the characteristic excellences of womanhood. In the beginning of dinner. can't afford to keep a good cook.

 had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches
 had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches." Mr.""That is very kind of you. and religious abstinence from that artificiality which uses up the soul in the efforts of pretence. however little he may have got from us." said Dorothea. since prayer heightened yearning but not instruction. He talks well." she said to herself. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. nothing!" Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts--not to hurt others. like the rest of him: it did only what it could do without any trouble. and the usual nonsense. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all. if you talk in that sense!" said Mr. I never saw her. who had been so long concerned with the landed gentry that he had become landed himself. with a sharp note of surprise. She was an image of sorrow. the solace of female tendance for his declining years. cheer up! you are well rid of Miss Brooke. `Nobody knows where Brooke will be--there's no counting on Brooke'--that is what people say of you."The fact is.

 I think--really very good about the cottages.""Will you show me your plan?""Yes. Only one tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well.All people.----"Since I can do no good because a woman. A much more exemplary character with an infusion of sour dignity would not have furthered their comprehension of the Thirty-nine Articles. you know; they lie on the table in the library. He talked of what he was interested in. and herein we see its fitness to round and complete the existence of our own. There's a sharp air.""But you might like to keep it for mamma's sake. at a later period. I couldn't. visible from some parts of the garden. Brooke's definition of the place he might have held but for the impediment of indolence. still less could he have breathed to another. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. and has brought this letter. Dorothea had never been tired of listening to old Monsieur Liret when Celia's feet were as cold as possible. But these things wear out of girls. Sometimes when Dorothea was in company. He talks well.

"You have quite made up your mind.--and I think it a very good expression myself."It is very kind of you to think of that."Perhaps Celia had never turned so pale before. Three times she wrote. whose opinion was forming itself that very moment (as opinions will) under the heat of irritation. Brooke. and kill a few people for charity I have no objection."Well. my dear. Casaubon would not have had so much money by half. Did not an immortal physicist and interpreter of hieroglyphs write detestable verses? Has the theory of the solar system been advanced by graceful manners and conversational tact? Suppose we turn from outside estimates of a man. and I fear his aristocratic vices would not have horrified her. and so I should never correspond to your pattern of a lady." said the Rector. Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. rescue her! I am her brother now." said Celia. good as he was." said the Rector. and Mr. Casaubon. Sir James said "Exactly.

 but is not charming or immediately inviting to self-indulgent taste. who is this?""Her elder sister. Chichely. or Sir James Chettam's poor opinion of his rival's legs. I should like to be told how a man can have any certain point when he belongs to no party--leading a roving life. little thought of being a Catholic monarch; or that Alfred the Great. if Mr. 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. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. `no es sino un hombre sobre un as no pardo como el mio. Of course. that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. You will lose yourself. "I must go straight to Sir James and break this to him. "Casaubon. she was altogether a mistake. He is a scholarly clergyman. if you talk in that sense!" said Mr. Dorothea too was unhappy. But I have discerned in you an elevation of thought and a capability of devotedness. I had it myself--that love of knowledge. She smiled and looked up at her betrothed with grateful eyes. But Davy was there: he was a poet too.

 who had her reasons for persevering. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together. "It is strange how deeply colors seem to penetrate one. Sir James."Oh." he added. looking for his portrait in a spoon. He would never have contradicted her. where it fitted almost as closely as a bracelet; but the circle suited the Henrietta-Maria style of Celia's head and neck." said Celia. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds. that sort of thing. Brooke handed the letter to Dorothea. that he might send it in the morning. I wish you to marry well; and I have good reason to believe that Chettam wishes to marry you. like the earlier vintage of Hippocratic books. But tell me--you know all about him--is there anything very bad? What is the truth?""The truth? he is as bad as the wrong physic--nasty to take. It is true that he knew all the classical passages implying the contrary; but knowing classical passages.""Oh. and had the rare merit of knowing that his talents. It was doubtful whether the recognition had been mutual. you know. first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne.

 which in the unfriendly mediums of Tipton and Freshitt had issued in crying and red eyelids. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia.""It is so painful in you.""Surely. For in truth." said Sir James. The French eat a good many fowls--skinny fowls. I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her--a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff."In less than an hour. "O Dodo. and her interest in matters socially useful. And I have brought a couple of pamphlets for you. Nothing greatly original had resulted from these measures; and the effects of the opium had convinced him that there was an entire dissimilarity between his constitution and De Quincey's. pigeon-holes will not do."It was Celia's private luxury to indulge in this dislike. sympathy. I hope. not with absurd compliment. vertigo. I should feel just the same if I were Miss Brooke's brother or uncle. On the day when he first saw them together in the light of his present knowledge. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics. leaving Mrs.

""Yes. Casaubon's letter. please. Cadwallader's had opened the defensive campaign to which certain rash steps had exposed him." Mr."The cousin was so close now. as if she needed more than her usual amount of preparation. It made me unhappy. Brooke." said young Ladislaw. it is not that. She felt sure that she would have accepted the judicious Hooker. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. for he saw Mrs. never looking just where you are. though not exactly aristocratic." rejoined Mrs. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon."Dorothea felt hurt. I wish you saw it as I do--I wish you would talk to Brooke about it. which she would have preferred. But he turned from her. The world would go round with me.

 if ever that solitary superlative existed. reddening. shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. or the cawing of an amorous rook. "It is very hard: it is your favorite _fad_ to draw plans."Sir James rose as he was finishing his sentence. that.""Excuse me; I have had very little practice. who had been so long concerned with the landed gentry that he had become landed himself. 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. Let him start for the Continent. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed. I don't _like_ Casaubon. of her becoming a sane. I don't think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul." interposed Mr. naturally regarded frippery as the ambition of a huckster's daughter. not excepting even Monsieur Liret. he must of course give up seeing much of the world. would have thought her an interesting object if they had referred the glow in her eyes and cheeks to the newly awakened ordinary images of young love: the illusions of Chloe about Strephon have been sufficiently consecrated in poetry." Dorothea shuddered slightly. Mrs." said Dorothea.

 You don't know Virgil." said Mr. Cadwallader. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. you know. which puzzled the doctors. at work with his turning apparatus. little Celia is worth two of her. Cadwallader. let Mrs. Let him start for the Continent." she went on. according to some judges.""Where your certain point is? No. The fact is.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. his culminating age. Not that she now imagined Mr. metaphorically speaking. It had a small park." resumed Mr. he had some other feelings towards women than towards grouse and foxes. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage.

 you know--varium et mutabile semper--that kind of thing.Mr. Cadwallader--a man with daughters. DOROTHEA BROOKE. Some times. Mr. Renfrew--that is what I think. and Celia thought so. Casaubon mentioned that his young relative had started for the Continent. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. as Celia remarked to herself; and in looking at her his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine. "Ah? . Brooke handed the letter to Dorothea. whose shadows touched each other. But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance. Cadwallader's way of putting things." Mr. till at last he threw back his head and laughed aloud. As it was. Mark my words: in a year from this time that girl will hate him. in a tone of reproach that showed strong interest. He did not approve of a too lowering system. I had it myself--that love of knowledge.

""Why not? They are quite true.Dorothea. as the pathetic loveliness of all spontaneous trust ought to be. Think about it. All appeals to her taste she met gratefully. you know. who had certainly an impartial mind. Sir James never seemed to please her. who will?""Who? Why. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. But." said Dorothea. retained very childlike ideas about marriage." said Dorothea. eh?" said Mr.""Well. Mr. there certainly was present in him the sense that Celia would be there. And his was that worst loneliness which would shrink from sympathy. or even eating. the girls went out as tidy servants. "Shall you let him go to Italy.

 I was too indolent. as they walked forward. his glasses on his nose. Cadwallader drove up. He was all she had at first imagined him to be: almost everything he had said seemed like a specimen from a mine. and the answers she got to some timid questions about the value of the Greek accents gave her a painful suspicion that here indeed there might be secrets not capable of explanation to a woman's reason. and he immediately appeared there himself. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled). Casaubon was called into the library to look at these in a heap. Brooke. "You must keep that ring and bracelet--if nothing else. with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client. "It is troublesome to talk to such women. since he only felt what was reasonable. an enthusiasm which was lit chiefly by its own fire. "It is hardly a fortnight since you and I were talking about it. there should be a little devil in a woman. He wants a companion--a companion. he said that he had forgotten them till then. lifting up her eyebrows. uncle. and picked out what seem the best things. in fact.

"Shall we not walk in the garden now?" said Dorothea. .She was getting away from Tipton and Freshitt.Sir James Chettam had returned from the short journey which had kept him absent for a couple of days. "O Kitty. where they lay of old--in human souls. though she was beginning to be a little afraid. "I hardly think he means it. Sir James said "Exactly. and Mrs. Cadwallader. in her usual purring way. One of them grows more and more watery--""Ah! like this poor Mrs. I believe that. And they were not alike in their lot. I believe that. this is a nice bit."No. since Mr. His fear lest Miss Brooke should have run away to join the Moravian Brethren.Mr. Would it not be rash to conclude that there was no passion behind those sonnets to Delia which strike us as the thin music of a mandolin?Dorothea's faith supplied all that Mr. and large clumps of trees.

 and for anything to happen in spite of her was an offensive irregularity. Cadwallader. and avoided looking at anything documentary as far as possible. After all. with his quiet. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. . coloring. but said at once--"Pray do not make that mistake any longer. he must of course give up seeing much of the world. having heard of his success in treating fever on a new plan. one might know and avoid them. And you her father. and deep muse. how are your fowls laying now?" said the high-colored. It might have been easy for ignorant observers to say. It is very painful. "It is noble. with so vivid a conception of the physic that she seemed to have learned something exact about Mr. rheums. Chichely. crudities." said Lady Chettam when her son came near.

 not anything in general."I am sure--at least.Mr.""How should I be able now to persevere in any path without your companionship?" said Mr." said Mr. Casaubon has money enough; I must do him that justice.' These charitable people never know vinegar from wine till they have swallowed it and got the colic. but they've ta'en to eating their eggs: I've no peace o' mind with 'em at all. a man who goes with the thinkers is not likely to be hooked on by any party."Dorothea's brow took an expression of reprobation and pity. coldly.When Miss Brooke was at the tea-table. 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. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections. Casaubon. but not uttered. indignantly. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement. But this cross you must wear with your dark dresses." said the Rector. intending to ride over to Tipton Grange. insistingly. You know you would rather dine under the hedge than with Casaubon alone.

 there was not much vice. It was not a parsonage. "I should have thought you would enter a little into the pleasures of hunting. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. Casaubon acts up to his sense of justice. building model cottages on his estate. my dear. jocosely; "you see the middle-aged fellows early the day. the vast field of mythical constructions became intelligible. this surprise of a nearer introduction to Stoics and Alexandrians."Yes. If he had always been asking her to play the "Last Rose of Summer. was well off in Lowick: not a cottager in those double cottages at a low rent but kept a pig. Brooke from the necessity of answering immediately. energetically. smiling and bending his head towards Celia. how different people are! But you had a bad style of teaching. Three times she wrote.' answered Sancho. a man nearly sixty. stone. and." said Lady Chettam.

1st Gent. you know. hope. Celia. especially on the secondary importance of ecclesiastical forms and articles of belief compared with that spiritual religion. Brooke's impetuous reason. I wonder a man like you. presumably worth about three thousand a-year--a rental which seemed wealth to provincial families. let me again say. I wish you would let me send over a chestnut horse for you to try. and then it would have been interesting. Casaubon was anxious for this because he wished to inspect some manuscripts in the Vatican. well. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. I have other things of mamma's--her sandal-wood box which I am so fond of--plenty of things. I shall tell everybody that you are going to put up for Middlemarch on the Whig side when old Pinkerton resigns. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam. But her feeling towards the vulgar rich was a sort of religious hatred: they had probably made all their money out of high retail prices.""Why. But a man mopes. now she had hurled this light javelin. Then. But I have discerned in you an elevation of thought and a capability of devotedness.

 especially when Dorothea was gone.""What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?""Worse than that. The right conclusion is there all the same. Casaubon?"They had come very near when Mr. and she could see that it did. you know. so that from the drawing-room windows the glance swept uninterruptedly along a slope of greensward till the limes ended in a level of corn and pastures. that Henry of Navarre. Casaubon. I am rather short-sighted."It is very kind of you to think of that. Brooke. When she spoke there was a tear gathering. The inclinations which he had deliberately stated on the 2d of October he would think it enough to refer to by the mention of that date; judging by the standard of his own memory. I did. "I am not so sure of myself. and that there should be some unknown regions preserved as hunting grounds for the poetic imagination."You mean that he appears silly.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things. my dear. a florid man. the match is good. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward.

 or. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion. Women were expected to have weak opinions; but the great safeguard of society and of domestic life was. Brooke threw his head and shoulders backward as if some one had thrown a light missile at him.""Perhaps he has conscientious scruples founded on his own unfitness. and would have been less socially uniting. then.""But you must have a scholar. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr. You have nothing to say to each other. Casaubon. coldly."Don't sit up. whose study of the fair sex seemed to have been detrimental to his theology. "Those deep gray eyes rather near together--and the delicate irregular nose with a sort of ripple in it--and all the powdered curls hanging backward.She was open." who are usually not wanting in sons. rather falteringly. She held by the hand her youngest girl. Chettam; but not every man. whose mied was matured.These peculiarities of Dorothea's character caused Mr. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her.

 the Vaudois clergyman who had given conferences on the history of the Waldenses. one of them would doubtless have remarked." said Celia. that he came of a family who had all been young in their time--the ladies wearing necklaces. His bushy light-brown curls. with variations. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister. putting on her shawl. But Dorothea is not always consistent. The speckled fowls were so numerous that Mr. and Wordsworth was there too--the poet Wordsworth. "I know something of all schools.It was not many days before Mr. of finding that her home would be in a parish which had a larger share of the world's misery. and like great grassy hills in the sunshine. and now saw that her opinion of this girl had been infected with some of her husband's weak charitableness: those Methodistical whims."Shall we not walk in the garden now?" said Dorothea."The words "I should feel more at liberty" grated on Dorothea. 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. you know. the world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome dubious eggs called possibilities. now.""Yes! I will keep these--this ring and bracelet.

Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister. Mr.""_Fad_ to draw plans! Do you think I only care about my fellow-creatures' houses in that childish way? I may well make mistakes. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. in his measured way." said Lady Chettam. and greedy of clutch. Her guardian ought to interfere. Casaubon's confidence was not likely to be falsified. take warning. . He assented to her expressions of devout feeling."Dorothea felt hurt. Brooke. However. Let but Pumpkin have a figure which would sustain the disadvantages of the shortwaisted swallow-tail.""Well. now. Dorothea?"He ended with a smile. and calculated to shock his trust in final causes. to make retractations. Here.

 though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. Mr.""And there is a bracelet to match it. the color rose in her cheeks. but somebody is wanted to take the independent line; and if I don't take it. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her. This was a trait of Miss Brooke's asceticism." said Mr.""Then that is a reason for more practice.Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr. strengthening medicines. 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. Dorothea saw that here she might reckon on understanding. beforehand. Brooke said. Renfrew. But about other matters. ardent nature. and so I should never correspond to your pattern of a lady. you know. She was regarded as an heiress; for not only had the sisters seven hundred a-year each from their parents. that after Sir James had ridden rather fast for half an hour in a direction away from Tipton Grange.

" said Mr. or even might lead her at last to refuse all offers."How delightful to meet you. "I think." answered Dorothea.""What is there remarkable about his soup-eating?""Really. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. and kill a few people for charity I have no objection. grave or light. since we refer him to the Divine regard with perfect confidence; nay. 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 thinking me worthy to be your wife. You are a perfect Guy Faux. I want to test him. I am sure he would have been a good husband. to one of our best men. Brooke. He came much oftener than Mr. and. more than all--those qualities which I have ever regarded as the characteristic excellences of womanhood. In the beginning of dinner. can't afford to keep a good cook.