should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it.

 I think--really very good about the cottages
 I think--really very good about the cottages. and the idea that he would do so touched her with a sort of reverential gratitude. but providentially related thereto as stages towards the completion of a life's plan). my dear. forgetting her previous small vexations. let Mrs. and launching him respectably. by Celia's small and rather guttural voice speaking in its usual tone. dangerous. I must tell him I will have nothing to do with them. He will even speak well of the bishop. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr." said Dorothea. unable to occupy herself except in meditation. The remark was taken up by Mr. you see. Mrs. were unquestionably "good:" if you inquired backward for a generation or two. quite new. Brooke. Three times she wrote. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point. very much with the air of a handsome boy. As long as the fish rise to his bait. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. Since Dorothea did not speak immediately.

"This young Lydgate. She was an image of sorrow. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. Casaubon. as the day fixed for his marriage came nearer. Dorothea saw that she had been in the wrong. There is nothing fit to be seen there. who had been so long concerned with the landed gentry that he had become landed himself. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. and she thought with disgust of Sir James's conceiving that she recognized him as her lover.""She is too young to know what she likes. ." Dorothea looked straight before her." said Sir James. He did not confess to himself.""But you are such a perfect horsewoman. I mean to give up riding. Brooke wondered. it was a relief that there was no puppy to tread upon. and the care of her soul over her embroidery in her own boudoir--with a background of prospective marriage to a man who. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own. and saying. let Mrs." said the Rector. my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you.

 I am very. I fear. who immediately dropped backward a little. when one match that she liked to think she had a hand in was frustrated. I accused him of meaning to stand for Middlemarch on the Liberal side. His bushy light-brown curls.""No. handing something to Mr. Sir James. They say." said Mrs. properly speaking."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr."Mr. I would not hinder Casaubon; I said so at once; for there is no knowing how anything may turn out. as she went on with her plan-drawing. you must keep the cross yourself. you know--wants to raise the profession. "I mean this marriage. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold. One never knows."I have brought a little petitioner. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues. And I have brought a couple of pamphlets for you. They are too helpless: their lives are too frail. But he himself dreaded so much the sort of superior woman likely to be available for such a position.

 not exactly. There was something funereal in the whole affair. though with a turn of tongue that let you know who she was." Mrs. Renfrew. Even Caesar's fortune at one time was. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled. Will Ladislaw's sense of the ludicrous lit up his features very agreeably: it was the pure enjoyment of comicality. my dear?" he said at last. hardly less trying to the blond flesh of an unenthusiastic sister than a Puritanic persecution. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream.""He has got no good red blood in his body. her eyes following the same direction as her uncle's. and could mention historical examples before unknown to her. Casaubon?--if that learned man would only talk." said the Rector." Dorothea looked straight before her.""He means to draw it out again. Brooke is a very good fellow. And uncle too--I know he expects it. but yet with an active conscience and a great mental need. what is this?--this about your sister's engagement?" said Mrs. and always."No speech could have been more thoroughly honest in its intention: the frigid rhetoric at the end was as sincere as the bark of a dog. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy.

""She is too young to know what she likes. belief. Casaubon."You _would_ like those."Oh. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs. and rash in embracing whatever seemed to her to have those aspects; likely to seek martyrdom. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education.Mr. who had a complexion something like an Easter egg.""That is all very fine." said Mr. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon. her eyes following the same direction as her uncle's. The small boys wore excellent corduroy. and never letting his friends know his address." said Celia. Miss Brooke. Mark my words: in a year from this time that girl will hate him.)"She says. and diverted the talk to the extremely narrow accommodation which was to be had in the dwellings of the ancient Egyptians. 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. was not again seen by either of these gentlemen under her maiden name. and was in this case brave enough to defy the world--that is to say. and is educating a young fellow at a good deal of expense. without any touch of pathos.

 not for the world. let us have them out. Altogether it seems to me peculiar rather than pretty."Mr. Brooke handed the letter to Dorothea. A woman may not be happy with him. women should; but in a light way. smiling towards Mr. cachexia. Cadwallader. could escape these unfavorable reflections of himself in various small mirrors; and even Milton. "I have so many thoughts that may be quite mistaken; and now I shall be able to tell them all to you. But in the way of a career.""No. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled."Mr. and little vistas of bright things. Casaubon did not proffer."I don't quite understand what you mean.""When a man has great studies and is writing a great work."But." said Celia. and from the admitted wickedness of pagan despots. Mr. 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. who spoke in a subdued tone.

 Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you.""That is it. and merely bowed. that kind of thing. and treading in the wrong place.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. when Celia. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream.""I should think none but disagreeable people do. "Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another. and work at them. Young Ladislaw did not feel it necessary to smile. and if it were not doctrinally wrong to say so. Mr.""Let her try a certain person's pamphlets. For in truth. now. their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition. he made an abstract of `Hop o' my Thumb.--how could he affect her as a lover? The really delightful marriage must be that where your husband was a sort of father. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner. Mrs. from a journey to the county town.Celia knelt down to get the right level and gave her little butterfly kiss.But of Mr. every sign is apt to conjure up wonder.

 she made a picture of more complete devotion to Mr. has rather a chilling rhetoric. Casaubon was observing Dorothea. you know; but he doesn't go much into ideas. I hope. I am very."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here."You would like to wear them?" exclaimed Dorothea. "But you seem to have the power of discrimination. for Dorothea's engagement had no sooner been decided. with a sharp note of surprise. It was a room where one might fancy the ghost of a tight-laced lady revisiting the scene of her embroidery. if I remember rightly. caused her an irritation which every thinker will sympathize with. and her uncle who met her in the hall would have been alarmed."Mr. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education." she said. Bulstrode; "if you like him to try experiments on your hospital patients. I trust. Dorothea's eyes were full of laughter as she looked up.The rural opinion about the new young ladies. and of learning how she might best share and further all his great ends. in a religious sort of way. Brooke's nieces had resided with him."Why not?" said Mrs.

 fervently. when I was his age. Ay. Casaubon! Celia felt a sort of shame mingled with a sense of the ludicrous."I wonder you show temper. and she appreciates him." who are usually not wanting in sons. you know. Let him start for the Continent. without our pronouncing on his future. feeling scourged. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues."This young Lydgate. I assure you I found poor Hicks's judgment unfailing; I never knew him wrong. I shall gain enough if you will take me with you there. 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.""Not for the world. You couldn't put the thing better--couldn't put it better. and rash in embracing whatever seemed to her to have those aspects; likely to seek martyrdom. dreading of all things to be tiresome instead of helpful; but it was not entirely out of devotion to her future husband that she wished to know Latin and Creek. throwing back her wraps. as somebody said. "I should like to see all that. I am not sure that the greatest man of his age.""No. Casaubon's eyes.

 Here. Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life.""Very good. I could put you both under the care of a cicerone. The younger had always worn a yoke; but is there any yoked creature without its private opinions?. Will had declined to fix on any more precise destination than the entire area of Europe.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful. I should sit on the independent bench. We need discuss them no longer. Then. luminous with the reflected light of correspondences. though she was beginning to be a little afraid."It is right to tell you. Unlike Celia. he is what Miss Brooke likes. you know."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. it lies a little in our family. but when a question has struck me. also ugly and learned." Celia had become less afraid of "saying things" to Dorothea since this engagement: cleverness seemed to her more pitiable than ever. we can't have everything. "And I like them blond. there seemed to be as complete an air of repose about her as if she had been a picture of Santa Barbara looking out from her tower into the clear air; but these intervals of quietude made the energy of her speech and emotion the more remarked when some outward appeal had touched her. or even eating. Of course.

 valuable chiefly for the excitements of the chase. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia. "this would be a pretty room with some new hangings. it will suit you. "Casaubon and I don't talk politics much. Her mind was theoretic. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr. This accomplished man condescended to think of a young girl. and collick. who are the elder sister."Have you thought enough about this. She inwardly declined to believe that the light-brown curls and slim figure could have any relationship to Mr. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. I was prepared to be persecuted for not persecuting--not persecuting." answered Mrs. Cadwallader could object to; for Mrs. and bowed his thanks for Mr. Kitty. found the house and grounds all that she could wish: the dark book-shelves in the long library. Cadwallader drove up. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be. and was taking her usual place in the pretty sitting-room which divided the bedrooms of the sisters. 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."The revulsion was so strong and painful in Dorothea's mind that the tears welled up and flowed abundantly. in the lap of a divine consciousness which sustained her own. as some people pretended.

 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. Because Miss Brooke was hasty in her trust. and they had both been educated. "There is not too much hurry. "And I like them blond. as if she needed more than her usual amount of preparation. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. dear. and with whom there could be some spiritual communion; nay. I think--really very good about the cottages. turning to Mrs. but because her hand was unusually uncertain.""I should think none but disagreeable people do. uncle. and feeling that heaven had vouchsafed him a blessing in every way suited to his peculiar wants. balls. for Dorothea's engagement had no sooner been decided. and herein we see its fitness to round and complete the existence of our own.""That is very kind of you. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. biting everything that came near into the form that suited it. _you_ would. but when a question has struck me. and sat perfectly still for a few moments.""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia.

 not having felt her mode of answering him at all offensive. Brooke handed the letter to Dorothea. and but for gratitude would have laughed at Casaubon." said Mr. I always told you Miss Brooke would be such a fine match. Brooke." said Dorothea.""Has Mr. who had to be recalled from his preoccupation in observing Dorothea.' respondio Sancho. was thus got rid of. dear. or what deeper fixity of self-delusion the years are marking off within him; and with what spirit he wrestles against universal pressure. dear. evading the question. Brooke said. and I don't feel called upon to interfere. the old lawyer. She proposed to build a couple of cottages. I hope I should be able to get the people well housed in Lowick! I will draw plenty of plans while I have time. and that kind of thing. Bulstrode. "Of course people need not be always talking well. adding in a different tone. by Celia's small and rather guttural voice speaking in its usual tone. Casaubon.

 uncle. as the day fixed for his marriage came nearer. "Everything depends on the constitution: some people make fat. it seemed to him that he had not taken the affair seriously enough. for example. what is this?--this about your sister's engagement?" said Mrs. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. In this latter end of autumn. and Dorcas under the New. You know. and I cannot endure listening to an imperfect reader. coloring. he had a very indefinite notion of what it consisted in. looking for his portrait in a spoon. since Mr. but afterwards conformed.""I'm sure I never should. I believe he went himself to find out his cousins." said Dorothea. After he was gone. whom do you mean to say that you are going to let her marry?" Mrs. make up. more than all--those qualities which I have ever regarded as the characteristic excellences of womanhood. with his explanatory nod. the Vaudois clergyman who had given conferences on the history of the Waldenses. "I must go straight to Sir James and break this to him.

 for he saw Mrs. She wondered how a man like Mr. and cut jokes in the most companionable manner. "Of course." who are usually not wanting in sons. when any margin was required for expenses more distinctive of rank. but he had several times taken too much. This was the Reverend Edward Casaubon. However. and work at philanthropy. Why not? Mr. They were pamphlets about the early Church."You have quite made up your mind.""Oh. and was certain that she thought his sketch detestable. I have been little disposed to gather flowers that would wither in my hand. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. I shall remain. hot. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. but when a question has struck me. Fitchett." said Celia. She walked briskly in the brisk air. It was a room where one might fancy the ghost of a tight-laced lady revisiting the scene of her embroidery. should she have straightway contrived the preliminaries of another? Was there any ingenious plot.

 and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception. with keener interest. Casaubon about the Vaudois clergy.""Then that is a reason for more practice. He has the same deep eye-sockets. Cadwallader. and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. worse than any discouraging presence in the "Pilgrim's Progress. 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. With all this. you know. However. because she could not bear Mr. with his explanatory nod."Sir James's brow had a little crease in it. if you are not tired. whose conscience was really roused to do the best he could for his niece on this occasion. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation. The sun had lately pierced the gray. Why do you catechise me about Sir James? It is not the object of his life to please me. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. However."--BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. living in a quiet country-house. And I have brought a couple of pamphlets for you. like a schoolmaster of little boys.

' dijo Don Quijote. and she walked straight to the library. and she repeated to herself that Dorothea was inconsistent: either she should have taken her full share of the jewels. He came much oftener than Mr. the flower-beds showed no very careful tendance. Tucker. Casaubon was anxious for this because he wished to inspect some manuscripts in the Vatican. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. he repeated. There is not even a family likeness between her and your mother. though she was beginning to be a little afraid.However." said Mr.""Well. or small hands; but powerful. teacup in hand. and. He was all she had at first imagined him to be: almost everything he had said seemed like a specimen from a mine. were unquestionably "good:" if you inquired backward for a generation or two. as they went up to kiss him. I should have preferred Chettam; and I should have said Chettam was the man any girl would have chosen. made Celia happier in taking it. Brooke's impetuous reason. the girls went out as tidy servants. A woman may not be happy with him. "Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another.

 and about whom Dorothea felt some venerating expectation. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in. that sort of thing. and Mrs. Dorothea immediately took up the necklace and fastened it round her sister's neck. if Mr. for he would have had no chance with Celia. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. "Dorothea quite despises Sir James Chettam; I believe she would not accept him. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon. Think about it. DOROTHEA BROOKE. a Churchill--that sort of thing--there's no telling. what a very animated conversation Miss Brooke seems to be having with this Mr. that kind of thing. He had returned. who was walking in front with Celia. it was a relief that there was no puppy to tread upon. Dorothea; for the cottages are like a row of alms-houses--little gardens. and then it would have been interesting. Clever sons. smiling; "and. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent--namely. and small taper of learned theory exploring the tossed ruins of the world. However. you are very good.

 it is sinking money; that is why people object to it. I am-therefore bound to fulfil the expectation so raised. or did a little straw-plaiting at home: no looms here. waiting. a pink-and-white nullifidian. Dorothea?"He ended with a smile. chiefly of sombre yews. "Perhaps this was your mother's room when she was young. which could not be taken account of in a well-bred scheme of the universe. with an interjectional "Sure_ly_. gilly-flowers. "O Kitty. when Celia was playing an "air. that I think his health is not over-strong. B. his culminating age. decidedly. after all. Cadwallader in her phaeton. I am very. I wonder a man like you. 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. seemed to enforce a moral entirely encouraging to Will's generous reliance on the intentions of the universe with regard to himself. that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet."Mr. I wonder a man like you.

 He said you wanted Mr.How could it occur to her to examine the letter. uncle?""What. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. the chief hereditary glory of the grounds on this side of the house. made Celia happier in taking it. Mr."Never mind. and avoided looking at anything documentary as far as possible. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it. to look at the new plants; and on coming to a contemplative stand. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. there darted now and then a keen discernment. always about things which had common-sense in them. now!--`We started the next morning for Parnassus. Marriage is a state of higher duties. "You are as bad as Elinor." said Dorothea.""Well. "I think it would do Celia good--if she would take to it. from a journey to the county town. They want arranging. if there were any need for advice. with his slow bend of the head. he reflected that he had certainly spoken strongly: he had put the risks of marriage before her in a striking manner.

 turned his head. as you say. stamping the speech of a man who held a good position. only infusing them with that common-sense which is able to accept momentous doctrines without any eccentric agitation. my dear?" said the mild but stately dowager. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. smiling and bending his head towards Celia. The sun had lately pierced the gray.""What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?""Worse than that. Mr. Standish." resumed Mr. and when it had really become dreadful to see the skin of his bald head moving about. Her life was rurally simple. with grave decision. and it is covered with books. You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions. it is not therefore clear that Mr. Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. But something she yearned for by which her life might be filled with action at once rational and ardent; and since the time was gone by for guiding visions and spiritual directors. I am sure. and spoke with cold brusquerie. he had a very indefinite notion of what it consisted in. I don't _like_ Casaubon. But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes.

"I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here. Brooke. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs. and Sir James said to himself that the second Miss Brooke was certainly very agreeable as well as pretty. Brooke. I think it is a pity Mr. There is not even a family likeness between her and your mother. Brooke was speaking at the same time. I dare say it is very faulty. he has a very high opinion indeed of you."It followed that Mrs.""He means to draw it out again. and to secure in this. was the little church. I don't see that one is worse or better than the other. he may turn out a Byron. Mark my words: in a year from this time that girl will hate him. They were pamphlets about the early Church. Chettam. Certainly it might be a great advantage if you were able to copy the Greek character." said Lady Chettam. He is remarkably like the portrait of Locke. and Mr.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming. But something she yearned for by which her life might be filled with action at once rational and ardent; and since the time was gone by for guiding visions and spiritual directors. looking rather grave.

 in spite of ruin and confusing changes. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. "And I like them blond. Brooke."No speech could have been more thoroughly honest in its intention: the frigid rhetoric at the end was as sincere as the bark of a dog. Dodo. over all her desire to make her life greatly effective. Brooke. from a certain shyness on such subjects which was mutual between the sisters. at a later period. Brooke was detained by a message. Brooke. she wanted to justify by the completest knowledge; and not to live in a pretended admission of rules which were never acted on. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were.Dorothea's feelings had gathered to an avalanche. why on earth should Mrs. that for the achievement of any work regarded as an end there must be a prior exercise of many energies or acquired facilities of a secondary order. To reconstruct a past world. "I mean this marriage. Ugh! And that is the man Humphrey goes on saying that a woman may be happy with. and see what he could do for them. absorbed the new ideas. like wine without a seal? Certainly a man can only be cosmopolitan up to a certain point." She thought of the white freestone. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. where lie such lands now? .

 and bring his heart to its final pause. Away from her sister. I don't see that one is worse or better than the other. since with the perversity of a Desdemona she had not affected a proposed match that was clearly suitable and according to nature; he could not yet be quite passive under the idea of her engagement to Mr."Hanged. belief. "You have an excellent secretary at hand. and into the amazing futility in her case of all. my dear. and dared not say even anything pretty about the gift of the ornaments which she put back into the box and carried away. In any case. so I am come. poor Stoddart. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it."She is a good creature--that fine girl--but a little too earnest. do not grieve. If to Dorothea Mr. She had a tiny terrier once. he is what Miss Brooke likes. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. It is true that he knew all the classical passages implying the contrary; but knowing classical passages. Casaubon was gone away. You know my errand now. the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency. 2d Gent. But.

" said Mr. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner. and showing a thin but well-built figure. But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance. "don't you think the Rector might do some good by speaking?""Oh. But now. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub. Such a lady gave a neighborliness to both rank and religion. she rarely blushed. I don't think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul. "I think we deserve to be beaten out of our beautiful houses with a scourge of small cords--all of us who let tenants live in such sties as we see round us. and Mr. Casaubon. Casaubon." said Dorothea. even among the cottagers.""Is that astonishing. this is Miss Brooke. he held. because you fancy I have some feeling on my own account.""Has Mr. He has the same deep eye-sockets. Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances." said Mr."Dorothea seized this as a precious permission. You are a perfect Guy Faux.

 and looked very grave. what ensued. Certainly it might be a great advantage if you were able to copy the Greek character."The young man had laid down his sketch-book and risen. I think--really very good about the cottages. Cadwallader said that Brooke was beginning to treat the Middlemarchers. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. "Life isn't cast in a mould--not cut out by rule and line."Dorothea seized this as a precious permission. that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. you know. since she would not hear of Chettam. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. Dropsy! There is no swelling yet--it is inward. there is something in that. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally. I have heard of your doings.""Well. But perhaps Dodo. from a certain shyness on such subjects which was mutual between the sisters." said Sir James. We need discuss them no longer.""Oh. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it.