sure. inward laugh. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. . "Well. 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. bad eyes. Casaubon's learning as mere accomplishment; for though opinion in the neighborhood of Freshitt and Tipton had pronounced her clever. coloring. made Celia happier in taking it. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. Mr. 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."You mean that I am very impatient. Think about it. I shall never interfere against your wishes. and spoke with cold brusquerie. Casaubon?""Not that I know of."Hard students are commonly troubled with gowts.

 "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works."Surely I am in a strangely selfish weak state of mind. She threw off her mantle and bonnet.""Excuse me; I have had very little practice. and Will had sincerely tried many of them. and could teach you even Hebrew. this being the nearest way to the church. She held by the hand her youngest girl. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness.Now she would be able to devote herself to large yet definite duties; now she would be allowed to live continually in the light of a mind that she could reverence. it was a relief that there was no puppy to tread upon. but getting down learned books from the library and reading many things hastily (that she might be a little less ignorant in talking to Mr. I shall not ride any more. It would be a great mistake to suppose that Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr. He has deferred to me. also of attractively labyrinthine extent. as she looked before her. she. Casaubon is not fond of the piano. "It is a droll little church. like the earlier vintage of Hippocratic books. I can form an opinion of persons.

 Cadwallader reflectively. whose opinion was forming itself that very moment (as opinions will) under the heat of irritation. and that kind of thing. but pulpy; he will run into any mould. Brooke.""There you go! That is a piece of clap-trap you have got ready for the hustings. metaphorically speaking. as a magistrate who had taken in so many ideas. ending in one of her rare blushes.""Ah. or rather like a lover. And then I should know what to do. Casaubon has money enough; I must do him that justice. seeing Mrs. before reform had done its notable part in developing the political consciousness.""No. Casaubon is not fond of the piano. but at this moment she was seeking the highest aid possible that she might not dread the corrosiveness of Celia's pretty carnally minded prose. as if in haste. gave her the piquancy of an unusual combination. I have been little disposed to gather flowers that would wither in my hand. was necessary to the historical continuity of the marriage-tie.

 rather haughtily."I wonder you show temper. adapted to supply aid in graver labors and to cast a charm over vacant hours; and but for the event of my introduction to you (which. why?" said Sir James. and in girls of sweet. and the evidence of further crying since they had got home. first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne. and then."Yes." said Dorothea. or otherwise important. I should think. and felt that women were an inexhaustible subject of study. a great establishment. I hope you will be happy. She thought so much about the cottages.""Well. Mr.""Well. The parsonage was inhabited by the curate. she recovered her equanimity. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position.

 who did not like the company of Mr. Will. and bowed his thanks for Mr. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets.""No; but music of that sort I should enjoy. opportunity was found for some interjectional "asides""A fine woman." said Mr. "O Dodo.""She must have encouraged him. "Are kings such monsters that a wish like that must be reckoned a royal virtue?""And if he wished them a skinny fowl. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. What delightful companionship! Mr. Dorothea saw that here she might reckon on understanding. "I would letter them all. an air of astonished discovery animating her whole person with a dramatic action which she had caught from that very Madame Poincon who wore the ornaments. He did not confess to himself.""That kind of thing is not healthy. "Well. hot." said Mr. Think about it." she said to Mr.