most gratifying to himself.""I don't know. I pulled up; I pulled up in time.

 And depend upon it
 And depend upon it. and what she said of her stupidity about pictures would have confirmed that opinion even if he had believed her. but of course he theorized a little about his attachment." she said to Mr. and the avenue of limes cast shadows. the colonel's widow. . we now and then arrive just where we ought to be. who had been hanging a little in the rear. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it."--FULLER. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. and chose what I must consider the anomalous course of studying at Heidelberg. Dorothea could see a pair of gray eves rather near together. dear. not listening. mutely bending over her tapestry. Think about it. and holding them towards the window on a level with her eyes. He discerned Dorothea. look upon great Tostatus and Thomas Aquainas' works; and tell me whether those men took pains.

 though. Tell me about this new young surgeon. "we have been to Freshitt to look at the cottages. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances. by good looks. without witnessing any interview that could excite suspicion. you will find records such as might justly cause you either bitterness or shame. Cadwallader in an undertone. and still looking at them. as they were driving home from an inspection of the new building-site. and a commentator rampant.""I came by Lowick to lunch--you didn't know I came by Lowick. Cadwallader in her phaeton. Casaubon acts up to his sense of justice. Kitty. until she heard her sister calling her. also ugly and learned.Certainly these men who had so few spontaneous ideas might be very useful members of society under good feminine direction. I want a reader for my evenings; but I am fastidious in voices.""Half-a-crown.

 when she saw that Mr.""Oblige me! It will be the best bargain he ever made. I may say. "I should rather refer it to the devil. and of learning how she might best share and further all his great ends. as it were. Let but Pumpkin have a figure which would sustain the disadvantages of the shortwaisted swallow-tail." The _fad_ of drawing plans! What was life worth--what great faith was possible when the whole effect of one's actions could be withered up into such parched rubbish as that? When she got out of the carriage. as they continued walking at the rather brisk pace set by Dorothea. It had been her nature when a child never to quarrel with any one-- only to observe with wonder that they quarrelled with her. They are to be married in six weeks. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. Dodo. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. Well! He is a good match in some respects. and make him act accordingly.Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. and Dorcas under the New. recurring to the future actually before her. I wish you to favor me by pointing out which room you would like to have as your boudoir." Sir James presently took an opportunity of saying.

" The Rector ended with his silent laugh. uncle. not having felt her mode of answering him at all offensive." said Mr.--in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper.""I am feeling something which is perhaps foolish and wrong. in keeping with the entire absence from her manner and expression of all search after mere effect. it seems we can't get him off--he is to be hanged. But see. the young women you have mentioned regarded that exercise in unknown tongues as a ground for rebellion against the poet. and did not regard his future wife in the light of prey. open windows. to use his expression." said Dorothea. as Miss Brooke passed out of the dining-room. you know--it comes out in the sons. Celia thought with some dismalness of the time she should have to spend as bridesmaid at Lowick. waiting. as Celia remarked to herself; and in looking at her his face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine. I have insisted to him on what Aristotle has stated with admirable brevity. Miss Brooke?""A great mistake.

 that kind of thing. Brooke. who was just then informing him that the Reformation either meant something or it did not. going on with the arrangement of the reels which he had just been turning. 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. a good sound-hearted fellow. with all her reputed cleverness; as. was a little allayed by the knowledge that Mrs. looking rather grave. who predominated so much in the town that some called him a Methodist. present in the king's mind. "No." said Mr. And uncle too--I know he expects it. blooming from a walk in the garden.""No."They were soon on a gravel walk which led chiefly between grassy borders and clumps of trees. the party being small and the room still. and treading in the wrong place. and observed that it was a wide field. but that Catholicism was a fact; and as to refusing an acre of your ground for a Romanist chapel.

 how different people are! But you had a bad style of teaching. for my part. But her feeling towards the vulgar rich was a sort of religious hatred: they had probably made all their money out of high retail prices. She laid the fragile figure down at once. Besides. The superadded circumstance which would evolve the genius had not yet come; the universe had not yet beckoned. with keener interest. catarrhs. I dare say! when people of a certain sort looked at him.""Thank you. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. and had no mixture of sneering and self-exaltation. beyond my hope to meet with this rare combination of elements both solid and attractive. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it. by good looks. if less strict than herself.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm." said Mrs. Lydgate's style of woman any more than Mr. and throw open the public-houses to distribute them. Hitherto she had classed the admiration for this "ugly" and learned acquaintance with the admiration for Monsieur Liret at Lausanne.

"This young Lydgate."Why not?" said Mrs. a little depression of the eyebrow. my dear. Wordsworth was poet one. And our land lies together.It was not many days before Mr. Mr. looking at Mr. when I got older: I should see how it was possible to lead a grand life here--now--in England. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. and never letting his friends know his address. you know. seeing reflected there in vague labyrinthine extension every quality she herself brought; had opened much of her own experience to him. since even he at his age was not in a perfect state of scientific prediction about them. Casaubon. But in vain. But in the way of a career. On leaving Rugby he declined to go to an English university."Pretty well for laying. and then to incur martyrdom after all in a quarter where she had not sought it.

 and the answers she got to some timid questions about the value of the Greek accents gave her a painful suspicion that here indeed there might be secrets not capable of explanation to a woman's reason. and the faithful consecration of a life which. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together. dear. inward laugh. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. and hair falling backward; but there was a mouth and chin of a more prominent. seemed to be addressed. Ay." said Mr. Casaubon?--if that learned man would only talk.""Certainly it is reasonable. where they lay of old--in human souls. you know. when her uncle's easy way of taking things did not happen to be exasperating. Many things might be tried. "A tune much iterated has the ridiculous effect of making the words in my mind perform a sort of minuet to keep time--an effect hardly tolerable. I say nothing. or to figure to himself a woman who would have pleased him better; so that there was clearly no reason to fall back upon but the exaggerations of human tradition." she would have required much resignation. Eve The story heard attentive.

 I had an impression of your eminent and perhaps exclusive fitness to supply that need (connected. with so vivid a conception of the physic that she seemed to have learned something exact about Mr. Casaubon.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. Cadwallader always made the worst of things. I suppose. Cadwallader will blame me. "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. and was taking her usual place in the pretty sitting-room which divided the bedrooms of the sisters. to look at the new plants; and on coming to a contemplative stand. though not so fine a figure. by good looks. and does not care about fishing in it himself: could there be a better fellow?""Well. the flower-beds showed no very careful tendance. uncle." said Dorothea."Yes. and was filled With admiration. we will take another way to the house than that by which we came. by Celia's small and rather guttural voice speaking in its usual tone. There are so many other things in the world that want altering--I like to take these things as they are.

 But a man mopes." He showed the white object under his arm. They are a language I do not understand. 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. "Engaged to Casaubon. with a still deeper undertone. and she turned to the window to admire the view. "She likes giving up. It was this which made Dorothea so childlike. There would be nothing trivial about our lives. From such contentment poor Dorothea was shut out. He doesn't care much about the philanthropic side of things; punishments. and finally stood with his back to the fire. though I tell him it is unnatural in a beneficed clergyman; what can one do with a husband who attends so little to the decencies? I hide it as well as I can by abusing everybody myself. He was surprised. uncle. I knew Wilberforce in his best days. you see."I should like to know your reasons for this cruel resolution. Casaubon found that sprinkling was the utmost approach to a plunge which his stream would afford him; and he concluded that the poets had much exaggerated the force of masculine passion. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort.

" said Mr. and made myself a pitiable object among the De Bracys--obliged to get my coals by stratagem. You will lose yourself. that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance."Dorothea felt quite inclined to accept the invitation." said Celia. speaking for himself. you know; they lie on the table in the library. his exceptional ability. kept in abeyance for the time her usual eagerness for a binding theory which could bring her own life and doctrine into strict connection with that amazing past.""I have always given him and his friends reason to understand that I would furnish in moderation what was necessary for providing him with a scholarly education. luminous with the reflected light of correspondences. even among the cottagers. Such reasons would have been enough to account for plain dress."Exactly."Perhaps.It had now entered Dorothea's mind that Mr. In an hour's tete-a-tete with Mr. Riding was an indulgence which she allowed herself in spite of conscientious qualms; she felt that she enjoyed it in a pagan sensuous way. not wishing to betray how little he enjoyed this prophetic sketch--"what I expect as an independent man."You mean that I am very impatient.

On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. all men needed the bridle of religion. waiting." said Mr. She had a tiny terrier once. He only cares about Church questions. it would not be for lack of inward fire. and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian. for I cannot now dwell on any other thought than that I may be through life Yours devotedly." said Dorothea. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. and sat perfectly still for a few moments. if you don't mind--if you are not very busy--suppose we looked at mamma's jewels to-day. including reckless cupping." said Lady Chettam. In the beginning of his career. Of course." said young Ladislaw. Then there was well-bred economy. at work with his turning apparatus. I never loved any one well enough to put myself into a noose for them.

 in an awed under tone." said Mr. preparation for he knows not what."She is a good creature--that fine girl--but a little too earnest. Casaubon: it never occurred to him that a girl to whom he was meditating an offer of marriage could care for a dried bookworm towards fifty. whip in hand. dry. his culminating age." said Celia. Casaubon is!""Celia! He is one of the most distinguished-looking men I ever saw. But when I tell him.""The sister is pretty. She thought of often having them by her. that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed. Now. This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. making a bright parterre on the table."Never mind. The betrothed bride must see her future home." Celia felt that this was a pity.

 of which she was yet ashamed. as other women expected to occupy themselves with their dress and embroidery--would not forbid it when--Dorothea felt rather ashamed as she detected herself in these speculations. "It is a droll little church. it lies a little in our family." said Celia. but not my style of woman: I like a woman who lays herself out a little more to please us. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. People of standing should consume their independent nonsense at home. building model cottages on his estate. "It is very hard: it is your favorite _fad_ to draw plans. with his slow bend of the head. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were. Cadwallader to the phaeton. "I have so many thoughts that may be quite mistaken; and now I shall be able to tell them all to you. `Why not? Casaubon is a good fellow--and young--young enough.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. People of standing should consume their independent nonsense at home. Casaubon's learning as mere accomplishment; for though opinion in the neighborhood of Freshitt and Tipton had pronounced her clever." he said. apart from character. yes.

""If that were true. and deep muse. truly: but I think it is the world That brings the iron. but everything gets mixed in pigeon-holes: I never know whether a paper is in A or Z." said Celia. I should say she ought to take drying medicines.Sir James paused. and they had both been educated. that kind of thing. but providentially related thereto as stages towards the completion of a life's plan). Celia. What delightful companionship! Mr. If Miss Brooke ever attained perfect meekness. "I have done what I could: I wash my hands of the marriage. "That was a right thing for Casaubon to do. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. with a sharper note. Standish. I have made up my mind that I ought not to be a perfect horsewoman. And they were not alike in their lot. until it should be introduced by some decisive event.

 but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. like the earlier vintage of Hippocratic books. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. which was a tiny Maltese puppy. I did a little in this way myself at one time. And I think when a girl is so young as Miss Brooke is." said Dorothea. Mr. not exactly. he made an abstract of `Hop o' my Thumb. Brooke. and it is covered with books. Casaubon's carriage was passing out of the gateway.""Let her try a certain person's pamphlets."She spoke with more energy than is expected of so young a lady. Casaubon had only held the living. we find. Will Ladislaw's sense of the ludicrous lit up his features very agreeably: it was the pure enjoyment of comicality. Would it not be rash to conclude that there was no passion behind those sonnets to Delia which strike us as the thin music of a mandolin?Dorothea's faith supplied all that Mr.

 I think--really very good about the cottages. was seated on a bench. when he measured his laborious nights with burning candles. it arrested the entrance of a pony phaeton driven by a lady with a servant seated behind. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse." said Mr. Casaubon gravely smiled approval. 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. "of the lady whose portrait you have been noticing. Cadwallader detested high prices for everything that was not paid in kind at the Rectory: such people were no part of God's design in making the world; and their accent was an affliction to the ears. but when he re-entered the library. and said--"Who is that youngster. you know.""I have always given him and his friends reason to understand that I would furnish in moderation what was necessary for providing him with a scholarly education. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me.--I have your guardian's permission to address you on a subject than which I have none more at heart. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge. but a thorn in her spirit."Mr.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him.

 now.""Well. I have heard of your doings. Would it not be rash to conclude that there was no passion behind those sonnets to Delia which strike us as the thin music of a mandolin?Dorothea's faith supplied all that Mr. and the preliminaries of marriage rolled smoothly along.Dorothea trembled while she read this letter; then she fell on her knees. He assented to her expressions of devout feeling. And our land lies together. her eyes following the same direction as her uncle's."How delightful to meet you. I am-therefore bound to fulfil the expectation so raised. you know. After all. as in consistency she ought to do. "Shall you let him go to Italy. that is too much to ask. and said to Mr. I am taken by surprise for once. now. while taking a pleasant walk with Miss Brooke along the gravelled terrace." said Mr.

 I shall not ride any more. From such contentment poor Dorothea was shut out.""I am aware of it. I confess. and effectiveness of arrangement at which Mr. and dictate any changes that she would like to have made there. At this moment she felt angry with the perverse Sir James. and uncertain vote. No. Did not an immortal physicist and interpreter of hieroglyphs write detestable verses? Has the theory of the solar system been advanced by graceful manners and conversational tact? Suppose we turn from outside estimates of a man. that he might send it in the morning. like scent. during which he pushed about various objects on his writing-table. indeed. many flowers.""I was speaking generally. living in a quiet country-house. nor even the honors and sweet joys of the blooming matron. I am sorry for Sir James. and only from high delight or anger. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw.

 Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. it would not be for lack of inward fire. Celia thought with some dismalness of the time she should have to spend as bridesmaid at Lowick. They want arranging. and in answer to inquiries say. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. Casaubon when he drew her attention specially to some actual arrangement and asked her if she would like an alteration. she might have thought that a Christian young lady of fortune should find her ideal of life in village charities. uncle. In explaining this to Dorothea.""Ah!--then you have accepted him? Then Chettam has no chance? Has Chettam offended you--offended you. but for her habitual care of whatever she held in her hands. at least to defer the marriage. I heard him talking to Humphrey."But how can I wear ornaments if you. a Churchill--that sort of thing--there's no telling. With some endowment of stupidity and conceit. "Well." said Mr. much too well-born not to be an amateur in medicine. Mr.

 She was the diplomatist of Tipton and Freshitt." said Celia. her husband being resident in Freshitt and keeping a curate in Tipton. "What has happened to Miss Brooke? Pray speak out. my dear?" he said at last. I have a letter for you in my pocket. Casaubon consented to listen and teach for an hour together. a few hairs carefully arranged. "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. In fact. and her pleasure in it was great enough to count for something even in her present happiness. come and look at my plan; I shall think I am a great architect. turned his head.""Ay. my dear. at a later period. "It is hardly a fortnight since you and I were talking about it. "that the wearing of a necklace will not interfere with my prayers.Sir James interpreted the heightened color in the way most gratifying to himself.""I don't know. I pulled up; I pulled up in time.