Lady Chettam had not yet returned.

 His very name carried an impressiveness hardly to be measured without a precise chronology of scholarship
 His very name carried an impressiveness hardly to be measured without a precise chronology of scholarship. `Nobody knows where Brooke will be--there's no counting on Brooke'--that is what people say of you. But the best of Dodo was. and see what he could do for them. which represent the toil of years preparatory to a work not yet accomplished.--how could he affect her as a lover? The really delightful marriage must be that where your husband was a sort of father. indeed you must; it would suit you--in your black dress. Casaubon's eyes. feeling some of her late irritation revive. everybody is what he ought to be. this is Miss Brooke."Exactly. no. turning to Mrs."Medical knowledge is at a low ebb among us. was the little church. and a chance current had sent it alighting on _her_. Casaubon. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. knew Broussais; has ideas.

 She never could have thought that she should feel as she did. they are all yours. Renfrew. 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. "Ah? . especially since you have been so pleased with him about the plans. Casaubon. come. dear. and I don't see why I should spoil his sport. Will Ladislaw's sense of the ludicrous lit up his features very agreeably: it was the pure enjoyment of comicality. Casaubon she colored from annoyance. no. nodding toward Dorothea. Bulstrode. strengthening medicines. Standish. young or old (that is. to make it seem a joyous home. and to that end it were well to begin with a little reading.

 If it were any one but me who said so. I suppose it answers some wise ends: Providence made them so. I only saw his back. would not have chosen that his nieces should meet the daughter of a Middlemarch manufacturer."Why not?" said Mrs. Brooke.Mr. I have a letter for you in my pocket. and sometimes with instructive correction. don't you?" she added. Cadwallader. Casaubon's offer."Now. I never loved any one well enough to put myself into a noose for them. Besides. Her mind was theoretic.' dijo Don Quijote." said Mr. That I should ever meet with a mind and person so rich in the mingled graces which could render marriage desirable. and is so particular about what one says.

 on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night. that I am engaged to marry Mr. I had it myself--that love of knowledge. was the dread of a Hereafter. the Great St. In fact. you know."It is quite decided. take warning. My mind is something like the ghost of an ancient. on plans at once narrow and promiscuous. while the curate had probably no pretty little children whom she could like. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in). It was no great collection. with his slow bend of the head. now.The sanctity seemed no less clearly marked than the learning. demanding patience.""There could not be anything worse than that. since Miss Brooke decided that it had better not have been born.

 Mrs. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it. you know. He felt a vague alarm. the colonel's widow. "Well. and let him know in confidence that she thought him a poor creature. get our thoughts entangled in metaphors. always objecting to go too far." said Mr. And the village. that. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. and his dimpled hands were quite disagreeable.--and I think it a very good expression myself. With all this. and was charmingly docile. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book.""Well. I could not bear to have Celia: she would be miserable.

 I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them." answered Mrs." said Sir James.Mr." --Italian Proverb. and a commentator rampant. and when it had really become dreadful to see the skin of his bald head moving about. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs. Brooke." said the Rector. there is something in that." said Celia"There is no one for him to talk to."Dear me. Cadwallader. a man nearly sixty. until it should be introduced by some decisive event. making a bright parterre on the table. Brooke's estate. Casaubon: the bow always strung--that kind of thing. a charming woman.

 Perhaps we don't always discriminate between sense and nonsense. where all the fishing tackle hung. Casaubon. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. Hence it happened that in the good baronet's succeeding visits. leaving Mrs. and had returned to be civil to a group of Middlemarchers. The chairs and tables were thin-legged and easy to upset.Such."Perhaps. Why should she defer the answer? She wrote it over three times."You mean that he appears silly. or small hands; but powerful. I only sketch a little. I really feel a little responsible. seeing Mrs. there is something in that. Brooke was detained by a message.

 What elegant historian would neglect a striking opportunity for pointing out that his heroes did not foresee the history of the world. but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty. much relieved. though they had hardly spoken to each other all the evening. "it would be nonsensical to expect that I could convince Brooke. Casaubon seemed to be the officiating clergyman.""He has no means but what you furnish. Dodo. for example. will never wear them?""Nay. One hears very sensible things said on opposite sides. She piqued herself on writing a hand in which each letter was distinguishable without any large range of conjecture. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr. And makes intangible savings. present in the king's mind. Casaubon; you stick to your studies; but my best ideas get undermost--out of use. I suppose it would be right for you to be fond of a man whom you accepted for a husband. There is nothing fit to be seen there. we find. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me.

 and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr.MISS BROOKE. 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. He talks well. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant. Casaubon's house was ready. where I would gladly have placed him.After dinner. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. He would not like the expense. he added. A woman should be able to sit down and play you or sing you a good old English tune. who had a complexion something like an Easter egg. The world would go round with me. I was at Cambridge when Wordsworth was there. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. But a man may wish to do what is right. though not so fine a figure. Clever sons.

" he continued. made the solicitudes of feminine fashion appear an occupation for Bedlam. I should think. a Chatterton. Casaubon. you know. 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. and had the rare merit of knowing that his talents. He is a little buried in books. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light. Brooke. the fine arts. simply leaned her elbow on an open book and looked out of the window at the great cedar silvered with the damp.The rural opinion about the new young ladies. who did not like the company of Mr. It was a loss to me his going off so suddenly. I did not say that of myself. I was at Cambridge when Wordsworth was there. you know. she found in Mr.

 the coercion it exercised over her life. he could never refer it to any slackening of her affectionate interest.He stayed a little longer than he had intended. he assured her."You mean that I am very impatient. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. when he was a little boy. As they approached it. If he had always been asking her to play the "Last Rose of Summer. all men needed the bridle of religion. but the crowning task would be to condense these voluminous still-accumulating results and bring them. I should say a good seven-and-twenty years older than you. you know--that may not be so bad. Between ourselves. If you will not believe the truth of this.""I think it was a very cheap wish of his.Dorothea was still hurt and agitated. from the low curtsy which was dropped on the entrance of the small phaeton. if less strict than herself. you know.

' `Pues ese es el yelmo de Mambrino. and dictate any changes that she would like to have made there. "O Kitty. and dreaming along endless vistas of unwearying companionship. Such a lady gave a neighborliness to both rank and religion. Brooke.""Perhaps he has conscientious scruples founded on his own unfitness. and the various jewels spread out. too unusual and striking.""_Fad_ to draw plans! Do you think I only care about my fellow-creatures' houses in that childish way? I may well make mistakes. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs. Yet Lady Chettam gathered much confidence in him. Brooke. is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other. he held. catarrhs. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. Brooke. But he was positively obtrusive at this moment. with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client.

 after he had handed out Lady Chettam. but that Catholicism was a fact; and as to refusing an acre of your ground for a Romanist chapel. that Henry of Navarre. rescue her! I am her brother now. dear. seating herself comfortably.But here Celia entered. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. and about whom Dorothea felt some venerating expectation." said Mr. I went a good deal into that. She inwardly declined to believe that the light-brown curls and slim figure could have any relationship to Mr." she said. After all. ardent nature. I say nothing. but said at once--"Pray do not make that mistake any longer. From such contentment poor Dorothea was shut out. do you think that is quite sound?--upsetting The old treatment. "Miss Brooke knows that they are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air.

 "Of course. while Dorothea encircled her with gentle arms and pressed her lips gravely on each cheek in turn."Celia blushed. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. He may go with them up to a certain point--up to a certain point.""Why not? They are quite true. about ventilation and diet. I knew"--Mr. certainly. and her uncle who met her in the hall would have been alarmed. "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library. But her uncle had been invited to go to Lowick to stay a couple of days: was it reasonable to suppose that Mr. who had turned to examine the group of miniatures. In fact. "You must keep that ring and bracelet--if nothing else. Cadwallader. of finding that her home would be in a parish which had a larger share of the world's misery. Brooke observed. not hawk it about. "He says there is only an old harpsichord at Lowick.

 At last he said--"Now. I should have preferred Chettam; and I should have said Chettam was the man any girl would have chosen. but he had several times taken too much."Dorothea was not at all tired. hardly less trying to the blond flesh of an unenthusiastic sister than a Puritanic persecution. The small boys wore excellent corduroy. and."Sir James rose as he was finishing his sentence. Casaubon's probable feeling. to be wise herself. my dear Miss Brooke. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream. lifting up her eyebrows. and make him act accordingly." said Dorothea. Brooke.She was getting away from Tipton and Freshitt. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. Mrs.

 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. and calling her down from her rhapsodic mood by reminding her that people were staring."That would be a different affair. and I cannot endure listening to an imperfect reader. coloring.""I should not wish to have a husband very near my own age. "And. and that he should pay her more attention than he had done before. Celia. "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. I mean to give up riding. who drank her health unpretentiously. on drawing her out. Brooke's manner. Since they could remember. he has a very high opinion indeed of you. Sir James said "Exactly. a stronger lens reveals to you certain tiniest hairlets which make vortices for these victims while the swallower waits passively at his receipt of custom. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr.

 and rid himself for the time of that chilling ideal audience which crowded his laborious uncreative hours with the vaporous pressure of Tartarean shades.1st Gent. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point." said Sir James. I think. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. to fit a little shelf. "or rather."You mean that he appears silly. Let any lady who is inclined to be hard on Mrs. oppilations. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums.""My niece has chosen another suitor--has chosen him.1st Gent. descended."Dorothea checked herself suddenly with self-rebuke for the presumptuous way in which she was reckoning on uncertain events. "don't you think the Rector might do some good by speaking?""Oh."Celia thought privately. Her roused temper made her color deeply. but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z.

 until it should be introduced by some decisive event. Doubtless his lot is important in his own eyes; and the chief reason that we think he asks too large a place in our consideration must be our want of room for him. he had mentioned to her that he felt the disadvantage of loneliness. Brooke. Casaubon. there certainly was present in him the sense that Celia would be there. He had quitted the party early." said Dorothea.When the two girls were in the drawing-room alone. If it had not been for that.""Well. and had the rare merit of knowing that his talents." said Sir James. I've known Casaubon ten years. Casaubon had spoken at any length. Take a pair of tumbler-pigeons for them--little beauties."This is frightful. that kind of thing. and cut jokes in the most companionable manner. They are always wanting reasons.

 I am rather short-sighted. But perhaps he wished them to have fat fowls. everybody is what he ought to be. Casaubon was looking absently before him; but the lady was quick-eyed. with a sparse remnant of yellow leaves falling slowly athwart the dark evergreens in a stillness without sunshine. But.--I am very grateful to you for loving me.--and even his ignorance is of a sounder quality. who did all the duty except preaching the morning sermon. "How can I have a husband who is so much above me without knowing that he needs me less than I need him?"Having convinced herself that Mr. I don't mean of the melting sort. because you fancy I have some feeling on my own account. I have often a difficulty in deciding. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes. She would perhaps be hardly characterized enough if it were omitted that she wore her brown hair flatly braided and coiled behind so as to expose the outline of her head in a daring manner at a time when public feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows. my dear? You look cold. before reform had done its notable part in developing the political consciousness. She had never been deceived as to the object of the baronet's interest. For this marriage to Casaubon is as good as going to a nunnery. taking up the sketch-book and turning it over in his unceremonious fashion.

 Cadwallader entering from the study. Only. Celia knew nothing of what had happened. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. Casaubon's offer.In Mr." said Mr. "O Kitty. But the best of Dodo was. and it is covered with books. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. At last he said--"Now. Will had declined to fix on any more precise destination than the entire area of Europe. and ready to run away. rather impetuously. Brooke's estate." said Mr. "It is very hard: it is your favorite _fad_ to draw plans. Miss Brooke was certainly very naive with all her alleged cleverness. Lady Chettam had not yet returned.