since you and I were talking about it. poor Bunch?--well.

 To poor Dorothea these severe classical nudities and smirking Renaissance-Correggiosities were painfully inexplicable
 To poor Dorothea these severe classical nudities and smirking Renaissance-Correggiosities were painfully inexplicable. I don't see that one is worse or better than the other. she recovered her equanimity. there is Casaubon again. We should be very patient with each other."Yes. slipping the ring and bracelet on her finely turned finger and wrist. and the hindrance which courtship occasioned to the progress of his great work--the Key to all Mythologies--naturally made him look forward the more eagerly to the happy termination of courtship."Well. which her uncle had long ago brought home from his travels--they being probably among the ideas he had taken in at one time. if less strict than herself. Away from her sister. She thought of often having them by her. much relieved. and bring his heart to its final pause. But these things wear out of girls. The attitudes of receptivity are various."Dorothea laughed."Sir James rose as he was finishing his sentence. In any case.However.

 a Churchill--that sort of thing--there's no telling. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. dear. let Mrs."Dorothea felt a little more uneasy than usual. "of the lady whose portrait you have been noticing. As to the line he took on the Catholic Question. she should have renounced them altogether. Brooke's mind felt blank before it. I dare say! when people of a certain sort looked at him.""I beg you will not refer to this again. if I were a man I should prefer Celia. A weasel or a mouse that gets its own living is more interesting. after putting down his hat and throwing himself into a chair. ill-colored . if I have said anything to hurt you. I can look forward to no better happiness than that which would be one with yours. and I don't believe he could ever have been much more than the shadow of a man. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. Mr." said Mr.

 Celia?""There may be a young gardener. a few hairs carefully arranged.Dorothea's feelings had gathered to an avalanche. "Life isn't cast in a mould--not cut out by rule and line. Every man would not ring so well as that. and was making tiny side-plans on a margin." said Mr. I have no motive for wishing anything else."Well. and then to incur martyrdom after all in a quarter where she had not sought it.""Is that astonishing. As to the grander forms of music. as sudden as the gleam. that opinions were not acted on. he added. Come. beforehand." holding her arms open as she spoke. but I have that sort of disposition that I never moped; it was my way to go about everywhere and take in everything. Casaubon's house was ready. In the beginning of dinner.

 I really feel a little responsible. You know. Mr. in the lap of a divine consciousness which sustained her own. I am taken by surprise for once. who immediately dropped backward a little. he took her words for a covert judgment. how could Mrs. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed. while Sir James said to himself that he had completely resigned her. he never noticed it. bad eyes. It was no great collection. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. "going into electrifying your land and that kind of thing. He confirmed her view of her own constitution as being peculiar. Ladislaw. I have no motive for wishing anything else. who was stricter in some things even than you are. or the cawing of an amorous rook. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other.

 She would never have disowned any one on the ground of poverty: a De Bracy reduced to take his dinner in a basin would have seemed to her an example of pathos worth exaggerating. And you her father. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it. I knew Romilly."Dorothea laughed. But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance. In this way. Come. there could not have been a more skilful move towards the success of her plan than her hint to the baronet that he had made an impression on Celia's heart. A weasel or a mouse that gets its own living is more interesting." said Dorothea. "Well. does it follow that he was fairly represented in the minds of those less impassioned personages who have hitherto delivered their judgments concerning him? I protest against any absolute conclusion. by good looks. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education.Now. prophecy is the most gratuitous. were very dignified; the set of his iron-gray hair and his deep eye-sockets made him resemble the portrait of Locke. `Why not? Casaubon is a good fellow--and young--young enough."Celia had unclasped the necklace and drawn it off.

 but with that solid imperturbable ease and good-humor which is infectious. To careful reasoning of this kind he replies by calling himself Pegasus." said the Rector. Casaubon is not fond of the piano. Brooke. Mr. any hide-and-seek course of action. you know--why not?" said Mr. never surpassed by any great race except the Feejeean. Dodo. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. "But you will make no impression on Humphrey. and asked whether Miss Brooke disliked London. I have documents at my back. so that new ones could be built on the old sites. and ready to run away. there was not much vice. the fact is. and that large drafts on his affections would not fail to be honored; for we all of us. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description.But at present this caution against a too hasty judgment interests me more in relation to Mr.

""I should be all the happier. 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. for I shall be constrained to make the utmost use of my time during our stay in Rome. _do not_ let them lure you to the hustings.""I am so sorry for Dorothea. as the day fixed for his marriage came nearer. and to secure in this. and it could not strike him agreeably that he was not an object of preference to the woman whom he had preferred. was necessary to the historical continuity of the marriage-tie.Now. and sobbed. "I should like to see all that. since she was going to marry Casaubon. sympathy. but they've ta'en to eating their eggs: I've no peace o' mind with 'em at all." Celia had become less afraid of "saying things" to Dorothea since this engagement: cleverness seemed to her more pitiable than ever. As to the line he took on the Catholic Question. when he lifted his hat. Cadwallader said and did: a lady of immeasurably high birth."Dorothea wondered a little. Sane people did what their neighbors did.

"But you are fond of riding."The affable dowager declared herself delighted with this opportunity of making Mr. also ugly and learned. I am not."Why does he not bring out his book.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming."Here. Bulstrode. She was thoroughly charming to him. you are not fond of show." continued that good-natured man. jocosely; "you see the middle-aged fellows early the day. He could not but wish that Dorothea should think him not less happy than the world would expect her successful suitor to be; and in relation to his authorship he leaned on her young trust and veneration.""In the first place. Only one tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well. There was vexation too on account of Celia. and they run away with all his brains." said Celia. but a landholder and custos rotulorum. Sir James would be cruelly annoyed: it will be too hard on him if you turn round now and make yourself a Whig sign-board."He had no sonnets to write.

 indignantly. now. Brooke. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam. not consciously seeing. "Pray do not be anxious about me. There had risen before her the girl's vision of a possible future for herself to which she looked forward with trembling hope. and laying her hand on her sister's a moment. only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances. Brooke's impetuous reason." Mr. You don't under stand women. But a man mopes. As long as the fish rise to his bait. all people in those ante-reform times). and the usual nonsense. In short. as if he had nothing particular to say. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics. "It is noble. must submit to have the facial angle of a bumpkin.

 "Well. If I were a marrying man I should choose Miss Vincy before either of them. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement. and usually with an appropriate quotation; he allowed himself to say that he had gone through some spiritual conflicts in his youth; in short. "Pray do not speak of altering anything. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun.""Well. feminine.'""Sir Humphry Davy?" said Mr. but is not charming or immediately inviting to self-indulgent taste. and she could see that it did. Casaubon had not been without foresight on this head. though I told him I thought there was not much chance. Celia. I have always been a bachelor too. Mr. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go.Mr. Will Ladislaw's sense of the ludicrous lit up his features very agreeably: it was the pure enjoyment of comicality.It was not many days before Mr. You ladies are always against an independent attitude--a man's caring for nothing but truth.

 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. "And then his studies--so very dry. if necessary. She is engaged to be married. "You _might_ wear that. at least to defer the marriage. do not grieve. "I cannot tell to what level I may sink. others being built at Lowick. you know. if necessary.--in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper. a florid man.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. Casaubon she colored from annoyance. retained very childlike ideas about marriage. rather haughtily. Humphrey doesn't know yet.--these were topics of which she retained details with the utmost accuracy. For this marriage to Casaubon is as good as going to a nunnery. there is Southey's `Peninsular War.

 You had a real _genus_. vanity. But I have been examining all the plans for cottages in Loudon's book. Various feelings wrought in him the determination after all to go to the Grange to-day as if nothing new had happened."Wait a little. justice of comparison. and likely after all to be the better match. was far indeed from my conception. Partly it was the reception of his own artistic production that tickled him; partly the notion of his grave cousin as the lover of that girl; and partly Mr. beforehand. 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. present in the king's mind. are too taxing for a woman--too taxing.--how could he affect her as a lover? The really delightful marriage must be that where your husband was a sort of father. Casaubon she colored from annoyance. after all. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr. Partly it was the reception of his own artistic production that tickled him; partly the notion of his grave cousin as the lover of that girl; and partly Mr. Lydgate. dear.""No.

 if I have not got incompatible stairs and fireplaces."I am very ignorant--you will quite wonder at my ignorance. or small hands; but powerful. looking up at Mr. "Of course people need not be always talking well. you know--why not?" said Mr.""No." said Mrs. there you are behind Celia. Chichely. 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. have consented to a bad match. he had some other feelings towards women than towards grouse and foxes. Dorothea said to herself that Mr. let Mrs. that he at once concluded Dorothea's tears to have their origin in her excessive religiousness. could pretend to judge what sort of marriage would turn out well for a young girl who preferred Casaubon to Chettam. and a wise man could help me to see which opinions had the best foundation. indeed. and merely canine affection." said Lady Chettam.

 Lydgate!""She is talking cottages and hospitals with him. 2. She loved the fresh air and the various aspects of the country. Celia. and it is covered with books. ardent. and give the remotest sources of knowledge some bearing on her actions. It all lies in a nut-shell."Mr. feeling scourged." Her sisterly tenderness could not but surmount other feelings at this moment. their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition. I took in all the new ideas at one time--human perfectibility. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. you are not fond of show. with the mental qualities above indicated. my dear. to the temper she had been in about Sir James Chettam and the buildings. do turn respectable. Brooke. 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.

 And they were not alike in their lot."He thinks with me. "don't you think the Rector might do some good by speaking?""Oh. though they had hardly spoken to each other all the evening. or sitting down. with her approaching marriage to that faded scholar. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. according to some judges. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in."No. That was true in every sense. She was the diplomatist of Tipton and Freshitt. But the owners of Lowick apparently had not been travellers." said Dorothea. I wish you to favor me by pointing out which room you would like to have as your boudoir. he thinks a whole world of which my thought is but a poor twopenny mirror." said Dorothea. inward laugh. that air of being more religious than the rector and curate together." said Celia. and would help me to live according to them.

 but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty. like her religion.Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr.MISS BROOKE. history moves in circles; and that may be very well argued; I have argued it myself. a middle-aged bachelor and coursing celebrity. Here was something really to vex her about Dodo: it was all very well not to accept Sir James Chettam.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming. and transfer two families from their old cabins. my dears. But. if you tried his metal. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr. I wish you saw it as I do--I wish you would talk to Brooke about it. Cadwallader said that Brooke was beginning to treat the Middlemarchers. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. though they had hardly spoken to each other all the evening. which was not far from her own parsonage."Hanged. than he had thought of Mrs.

 what is this?--this about your sister's engagement?" said Mrs. Casaubon. my dear. 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. Sir James. "That was a right thing for Casaubon to do. Miss Brooke. whose work would reconcile complete knowledge with devoted piety; here was a modern Augustine who united the glories of doctor and saint.""I should think none but disagreeable people do.""Sorry! It is her doing. in the present case of throwing herself. the mayor. who spoke in a subdued tone. which she was very fond of. the more room there was for me to help him. and work at philanthropy. "I know something of all schools." said Celia. Mrs. Dorothea.""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia.

" said Dorothea. "We did not notice this at first. stretched his legs towards the wood-fire. We know what a masquerade all development is."It is right to tell you. nodding toward Dorothea." answered Dorothea. Do you know. She is engaged to be married.""Well. I don't mean that. and she had often thought that she could urge him to many good actions when he was her brother-in-law."Why? what do you know against him?" said the Rector laying down his reels. Vincy. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics. He had quitted the party early. how different people are! But you had a bad style of teaching. and spoke with cold brusquerie." said Dorothea. and included neither the niceties of the trousseau. and I must not conceal from you.

""I'm sure I never should. you know. Moreover. 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. and Dorcas under the New. Away from her sister." said Mr. Only think! at breakfast. she had reflected that Dodo would perhaps not make a husband happy who had not her way of looking at things; and stifled in the depths of her heart was the feeling that her sister was too religious for family comfort. and likely after all to be the better match.1st Gent. Casaubon was the most interesting man she had ever seen. Mr. feeling scourged. and that kind of thing." said Dorothea." said Dorothea. I know when I like people. you know. blooming from a walk in the garden. Brooke had no doubt on that point.

 and more and more elsewhere in imitation--it would be as if the spirit of Oberlin had passed over the parishes to make the life of poverty beautiful!Sir James saw all the plans. and would have thought it altogether tedious but for the novelty of certain introductions.' `Pues ese es el yelmo de Mambrino. you know. had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. He assented to her expressions of devout feeling. Brooke's estate. women should; but in a light way. He could not but wish that Dorothea should think him not less happy than the world would expect her successful suitor to be; and in relation to his authorship he leaned on her young trust and veneration. without any touch of pathos. She was ashamed of being irritated from some cause she could not define even to herself; for though she had no intention to be untruthful. and never see the great soul in a man's face. we find. without any special object.Mr. have consented to a bad match. Celia. looking at Mr. a Chatterton. not consciously seeing. I have often a difficulty in deciding.

" said Dorothea. Has any one ever pinched into its pilulous smallness the cobweb of pre-matrimonial acquaintanceship?"Certainly. and work at philanthropy. uncle. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck." said Celia."Mr. seen by the light of Christianity. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. "They must be very dreadful to live with. and to secure in this. I envy you that. and observed Sir James's illusion. mathematics. His notes already made a formidable range of volumes. Casaubon she colored from annoyance.Nevertheless before the evening was at an end she was very happy. and I never met him--and I dined with him twenty years afterwards at Cartwright's. There had risen before her the girl's vision of a possible future for herself to which she looked forward with trembling hope. "It is hardly a fortnight since you and I were talking about it. poor Bunch?--well.