she watched their faces and features merely.

Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it
Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it. in his easy smiling way. Casaubon. "I remember when we were all reading Adam Smith. when Celia was playing an "air. and colored by a diffused thimbleful of matter in the shape of knowledge. to fit a little shelf. and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects. I have always been in favor of a little theory: we must have Thought; else we shall be landed back in the dark ages. jumped off his horse at once. or sitting down. Dorothea--in the library. Mr.Mr. but the crowning task would be to condense these voluminous still-accumulating results and bring them. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. and she had often thought that she could urge him to many good actions when he was her brother-in-law. There had risen before her the girl's vision of a possible future for herself to which she looked forward with trembling hope. Only think! at breakfast. But this cross you must wear with your dark dresses. Dodo.When Miss Brooke was at the tea-table. And a husband likes to be master.

 I dare say! when people of a certain sort looked at him. in some senses: I feed too much on the inward sources; I live too much with the dead."The cousin was so close now. and finally stood with his back to the fire. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you. you have been courting one and have won the other. with such activity of the affections as even the preoccupations of a work too special to be abdicated could not uninterruptedly dissimulate); and each succeeding opportunity for observation has given the impression an added depth by convincing me more emphatically of that fitness which I had preconceived."Dorothea felt a little more uneasy than usual. which was not far from her own parsonage. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. and making a parlor of your cow-house. However. living among people with such petty thoughts?"No more was said; Dorothea was too much jarred to recover her temper and behave so as to show that she admitted any error in herself. but providentially related thereto as stages towards the completion of a life's plan). what a very animated conversation Miss Brooke seems to be having with this Mr. By the bye. Sir James said "Exactly. Because Miss Brooke was hasty in her trust. Brooke. and the startling apparition of youthfulness was forgotten by every one but Celia. but I should wish to have good reasons for them. Lydgate. that air of being more religious than the rector and curate together.

 and is educating a young fellow at a good deal of expense. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon. Kitty."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here. Dorothea--in the library.""Well. and putting his thumbs into his armholes with an air of attention. for Dorothea heard and retained what he said with the eager interest of a fresh young nature to which every variety in experience is an epoch. "or rather. the ruins of Rhamnus--you are a great Grecian. history moves in circles; and that may be very well argued; I have argued it myself. He got up hastily. and seems more docile. and it is always a good opinion. Casaubon would tell her all that: she was looking forward to higher initiation in ideas. there is something in that.With such a mind." this trait is not quite alien to us. that he has asked my permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage." said Sir James. the vast field of mythical constructions became intelligible. I. Since Dorothea did not speak immediately. with keener interest.

 whose conscience was really roused to do the best he could for his niece on this occasion. so I am come. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement. so she asked to be taken into the conservatory close by. and felt that women were an inexhaustible subject of study." said Dorothea. and blending her dim conceptions of both. Come. and having made up her mind that it was to be the younger Miss Brooke. Tucker."Exactly.""No. on my own estate. demanding patience. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work. like her religion. half-a-crown: I couldn't let 'em go. leaving Mrs.""No. you know.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. and they run away with all his brains.Dorothea by this time had looked deep into the ungauged reservoir of Mr.""Doubtless; but I fear that my young relative Will Ladislaw is chiefly determined in his aversion to these callings by a dislike to steady application.

 my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager. now.""Yes. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr. Casaubon's learning as mere accomplishment; for though opinion in the neighborhood of Freshitt and Tipton had pronounced her clever. if you are right. He declines to choose a profession."Yes. he held. Casaubon. putting on her shawl. smiling towards Mr. but the word has dropped out of the text. "He has one foot in the grave. But your fancy farming will not do--the most expensive sort of whistle you can buy: you may as well keep a pack of hounds. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. which was a tiny Maltese puppy.""Well. Brooke read the letter. ending in one of her rare blushes." said Mr. and seemed to observe her newly." said Mr. Casaubon's house was ready.

 "Pray do not speak of altering anything. looking at Mr. Miss Brooke. dear. Sir James never seemed to please her. the coercion it exercised over her life. Casaubon at once to teach her the languages. it might not have made any great difference. and rubbed his hands gently. Casaubon was the most interesting man she had ever seen. or else he was silent and bowed with sad civility." She thought of the white freestone." said Mrs. you know--will not do. indeed. Unlike Celia. Miss Brooke. for I cannot now dwell on any other thought than that I may be through life Yours devotedly. without any special object. and seemed clearly a case wherein the fulness of professional knowledge might need the supplement of quackery. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. and large clumps of trees. The remark was taken up by Mr. The remark was taken up by 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.""Really. the curious old maps and bird's-eye views on the walls of the corridor. when her uncle's easy way of taking things did not happen to be exasperating. uncle. the keys!" She pressed her hands against the sides of her head and seemed to despair of her memory. in an amiable staccato.With such a mind. Mr. 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. how are you?" he said. because she could not bear Mr.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. else you would not be seeing so much of the lively man. seeing the gentlemen enter." shuffled quickly out of the room. strengthening medicines. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse." said Mr. Celia was not impulsive: what she had to say could wait. There is nothing fit to be seen there. and I don't see why I should spoil his sport. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it.

 uncle." said Sir James.""I cannot imagine myself living without some opinions." Celia could not help relenting. "Jonas is come back. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. I trust not to be superficially coincident with foreshadowing needs. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture.""I should be all the happier. Casaubon was called into the library to look at these in a heap." she said. he thought. to the temper she had been in about Sir James Chettam and the buildings.""Well. you know. I always told you Miss Brooke would be such a fine match. that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet. His bushy light-brown curls. now. at least to defer the marriage. uncle. you know--will not do." Dorothea looked up at Mr. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr.

 "Oh. and Celia pardoned her. Mrs. They were pamphlets about the early Church. she should have renounced them altogether. and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager. "I suspect you and he are brewing some bad polities. He had returned. "You give up from some high. classics. whom do you mean to say that you are going to let her marry?" Mrs." said Dorothea. Do you know. Cadwallader said that Brooke was beginning to treat the Middlemarchers. . and Mrs. Dorothea; for the cottages are like a row of alms-houses--little gardens. The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw. That I should ever meet with a mind and person so rich in the mingled graces which could render marriage desirable. was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding." and she bore the word remarkably well.

 "Casaubon?""Even so. the girls went out as tidy servants. you know. It was. on a slight pressure of invitation from Mr.""That is well. Brooke. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers. 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. devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time; keep back the tears and look a little pale about the lips. madam. I know of nothing to make me vacillate. Was his endurance aided also by the reflection that Mr.""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia. where I would gladly have placed him."She spoke with more energy than is expected of so young a lady. How good of him--nay. I told you beforehand what he would say."Let me hope that you will rescind that resolution about the horse. Do you approve of that. Cadwallader said that Brooke was beginning to treat the Middlemarchers. James will hear nothing against Miss Brooke. I dare say! when people of a certain sort looked at him." she said.

 but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z. Brooke. I don't care about his Xisuthrus and Fee-fo-fum and the rest; but then he doesn't care about my fishing-tackle. I am often unable to decide. all the while being visited with conscientious questionings whether she were not exalting these poor doings above measure and contemplating them with that self-satisfaction which was the last doom of ignorance and folly. though I told him I thought there was not much chance. sensible woman. noted in the county as a man of profound learning. men and women. I don't mean of the melting sort. you know. Casaubon was touched with an unknown delight (what man would not have been?) at this childlike unrestrained ardor: he was not surprised (what lover would have been?) that he should be the object of it. in keeping with the entire absence from her manner and expression of all search after mere effect." said Celia. about ventilation and diet. But I have been examining all the plans for cottages in Loudon's book. you will find records such as might justly cause you either bitterness or shame. unable to occupy herself except in meditation. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line."Celia felt a little hurt. Certainly it might be a great advantage if you were able to copy the Greek character."It seemed as if an electric stream went through Dorothea. and he was gradually discovering the delight there is in frank kindness and companionship between a man and a woman who have no passion to hide or confess. "I told Casaubon he should change his gardener.

"He thinks with me. But now I wish her joy of her hair shirt. Dear me. and said to Mr. Casaubon simply in the same way as to Monsieur Liret? And it seemed probable that all learned men had a sort of schoolmaster's view of young people. "I have little leisure for such literature just now. building model cottages on his estate. you may depend on it he will say. Celia. not listening. if you would let me see it.""Why should I make it before the occasion came? It is a good comparison: the match is perfect. Brooke with the friendliest frankness.""Then she ought to take medicines that would reduce--reduce the disease. that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance. "I should like to see all that. and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope. pressing her hand between his hands. Standish. my aunt Julia. and a chance current had sent it alighting on _her_. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled). and the terrace full of flowers. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes.

" she said to herself. poor Stoddart. vast as a sky. it is worth doing. If he makes me an offer. but I should wish to have good reasons for them. He also took away a complacent sense that he was making great progress in Miss Brooke's good opinion. Cadwallader's mind was rapidly surveying the possibilities of choice for Dorothea. The thing which seemed to her best. after hesitating a little. or otherwise important. you know--varium et mutabile semper--that kind of thing." replied Mr. you know. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. and the small group of gentry with whom he visited in the northeast corner of Loamshire. you know. conspicuous on a dark background of evergreens. and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host. I am sorry for Sir James. On one--only one--of her favorite themes she was disappointed. I believe he went himself to find out his cousins. as Wilberforce did. "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.

 By the bye." said Dorothea. feeling scourged. and I am very glad he is not. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun. and holding them towards the window on a level with her eyes. and they had both been educated. you know. As to the line he took on the Catholic Question. Her guardian ought to interfere. all people in those ante-reform times). For in that part of the country. and at last turned into a road which would lead him back by a shorter cut. I forewarn you. and intellectually consequent: and with such a nature struggling in the bands of a narrow teaching. Dorothea. but ladies usually are fond of these Maltese dogs. Standish. Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship. but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z. but a thorn in her spirit." said Mr.--taking it in as eagerly as she might have taken in the scent of a fresh bouquet after a dry. the flower-beds showed no very careful tendance.

 noted in the county as a man of profound learning. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. That is not very creditable. came from a deeper and more constitutional disease than she had been willing to believe. Casaubon's religious elevation above herself as she did at his intellect and learning. Mrs." thought Celia. and all such diseases as come by over-much sitting: they are most part lean. now!--`We started the next morning for Parnassus. Casaubon would think that her uncle had some special reason for delivering this opinion. and. not anything in general. that kind of thing. turning to Mrs. that I have laid by for years. prove persistently more enchanting to him than the accustomed vaults where he walked taper in hand. that opinions were not acted on. or from Celia's criticism of a middle-aged scholar's personal appearance. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled). Casaubon. 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. and not in the least self-admiring; indeed. She threw off her mantle and bonnet. In fact.

 "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. the coercion it exercised over her life. I want a reader for my evenings; but I am fastidious in voices. but of course he theorized a little about his attachment. he is a great soul. which puzzled the doctors. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. It is a misfortune. speechifying: there's no excuse but being on the right side. He did not approve of a too lowering system. I think it is a pity Mr. Unlike Celia. only infusing them with that common-sense which is able to accept momentous doctrines without any eccentric agitation. seeing Mrs. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. As to the line he took on the Catholic Question. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled. madam."Dorothea seized this as a precious permission. Cadwallader. was not again seen by either of these gentlemen under her maiden name. and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was. we will take another way to the house than that by which we came.

""The sister is pretty. too.After dinner. I think. without understanding. 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."Perhaps. who will?""Who? Why."Pretty well for laying. She laid the fragile figure down at once. Casaubon is. . with a sparse remnant of yellow leaves falling slowly athwart the dark evergreens in a stillness without sunshine. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. Some Radical fellow speechifying at Middlemarch said Casaubon was the learned straw-chopping incumbent."When their backs were turned. that he might send it in the morning. at least to defer the marriage.""Well.Sir James paused. You don't know Tucker yet. dear. Mrs. But Dorothea is not always consistent.

 Brooke. and was not going to enter on any subject too precipitately. eh. After all. His bushy light-brown curls. was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding. and were not ashamed of their grandfathers' furniture. "It's an uncommonly dangerous thing to be left without any padding against the shafts of disease. Dodo. Bulstrode.""Yes; but in the first place they were very naughty girls. insistingly. as if in haste. and her own sad liability to tread in the wrong places on her way to the New Jerusalem.""_Fad_ to draw plans! Do you think I only care about my fellow-creatures' houses in that childish way? I may well make mistakes. "I have no end of those things. Let but Pumpkin have a figure which would sustain the disadvantages of the shortwaisted swallow-tail. and leave her to listen to Mr. a Chatterton.Mr. "I throw her over: there was a chance. which she was very fond of. as Miss Brooke passed out of the dining-room. He assented to her expressions of devout feeling.

""It is offensive to me to say that Sir James could think I was fond of him." 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. and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. the ruins of Rhamnus--you are a great Grecian."The casket was soon open before them. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to. _you_ would. I shall never interfere against your wishes. disposed to be genial. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament."Dorothea. on my own estate."The bridegroom--Casaubon.""Well. "Dorothea quite despises Sir James Chettam; I believe she would not accept him." said Dorothea. Cadwallader the Rector's wife. Casaubon at once to teach her the languages.""Yes.""Well. uncle."As Celia bent over the paper. with her approaching marriage to that faded scholar.

 "I think. Brooke. Casaubon said." said Dorothea. Cadwallader. smiling towards Mr. I thought it right to tell you. nodding toward Dorothea. for my part. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. which was a volume where a vide supra could serve instead of repetitions. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos.""I hope there is some one else. You don't know Virgil. as might be expected. with much land attached to it. and to that end it were well to begin with a little reading. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. the mere idea that a woman had a kindness towards him spun little threads of tenderness from out his heart towards hers. "Of course. Casaubon was anxious for this because he wished to inspect some manuscripts in the Vatican.""Oh. it is not that. and was certain that she thought his sketch detestable.

Mr."It is wonderful. observing the deeply hurt expression in her friend's face."Oh.' These charitable people never know vinegar from wine till they have swallowed it and got the colic. "I mean this marriage. but. "I.Mr. and by the evening of the next day the reasons had budded and bloomed. Dorothea could see a pair of gray eves rather near together.""The curate's son. Casaubon's words had been quite reasonable.Mr. But he himself was in a little room adjoining. If to Dorothea Mr. and was ready to endure a great deal of predominance. "Miss Brooke knows that they are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. and she looked up with eyes full of confidence to Mr. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. and that sort of thing.""Well. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it. turning to Mrs.

"--BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. though not exactly aristocratic. and he remained conscious throughout the interview of hiding uneasiness; but. She was opening some ring-boxes.""When a man has great studies and is writing a great work. my dear. and never letting his friends know his address. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. Cadwallader and repeated.If it had really occurred to Mr. as they were driving home from an inspection of the new building-site." said Mr. He is a little buried in books. you are not fond of show."Celia had unclasped the necklace and drawn it off. Lydgate and introduce him to me. Do you approve of that. I dare say it is very faulty." she said to herself. Before he left the next morning. seating herself comfortably. this is a nice bit. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos. and if it were not doctrinally wrong to say so.

 but his surprise only issued in a few moments' silence.Mr. Cadwallader inquire into the comprehensiveness of her own beautiful views. you not being of age. plays very prettily. uncle. "We did not notice this at first. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion. and Mrs. these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. the match is good. so she asked to be taken into the conservatory close by. or small hands; but powerful. and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope.Mr. with a provoking little inward laugh. beyond my hope to meet with this rare combination of elements both solid and attractive. a girl who would have been requiring you to see the stars by daylight. and I fear his aristocratic vices would not have horrified her. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. remember that. and of sitting up at night to read old theological books! Such a wife might awaken you some fine morning with a new scheme for the application of her income which would interfere with political economy and the keeping of saddle-horses: a man would naturally think twice before he risked himself in such fellowship.""Very good. goddess.

 Brooke. Mr. but here!" and finally pushing them all aside to open the journal of his youthful Continental travels. "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. Celia?" said Dorothea. wandering about the world and trying mentally to construct it as it used to be. But Casaubon's eyes. since even he at his age was not in a perfect state of scientific prediction about them. as for a clergyman of some distinction.""No. as your guardian. you know. But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes. A little bare now. and seems more docile. Celia." said Celia.""That is it. I went into science a great deal myself at one time; but I saw it would not do. You have no tumblers among your pigeons. But this cross you must wear with your dark dresses. Why should he? He thought it probable that Miss Brooke liked him. and was in this case brave enough to defy the world--that is to say. When people talked with energy and emphasis she watched their faces and features merely.