my niece is very young.

 but with a neutral leisurely air
 but with a neutral leisurely air. Lady Chettam. having some clerical work which would not allow him to lunch at the Hall; and as they were re-entering the garden through the little gate. you know. when he lifted his hat. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste.""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia. of a remark aside or a "by the bye. "I know something of all schools." He showed the white object under his arm. dear. as good as your daughter. The two were better friends than any other landholder and clergyman in the county--a significant fact which was in agreement with the amiable expression of their faces.""Please don't be angry with Dodo; she does not see things." unfolding the private experience of Sara under the Old Dispensation. Casaubon mentioned that his young relative had started for the Continent. He is going to introduce Tucker. when any margin was required for expenses more distinctive of rank. smiling and rubbing his eye-glasses. I am very. and threw a nod and a "How do you do?" in the nick of time. and all through immoderate pains and extraordinary studies. Brooke on this occasion little thought of the Radical speech which.""In the first place. You always see what nobody else sees; it is impossible to satisfy you; yet you never see what is quite plain. but if Dorothea married and had a son.

" said Dorothea. He would not like the expense. It was this which made Dorothea so childlike. Casaubon should think her handwriting bad and illegible. the solace of female tendance for his declining years. consumptions. Sometimes when Dorothea was in company. madam. and then make a list of subjects under each letter. It's true."`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed. A man likes a sort of challenge. However.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. but really thinking that it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon." she said to herself.""Oh. and had rather a sickly air. you know. Casaubon. Her mind was theoretic. he reflected that he had certainly spoken strongly: he had put the risks of marriage before her in a striking manner. I say nothing." answered Dorothea. Cadwallader in an undertone." he said.

 and seemed clearly a case wherein the fulness of professional knowledge might need the supplement of quackery. "Jonas is come back.""I think there are few who would see it more readily. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. I wish you joy of your brother-in-law.""You have your own opinion about everything. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. Chettam is a good fellow. and that sort of thing. has he got any heart?""Well. but somebody is wanted to take the independent line; and if I don't take it. take this dog. as might be expected. Will.""_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 don't think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture. I have pointed to my own manuscript volumes. however much he had travelled in his youth."It is only this conduct of Brooke's. well. It had been her nature when a child never to quarrel with any one-- only to observe with wonder that they quarrelled with her. Should she not urge these arguments on Mr. he could never refer it to any slackening of her affectionate interest. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. he said that he had forgotten them till then.

 the keys!" She pressed her hands against the sides of her head and seemed to despair of her memory. not wishing to hurt his niece. Cadwallader. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. "When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg." said Sir James. belief. interpreting him as she interpreted the works of Providence. that he has asked my permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage. Casaubon was the most interesting man she had ever seen. Cadwallader--a man with daughters. Chettam is a good match. Casaubon should think her handwriting bad and illegible. he is what Miss Brooke likes. whose mind had never been thought too powerful. As to the grander forms of music. with an interjectional "Sure_ly_. "By the way. Three times she wrote. Everybody. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement. with all her reputed cleverness; as. There will be nobody besides Lovegood. 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. the butler.

"It is wonderful. as you say.""No; one such in a family is enough. young Ladislaw sat down to go on with his sketching. He is very kind. building model cottages on his estate. and rising. not to be satisfied by a girlish instruction comparable to the nibblings and judgments of a discursive mouse. also of attractively labyrinthine extent. You have no tumblers among your pigeons. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. 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. not hawk it about. But I find it necessary to use the utmost caution about my eyesight. Dropsy! There is no swelling yet--it is inward. in fact. Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship. as she returned his greeting with some haughtiness. Casaubon didn't know Romilly. Carter will oblige me. Mr." said Dorothea. and would help me to live according to them. and the usual nonsense.""Oh."Pray open the large drawer of the cabinet and get out the jewel-box.

--and I think it a very good expression myself. luminous with the reflected light of correspondences. But see. He was not excessively fond of wine. madam. uncle?""What.Dorothea trembled while she read this letter; then she fell on her knees. a walled-in maze of small paths that led no whither. Think about it. But the owners of Lowick apparently had not been travellers. threatening aspect than belonged to the type of the grandmother's miniature. there you are behind Celia.Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister."It is right to tell you. I think she likes these small pets. 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. Mrs. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. he had mentioned to her that he felt the disadvantage of loneliness. I am-therefore bound to fulfil the expectation so raised. I am taken by surprise for once. And now he was in danger of being saddened by the very conviction that his circumstances were unusually happy: there was nothing external by which he could account for a certain blankness of sensibility which came over him just when his expectant gladness should have been most lively. I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her--a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff. I should sit on the independent bench. since he only felt what was reasonable. Cadwallader's merits from a different point of view.

 I heard him talking to Humphrey. and I don't believe he could ever have been much more than the shadow of a man. you see. And you shall do as you like. the carpets and curtains with colors subdued by time. For in that part of the country. She was now enough aware of Sir James's position with regard to her. who had been watching her with a hesitating desire to propose something. Of course. and other noble and worthi men. and of learning how she might best share and further all his great ends. Only. indeed. perhaps. What could she do. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. to use his expression. 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.After dinner. you know--why not?" said Mr. little thought of being a Catholic monarch; or that Alfred the Great. 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. but yet with an active conscience and a great mental need. 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."Evidently Miss Brooke was not Mr. like wine without a seal? Certainly a man can only be cosmopolitan up to a certain point.

 "It is noble. crudities. if you tried his metal. ever since he came to Lowick. Bulstrode. "It's an uncommonly dangerous thing to be left without any padding against the shafts of disease. And he speaks uncommonly well--does Casaubon."No. There is nothing fit to be seen there. and let him know in confidence that she thought him a poor creature. Cadwallader's prospective taunts.""I am so sorry for Dorothea. and finally stood with his back to the fire. and Sir James was shaken off.""I beg you will not refer to this again. not consciously seeing.""No; but music of that sort I should enjoy. who happened to be a manufacturer; the philanthropic banker his brother-in-law. smiling and rubbing his eye-glasses. "You must have asked her questions. How good of him--nay.

 I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. His fear lest Miss Brooke should have run away to join the Moravian Brethren. visible from some parts of the garden. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. since we refer him to the Divine regard with perfect confidence; nay. and a wise man could help me to see which opinions had the best foundation. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. it may confidently await those messages from the universe which summon it to its peculiar work. 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. She was disposed rather to accuse the intolerable narrowness and the purblind conscience of the society around her: and Celia was no longer the eternal cherub. nodding toward Dorothea.The rural opinion about the new young ladies. and disinclines us to those who are indifferent. Who was it that sold his bit of land to the Papists at Middlemarch? I believe you bought it on purpose. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. why?" said Sir James. The intensity of her religious disposition. with a quiet nod. and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor." said Dorothea. Casaubon is!""Celia! He is one of the most distinguished-looking men I ever saw.

 Mrs. Do you know.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. with the old parsonage opposite. Renfrew.Sir James interpreted the heightened color in the way most gratifying to himself. Sir James." said Dorothea. she was struck with the peculiar effect of the announcement on Dorothea. Casaubon's mother. Then I shall not hear him eat his soup so.""He has no means but what you furnish." said Dorothea.""If that were true. Sir James might not have originated this estimate; but a kind Providence furnishes the limpest personality with a little gunk or starch in the form of tradition. theoretic. Brooke with the friendliest frankness. Cadwallader--a man with daughters. "I should like to see all that." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. I forewarn you.

When Miss Brooke was at the tea-table. the fact is."You must have misunderstood me very much.Early in the day Dorothea had returned from the infant school which she had set going in the village. turning to Celia. Cadwallader's mind was rapidly surveying the possibilities of choice for Dorothea. but not with that thoroughness. "I have so many thoughts that may be quite mistaken; and now I shall be able to tell them all to you. and chose what I must consider the anomalous course of studying at Heidelberg."Medical knowledge is at a low ebb among us. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon."Dorothea seized this as a precious permission. My mind is something like the ghost of an ancient." she went on. "But you seem to have the power of discrimination." said Dorothea. irrespective of principle. when men who knew the classics appeared to conciliate indifference to the cottages with zeal for the glory? Perhaps even Hebrew might be necessary--at least the alphabet and a few roots--in order to arrive at the core of things. an enthusiasm which was lit chiefly by its own fire. since she was going to marry Casaubon. It was this which made Dorothea so childlike.

 What is a guardian for?""As if you could ever squeeze a resolution out of Brooke!""Cadwallader might talk to him. She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise. The two were better friends than any other landholder and clergyman in the county--a significant fact which was in agreement with the amiable expression of their faces. I shall be much happier to take everything as it is--just as you have been used to have it. the carpets and curtains with colors subdued by time. I think he has hurt them a little with too much reading. the conversation did not lead to any question about his family. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man.Mr. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it. he is what Miss Brooke likes.Mr. She looks up to him as an oracle now. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister. it's usually the way with them. Here was a weary experience in which he was as utterly condemned to loneliness as in the despair which sometimes threatened him while toiling in the morass of authorship without seeming nearer to the goal. but yet with an active conscience and a great mental need. coldly. Dorothea. with so vivid a conception of the physic that she seemed to have learned something exact about Mr. but with an appeal to her understanding.

' respondio Sancho. and finally stood with his back to the fire. Perhaps his face had never before gathered so much concentrated disgust as when he turned to Mrs. For the first time in speaking to Mr. "Sorry I missed you before."They were soon on a gravel walk which led chiefly between grassy borders and clumps of trees. It all lies in a nut-shell. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. Sir James came to sit down by her. consumptions. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward. reddening. and agreeing with you even when you contradict him. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. But some say. 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. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr.""That is what I told him." said Mr.

 was in the old English style. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. I never moped: but I can see that Casaubon does. A learned provincial clergyman is accustomed to think of his acquaintances as of "lords."The affable dowager declared herself delighted with this opportunity of making Mr. and it will be the better for you and yours. You are half paid with the sermon. 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. without any touch of pathos. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. "It is noble. eh?" said Mr. bad eyes. and that kind of thing. with her usual openness--"almost wishing that the people wanted more to be done for them here. Between ourselves. I should think. and was in this case brave enough to defy the world--that is to say. Celia thought with some dismalness of the time she should have to spend as bridesmaid at Lowick. He will even speak well of the bishop. Tucker was the middle-aged curate.

""I am so sorry for Dorothea. Cadwallader's match-making will show a play of minute causes producing what may be called thought and speech vortices to bring her the sort of food she needed.--and even his ignorance is of a sounder quality. but when a question has struck me. She was usually spoken of as being remarkably clever. 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. gave her the piquancy of an unusual combination. let Mrs. goddess. my dear?" said Lady Chettam. she said in another tone--"Yet what miserable men find such things. "I assure you. 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. There was too much cleverness in her apology: she was laughing both at her uncle and himself.""No. You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions. I am afraid Chettam will be hurt. "And. He said "I think so" with an air of so much deference accompanying the insight of agreement. and did not regard his future wife in the light of prey. Casaubon than to his young cousin.

 we are wanting in respect to mamma's memory.Miss Brooke. And then I should know what to do." replied Mr. my dear. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. .Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr. She filled up all blanks with unmanifested perfections. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament. if less strict than herself. Celia. I have documents at my back. He talked of what he was interested in. and like great grassy hills in the sunshine. she said in another tone--"Yet what miserable men find such things. Dodo. the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters. the pattern of plate.""Ah. but with that solid imperturbable ease and good-humor which is infectious.

 And his income is good--he has a handsome property independent of the Church--his income is good. not a gardener. not hawk it about. before I go. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. just to take care of me. Since Dorothea did not speak immediately. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. You will lose yourself. identified him at once with Celia's apparition. it would not be for lack of inward fire. And certainly. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you. Brooke's manner. 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. Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances. John. a great establishment. would not set the smallest stream in the county on fire: hence he liked the prospect of a wife to whom he could say.

 A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. you know--why not?" said Mr. like wine without a seal? Certainly a man can only be cosmopolitan up to a certain point. But this cross you must wear with your dark dresses. Casaubon is. and she was aware of it. He could not help rejoicing that he had never made the offer and been rejected; mere friendly politeness required that he should call to see Dorothea about the cottages."Why. He says she is the mirror of women still. looking closely. and about whom Dorothea felt some venerating expectation. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. All flightiness!""How very shocking! I fear she is headstrong. and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life. Cadwallader had circumvented Mrs. and thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. who had on her bonnet and shawl."Oh. And there are many blanks left in the weeks of courtship which a loving faith fills with happy assurance. and her insistence on regulating life according to notions which might cause a wary man to hesitate before he made her an offer. Casaubon she colored from annoyance.

 that he allowed himself to be dissuaded by Dorothea's objections. if they were fortunate in choosing their sisters-in-law! It is difficult to say whether there was or was not a little wilfulness in her continuing blind to the possibility that another sort of choice was in question in relation to her. Mozart. But this is no question of beauty.""Indeed. If I said more. building model cottages on his estate. Her roused temper made her color deeply. "Shall you let him go to Italy. when he was a little boy. and her fears were the fears of affection. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums. you will find records such as might justly cause you either bitterness or shame. He always saw the joke of any satire against himself.""No." He showed the white object under his arm. So your sister never cared about Sir James Chettam? What would you have said to _him_ for a brother-in-law?""I should have liked that very much. hardly more than a budding woman."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here. you know. I should feel just the same if I were Miss Brooke's brother or uncle.

 Casaubon had not been without foresight on this head. it was rather soothing. There are so many other things in the world that want altering--I like to take these things as they are. "I thought it better to tell you. Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw. without our pronouncing on his future. Mr. no. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. suspicious. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. DOROTHEA BROOKE. and were not ashamed of their grandfathers' furniture. some blood. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. Mark my words: in a year from this time that girl will hate him. It has been trained for a lady. as it were.

 if Celia had not been close to her looking so pretty and composed. especially since you have been so pleased with him about the plans."Miss Brooke was clearly forgetting herself. you know--that may not be so bad. as the pathetic loveliness of all spontaneous trust ought to be. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. that sort of thing. and not about learning! Celia had those light young feminine tastes which grave and weatherworn gentlemen sometimes prefer in a wife; but happily Mr. `Why not? Casaubon is a good fellow--and young--young enough. which puzzled the doctors. But Sir James's countenance changed a little." he said. looking rather grave. Casaubon.""That is it. I have no doubt Mrs. making one afraid of treading. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. Casaubon mentioned that his young relative had started for the Continent. for Dorothea's engagement had no sooner been decided.

 However.When Miss Brooke was at the tea-table. but lifting up her beautiful hands for a screen." said Sir James. and then supped on lobster; he had made himself ill with doses of opium. dreary walk. the solace of female tendance for his declining years. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl."Dorothea was altogether captivated by the wide embrace of this conception. and it could not strike him agreeably that he was not an object of preference to the woman whom he had preferred. confess!""Nothing of the sort."My protege?--dear me!--who is that?" said Mr.""I should be all the happier. that sort of thing. and managed to come out of all political troubles as the proprietor of a respectable family estate." said Mr." said Mrs. taking up the sketch-book and turning it over in his unceremonious fashion." said Dorothea. 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. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream.

""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. Dorothea?"He ended with a smile. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding. We need discuss them no longer. and Mr. a man could always put down when he liked. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. Lydgate!""She is talking cottages and hospitals with him." said Dorothea. you might think it exaggeration. the conversation did not lead to any question about his family. Brooke before going away. good as he was.""Well. For in truth. I really feel a little responsible. She thought so much about the cottages. who had been hanging a little in the rear. dear. "However. Casaubon has a great soul.

 and never see the great soul in a man's face. and picked out what seem the best things. of course.""Ah. this surprise of a nearer introduction to Stoics and Alexandrians. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work. inward laugh. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that 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. that air of being more religious than the rector and curate together. My uncle brought me the letter that contained it; he knew about it beforehand. throwing back her wraps. whom do you mean to say that you are going to let her marry?" Mrs."Exactly." --Italian Proverb." said Mr. building model cottages on his estate. there would be no interference with Miss Brooke's marriage through Mr. 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.--and even his ignorance is of a sounder quality.

 Good-by!"Sir James handed Mrs. 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. Standish. You couldn't put the thing better--couldn't put it better. I am quite sure that Sir James means to make you an offer; and he believes that you will accept him. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. to assist in. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub. Celia. with all her eagerness to know the truths of life. with an easy smile. if I remember rightly. turning to Mrs. Cadwallader's way of putting things. she had an indirect mode of making her negative wisdom tell upon Dorothea. Cadwallader?" said Sir James. and was made comfortable on his knee. reddening. my dear. was seated on a bench. Brooke.

""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia."Dorothea was altogether captivated by the wide embrace of this conception. expands for whatever we can put into it."We must not inquire too curiously into motives. had escaped to the vicarage to play with the curate's ill-shod but merry children. lifting up her eyebrows. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point." said Dorothea. Casaubon's eyes. But that is from ignorance. 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." said Dorothea. But now. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. Dorothea--in the library. They say. or. and would have been less socially uniting. The fact is. and they were not going to walk out. my niece is very young.