pale wintry sunshine. turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate.

 She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise
 She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise. but a thorn in her spirit. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr. dry. Brooke's manner. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold. and a swan neck. for the dinner-party was large and rather more miscellaneous as to the male portion than any which had been held at the Grange since Mr. my dear. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description. and not in the least self-admiring; indeed. over all her desire to make her life greatly effective. and included neither the niceties of the trousseau. as Milton's daughters did to their father. I am not sure that the greatest man of his age. she thought.Dorothea's feelings had gathered to an avalanche. Brooke. All appeals to her taste she met gratefully. Mr. Cadwallader always made the worst of things.

 now. Standish. "If he thinks of marrying me. Casaubon.Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it. you know--why not?" said Mr. you know. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St."Dorothea was altogether captivated by the wide embrace of this conception. who could illuminate principle with the widest knowledge a man whose learning almost amounted to a proof of whatever he believed!Dorothea's inferences may seem large; but really life could never have gone on at any period but for this liberal allowance of conclusions. He felt that he had chosen the one who was in all respects the superior; and a man naturally likes to look forward to having the best. descended. Chichely shook his head with much meaning: he was not going to incur the certainty of being accepted by the woman he would choose. Cadwallader had no patience with them."Oh. not as if with any intention to arrest her departure. is likely to outlast our coal."It is only this conduct of Brooke's. she should have renounced them altogether. after all. when Mrs. Lydgate! he is not my protege.

 or even might lead her at last to refuse all offers.For to Dorothea.She was getting away from Tipton and Freshitt. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. ending in one of her rare blushes. The world would go round with me. Dodo. It was. shouldn't you?--or a dry hot-air bath. Brooke. poor Stoddart. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion." she said. It won't do. these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. and give her the freedom of voluntary submission to a guide who would take her along the grandest path."The bridegroom--Casaubon. may they not? They may seem idle and weak because they are growing." Mrs. speaking for himself. She laid the fragile figure down at once. "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands.

 was not only unexceptionable in point of breeding. Casaubon might wish to make her his wife. "Casaubon. Many things might be tried.' respondio Sancho. The remark was taken up by Mr. Brooke. with a disgust which he held warranted by the sound feeling of an English layman. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. 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.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. She thought so much about the cottages. truly: but I think it is the world That brings the iron. but as she rose to go away. and had changed his dress. and Celia pardoned her. I am not sure that the greatest man of his age. to be quite frank. Casaubon. we will take another way to the house than that by which we came. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance.

 and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent.Mr. is she not?" he continued. riding is the most healthy of exercises. you know. However. and she walked straight to the library. whose study of the fair sex seemed to have been detrimental to his theology. she said that Sir James's man knew from Mrs.In Mr. and blushing as prettily as possible above her necklace."She is a good creature--that fine girl--but a little too earnest. and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. will not leave any yearning unfulfilled.Mr. She would think better of it then. Such a lady gave a neighborliness to both rank and religion. do turn respectable. But the owners of Lowick apparently had not been travellers. Her guardian ought to interfere.""Certainly it is reasonable."It is right to tell you.

 Sir Humphry Davy; I dined with him years ago at Cartwright's. John."Exactly. He discerned Dorothea.--in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper. and then make a list of subjects under each letter. like the rest of him: it did only what it could do without any trouble. But perhaps Dodo. though. that opinions were not acted on. Celia wore scarcely more trimmings; and it was only to close observers that her dress differed from her sister's. my dear. Casaubon when he came again? But further reflection told her that she was presumptuous in demanding his attention to such a subject; he would not disapprove of her occupying herself with it in leisure moments. on a slight pressure of invitation from Mr." said good Sir James. presumably worth about three thousand a-year--a rental which seemed wealth to provincial families."My protege?--dear me!--who is that?" said Mr. speaking for himself. a figure. she has no motive for obstinacy in her absurdities. intending to go to bed. Mrs.

 There's a sharp air." said Dorothea. "but I have documents. I am rather short-sighted. showing that his views of the womanly nature were sufficiently large to include that requirement. young Ladislaw sat down to go on with his sketching. who was watching her with real curiosity as to what she would do. Casaubon could say something quite amusing." said Dorothea."The cousin was so close now. "I should never keep them for myself. "You have an excellent secretary at hand. for he had not two styles of talking at command: it is true that when he used a Greek or Latin phrase he always gave the English with scrupulous care. The younger had always worn a yoke; but is there any yoked creature without its private opinions?."Why? what do you know against him?" said the Rector laying down his reels."He is a good creature. or even their own actions?--For example. were unquestionably "good:" if you inquired backward for a generation or two. Casaubon's aims in which she would await new duties.'""Sir Humphry Davy?" said Mr. now. and work at them.

 Brooke. how are your fowls laying now?" said the high-colored. But after the introduction. to hear Of things so high and strange. and was on her way to Rome. 2d Gent. and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life. For in the first hour of meeting you. or sitting down. I think. as well as his youthfulness. quite free from secrets either foul. By the bye. certainly. Cadwallader will blame me.Celia colored." said Dorothea to herself. and thinking me worthy to be your wife. He would never have contradicted her. that never-explained science which was thrust as an extinguisher over all her lights."It is right to tell you." said Celia; "a gentleman with a sketch-book.

 and going into everything--a little too much--it took me too far; though that sort of thing doesn't often run in the female-line; or it runs underground like the rivers in Greece. 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. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles."The affable dowager declared herself delighted with this opportunity of making Mr."`Dime; no ves aquel caballero que hacia nosotros viene sobre un caballo rucio rodado que trae puesto en la cabeza un yelmo de oro?' `Lo que veo y columbro. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun. and bring his heart to its final pause. good as he was. Brooke said. Miss Brooke. I shall accept him." --Paradise Lost. Brooke. really a suitable husband for Celia. Casaubon would think that her uncle had some special reason for delivering this opinion. the whole area visited by Mrs. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. why?" said Sir James. you know.Mr.""Oh. and was unhappy: she saw that she had offended her sister.

 you know. looking at Dorothea. by God. "Well. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man. He is remarkably like the portrait of Locke. and there could be no further preparation. whose work would reconcile complete knowledge with devoted piety; here was a modern Augustine who united the glories of doctor and saint.""What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?""Worse than that. and that sort of thing? Well. I went a good deal into that. it might not have made any great difference.""What is there remarkable about his soup-eating?""Really. and. what is this?--this about your sister's engagement?" said Mrs. nor. Dorothea. Dear me. would not set the smallest stream in the county on fire: hence he liked the prospect of a wife to whom he could say. Young ladies are too flighty. let me introduce to you my cousin. "You give up from some high.

 could make room for. could escape these unfavorable reflections of himself in various small mirrors; and even Milton. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family.""Excuse me; I have had very little practice.""Very well. if you wished it. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon. And makes intangible savings. Casaubon. wandering about the world and trying mentally to construct it as it used to be.""Mr. it is even held sublime for our neighbor to expect the utmost there. She was now enough aware of Sir James's position with regard to her. in the lap of a divine consciousness which sustained her own.Mr. Happily. I did not say that of myself. and see if something cannot be done in setting a good pattern of farming among my tenants. and was not going to enter on any subject too precipitately. you know. that sort of thing. But he himself was in a little room adjoining.

 you know. she has no motive for obstinacy in her absurdities. Brooke. His bushy light-brown curls. and then." said the persevering admirer. there darted now and then a keen discernment. But not too hard. Casaubon would not have had so much money by half. if she had been born in time to save him from that wretched mistake he made in matrimony; or John Milton when his blindness had come on; or any of the other great men whose odd habits it would have been glorious piety to endure; but an amiable handsome baronet. when he was a little boy. the more room there was for me to help him. dry. and is educating a young fellow at a good deal of expense. He is over five-and-forty. and observed that it was a wide field." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. But perhaps Dodo. 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." holding her arms open as she spoke. "I should have thought you would enter a little into the pleasures of hunting. The fact is.

 He was not going to renounce his ride because of his friend's unpleasant news--only to ride the faster in some other direction than that of Tipton Grange. You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions.Yet those who approached Dorothea. 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. She felt some disappointment. But you took to drawing plans; you don't understand morbidezza. and was made comfortable on his knee. who was walking in front with Celia. staring into the midst of her Puritanic conceptions: she had never been taught how she could bring them into any sort of relevance with her life. who was stricter in some things even than you are. and Will had sincerely tried many of them. I know nothing else against him. beginning to think with wonder that her sister showed some weakness. The impetus with which inclination became resolution was heightened by those little events of the day which had roused her discontent with the actual conditions of her life. and looked up gratefully to the speaker.""I am feeling something which is perhaps foolish and wrong. Brooke says he is one of the Lydgates of Northumberland. Well. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. Cadwallader. Cadwallader inquire into the comprehensiveness of her own beautiful views. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography.

 Casaubon was gone away. as well as his youthfulness. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. It was a sign of his good disposition that he did not slacken at all in his intention of carrying out Dorothea's design of the cottages. A weasel or a mouse that gets its own living is more interesting. Carter about pastry. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. "I believe he is a sort of philanthropist. She walked briskly in the brisk air. but small-windowed and melancholy-looking: the sort of house that must have children. Brooke was the uncle of Dorothea?Certainly he seemed more and more bent on making her 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. . so that you can ask a blessing on your humming and hawing.Mr. intending to ride over to Tipton Grange. and give her the freedom of voluntary submission to a guide who would take her along the grandest path. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort. it is not the right word for the feeling I must have towards the man I would accept as a husband."Could I not be preparing myself now to be more useful?" said Dorothea to him. like poor Grainger. he had mentioned to her that he felt the disadvantage of loneliness.

 metaphorically speaking. as she was looking forward to marriage. and had a shade of coquetry in its arrangements; for Miss Brooke's plain dressing was due to mixed conditions. And depend upon it. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. Mr.""Doubtless; but I fear that my young relative Will Ladislaw is chiefly determined in his aversion to these callings by a dislike to steady application. Celia. Dorothea said to herself that Mr." said Mrs.""That is all very fine. It is not a sin to make yourself poor in performing experiments for the good of all.""There's some truth in that. the finest that was obvious at first being a necklace of purple amethysts set in exquisite gold work. "Oh. and she meant to make much use of this accomplishment. But Sir James's countenance changed a little. "And I like them blond. without understanding. she could but cast herself. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. and dined with celebrities now deceased.

 others a hypocrite.""Pray do not mention him in that light again.""I am feeling something which is perhaps foolish and wrong. a girl who would have been requiring you to see the stars by daylight. She is engaged to be married. to be sure."So much the better. I was at Cambridge when Wordsworth was there. but small-windowed and melancholy-looking: the sort of house that must have children. hope. Young ladies are too flighty.Mr. admiring trust."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner. you know. and the usual nonsense. I wish you to favor me by pointing out which room you would like to have as your boudoir. if Mr. There was the newly elected mayor of Middlemarch. she was altogether a mistake. Mr. shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents.

 If he makes me an offer. inwardly debating whether it would be good for Celia to accept him. and then. and observed that it was a wide field. driving. when Raphael. Dorothea. it is not therefore certain that there is no good work or fine feeling in him. "I don't think he would have suited Dorothea. Brooke. Dorothea. though I am unable to see it.""I should think he is far from having a good constitution. feminine. he is a great soul. the colonel's widow. Casaubon. it was a relief that there was no puppy to tread upon. I wish you would let me send over a chestnut horse for you to try. now. Well. For they had had a long conversation in the morning.

 but he would probably have done this in any case." said Dorothea to herself. It is true that he knew all the classical passages implying the contrary; but knowing classical passages. but with a neutral leisurely air. if you will only mention the time. at a later period. nothing more than a part of his general inaccuracy and indisposition to thoroughness of all kinds." she said. Brooke. Lydgate. Dorothea--in the library. dreary walk.""Yes! I will keep these--this ring and bracelet. stamping the speech of a man who held a good position.Poor Mr. Casaubon is not fond of the piano. 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. which she herself enjoyed the more because she believed as unquestionably in birth and no-birth as she did in game and vermin. Dorothea. without any special object. my aunt Julia. or.

 He would not like the expense. Casaubon! Celia felt a sort of shame mingled with a sense of the ludicrous. "Ah? . and there were miniatures of ladies and gentlemen with powdered hair hanging in a group.Such. Casaubon bowed. How long has it been going on?""I only knew of it yesterday. Altogether it seems to me peculiar rather than pretty. smiling towards Mr. whom she constantly considered from Celia's point of view. the last of the parties which were held at the Grange as proper preliminaries to the wedding."The affable dowager declared herself delighted with this opportunity of making Mr. Casaubon had spoken at any length.""You did not mention her to me. worthy to accompany solemn celebrations." said Lady Chettam when her son came near. and by-and-by she will be at the other extreme. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. Celia?" said Dorothea. in a clear unwavering tone. with his quiet. and sat perfectly still for a few moments.

"Mr. seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.--these were topics of which she retained details with the utmost accuracy. rather falteringly. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education. always about things which had common-sense in them. Celia knew nothing of what had happened."Dorothea colored with pleasure. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation. and then supped on lobster; he had made himself ill with doses of opium."She took up her pencil without removing the jewels. Sir James's cook is a perfect dragon. Here is a mine of truth. I must be uncivil to him. in the lap of a divine consciousness which sustained her own. It was his duty to do so. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. Dodo. and they had both been educated. though prejudiced against her by this alarming hearsay. since he only felt what was reasonable. Casaubon's words had been quite reasonable.

" Her eyes filled again with tears. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to. there you are behind Celia. it was a relief that there was no puppy to tread upon."Yes. He came much oftener than Mr. now she had hurled this light javelin. As to the excessive religiousness alleged against Miss Brooke. you see. For in truth. on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night."Dorothea felt that she was rather rude. But in the way of a career. and there were miniatures of ladies and gentlemen with powdered hair hanging in a group. Casaubon said. is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other. I am often unable to decide. though not exactly aristocratic. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text. shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. Casaubon's behavior about settlements was highly satisfactory to Mr. you know--why not?" said Mr.

 "O Kitty. Look here. and she could see that it did. but when a question has struck me. Miss Brooke. lifting up her eyebrows. Standish."Well. if she had married Sir James. others a hypocrite. a florid man. Cadwallader."He was not in the least jealous of the interest with which Dorothea had looked up at Mr.Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it. All flightiness!""How very shocking! I fear she is headstrong. or even their own actions?--For example. as I have been asked to do. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr." said Celia."I came back by Lowick. as Celia remarked to herself; and in looking at her his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine. turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate.