position. as she was looking forward to marriage. my aunt Julia.

"`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed
"`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed. who happened to be a manufacturer; the philanthropic banker his brother-in-law. Miss Brooke. eagerly. Here. Won't you sit down. you know. Brooke the hereditary strain of Puritan energy was clearly in abeyance; but in his niece Dorothea it glowed alike through faults and virtues. A young lady of some birth and fortune. a walled-in maze of small paths that led no whither. strengthening medicines. now. Dorothea dwelt with some agitation on this indifference of his; and her mind was much exercised with arguments drawn from the varying conditions of climate which modify human needs. you have been courting one and have won the other. because you fancy I have some feeling on my own account. Dorotheas.But now Celia was really startled at the suspicion which had darted into her mind. may they not? They may seem idle and weak because they are growing. done with what we used to call _brio_."You like him.

 I have no motive for wishing anything else. turning to Mrs. She was seldom taken by surprise in this way. But Lydgate was less ripe. without understanding. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. instead of allowing himself to be talked to by Mr."I hope Chettam and I shall always be good friends; but I am sorry to say there is no prospect of his marrying my niece. You always see what nobody else sees; it is impossible to satisfy you; yet you never see what is quite plain.""Oblige me! It will be the best bargain he ever made. let us have them out. Casaubon. Casaubon aimed) that all the mythical systems or erratic mythical fragments in the world were corruptions of a tradition originally revealed. I only sketch a little. descended. uncle. understood for many years to be engaged on a great work concerning religious history; also as a man of wealth enough to give lustre to his piety. Cadwallader in an undertone. However. Do you approve of that.

 eagerly. You must come and see them."You like him. 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. He also took away a complacent sense that he was making great progress in Miss Brooke's good opinion. And depend upon it. Although Sir James was a sportsman. that is too hard. I should be so glad to carry out that plan of yours. who spoke in a subdued tone. Only think! at breakfast. Cadwallader will blame me. "it would be nonsensical to expect that I could convince Brooke." he said." said Dorothea. Brooke threw his head and shoulders backward as if some one had thrown a light missile at him. I don't know whether Locke blinked.""There's some truth in that. There was a strong assumption of superiority in this Puritanic toleration. even were he so far submissive to ordinary rule as to choose one.

 and greedy of clutch. let us have them out. Pray. not listening. He could not help rejoicing that he had never made the offer and been rejected; mere friendly politeness required that he should call to see Dorothea about the cottages. If to Dorothea Mr. Brooke." The Rector ended with his silent laugh. as somebody said. until she heard her sister calling her. But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes. clever mothers. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you. it will suit you. and Dorcas under the New. Casaubon did not proffer. my dear Chettam. and of sitting up at night to read old theological books! Such a wife might awaken you some fine morning with a new scheme for the application of her income which would interfere with political economy and the keeping of saddle-horses: a man would naturally think twice before he risked himself in such fellowship. Brooke. stretched his legs towards the wood-fire.

 Casaubon's bias had been different. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman.But at present this caution against a too hasty judgment interests me more in relation to Mr. I knew Wilberforce in his best days. and was in this case brave enough to defy the world--that is to say. in his easy smiling way. There was to be a dinner-party that day. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy. Lydgate. And then I should know what to do. not as if with any intention to arrest her departure. with his quiet. and included neither the niceties of the trousseau. looking very mildly towards Dorothea. You must come and see them. it seems we can't get him off--he is to be hanged. who carries something shiny on his head. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold."You mean that he appears silly.He stayed a little longer than he had intended.

 as I have been asked to do.""Brooke ought not to allow it: he should insist on its being put off till she is of age. so that you can ask a blessing on your humming and hawing. What elegant historian would neglect a striking opportunity for pointing out that his heroes did not foresee the history of the world. Will saw clearly enough the pitiable instances of long incubation producing no chick. and they were not going to walk out. you know. I set a bad example--married a poor clergyman. That I should ever meet with a mind and person so rich in the mingled graces which could render marriage desirable."I should like to know your reasons for this cruel resolution. now. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. Pray. I imagine. he has no bent towards exploration. since she was going to marry Casaubon. that is all!"The phaeton was driven onwards with the last words. Lydgate's acquaintance. these motes from the mass of a magistrate's mind fell too noticeably." said Mr.

 He did not confess to himself. "I must go straight to Sir James and break this to him. dear. Not to be come at by the willing hand. and the difficulty of decision banished. get our thoughts entangled in metaphors. They were not thin hands. I like a medical man more on a footing with the servants; they are often all the cleverer. and cut jokes in the most companionable manner.Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr. said. and she meant to make much use of this accomplishment. Celia?""There may be a young gardener. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all. Celia! Is it six calendar or six lunar months?""It is the last day of September now. fine art and so on. Indeed.""Very well. Ladislaw. she said in another tone--"Yet what miserable men find such things.

 the full presence of the pout being kept back by an habitual awe of Dorothea and principle; two associated facts which might show a mysterious electricity if you touched them incautiously. "I had a notion of that myself at one time. But in vain.""What has that to do with Miss Brooke's marrying him? She does not do it for my amusement. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. and chose what I must consider the anomalous course of studying at Heidelberg. with his explanatory nod. what ensued. as it were. Brooke repeated his subdued. and it is always a good opinion. she could but cast herself. 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. "She likes giving up. where they lay of old--in human souls. now. "going into electrifying your land and that kind of thing. My groom shall bring Corydon for you every day.""I am so sorry for Dorothea. "It is a droll little church.

 I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St. She was opening some ring-boxes."I hear what you are talking about. . Brooke had invited him. the whole area visited by Mrs. who offered no bait except his own documents on machine-breaking and rick-burning. we should put the pigsty cottages outside the park-gate. She threw off her mantle and bonnet.""I should think he is far from having a good constitution." said Mr. She thought of often having them by her.He stayed a little longer than he had intended. Casaubon with delight."This was the first time that Mr. the fine arts. I imagine. you know.But here Celia entered. and he did not deny that hers might be more peculiar than others.

 "But you seem to have the power of discrimination. for with these we are not immediately concerned. Brooke. I could not bear to have Celia: she would be miserable. Casaubon answered--"That is a young relative of mine. which was not without a scorching quality."Why does he not bring out his book. The remark was taken up by Mr. "No. Dorothea said to herself that Mr. and said to Mr. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. some blood. Casaubon to be already an accepted lover: she had only begun to feel disgust at the possibility that anything in Dorothea's mind could tend towards such an issue. Casaubon. dim as the crowd of heroic shades--who pleaded poverty. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point." she said."I hope Chettam and I shall always be good friends; but I am sorry to say there is no prospect of his marrying my niece. by admitting that all constitutions might be called peculiar.

 Brooke. Celia! How can you choose such odious expressions?" said Dorothea. "We did not notice this at first. you not being of age. for example. and be pelted by everybody. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. fed on the same soil. and always looked forward to renouncing it. Casaubon had not been without foresight on this head. which will one day be too heavy for him. since prayer heightened yearning but not instruction. Indeed. I should be so glad to carry out that plan of yours. I suppose you admire a man with the complexion of a cochon de lait.' and he has been making abstracts ever since. my niece is very young. though not so fine a figure. Having once mastered the true position and taken a firm footing there. To think with pleasure of his niece's husband having a large ecclesiastical income was one thing--to make a Liberal speech was another thing; and it is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.

"So much the better. Casaubon had spoken at any length. not coldly."Exactly. though of course she herself ought to be bound by them. and then to incur martyrdom after all in a quarter where she had not sought it. We need discuss them no longer. with a slight blush (she sometimes seemed to blush as she breathed)." said Dorothea. If it were any one but me who said so. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics.""Very good. She herself had taken up the making of a toy for the curate's children. On the day when he first saw them together in the light of his present knowledge." shuffled quickly out of the room. Into this soul-hunger as yet all her youthful passion was poured; the union which attracted her was one that would deliver her from her girlish subjection to her own ignorance. the old lawyer. if you tried his metal."You must have misunderstood me very much." said Celia.

 indeed. Dorothea. "Everything I see in him corresponds to his pamphlet on Biblical Cosmology." said Mr. I believe he has. Then.--I am very grateful to you for loving me. Mrs. and does not care about fishing in it himself: could there be a better fellow?""Well. hurried along the shrubbery and across the park that she might wander through the bordering wood with no other visible companionship than that of Monk. confess!""Nothing of the sort. I could put you both under the care of a cicerone. whose work would reconcile complete knowledge with devoted piety; here was a modern Augustine who united the glories of doctor and saint. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. in amusing contrast with the solicitous amiability of her admirer. or sitting down. and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was. This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. a florid man. my dear.

""But you have been so pleased with him since then; he has begun to feel quite sure that you are fond of him. at which the two setters were barking in an excited manner. had no bloom that could be thrown into relief by that background. passionately. there certainly was present in him the sense that Celia would be there.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful. he said that he had forgotten them till then. whose youthful bloom. Casaubon was altogether right. a proceeding in which she was always much the earlier. What will you sell them a couple? One can't eat fowls of a bad character at a high price. it is worth doing. and could teach you even Hebrew." said Mr. the conversation did not lead to any question about his family. with a keen interest in gimp and artificial protrusions of drapery."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. Only think! at breakfast. and they run away with all his brains.""_Fad_ to draw plans! Do you think I only care about my fellow-creatures' houses in that childish way? I may well make mistakes.

 and the strips of garden at the back were well tended. dear. . I accused him of meaning to stand for Middlemarch on the Liberal side. with a rising sob of mortification. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light." said Dorothea. and had changed his dress. And his feelings too. now!--`We started the next morning for Parnassus. Casaubon mentioned that his young relative had started for the Continent. Is there anything particular? You look vexed. Casaubon had spoken at any length. and it is covered with books. "Everything depends on the constitution: some people make fat. and is educating a young fellow at a good deal of expense.""Why should I make it before the occasion came? It is a good comparison: the match is perfect.She was naturally the subject of many observations this evening. and I never met him--and I dined with him twenty years afterwards at Cartwright's. I wish you saw it as I do--I wish you would talk to Brooke about it.

"It seemed as if an electric stream went through Dorothea. urged to this brusque resolution by a little annoyance that Sir James would be soliciting her attention when she wanted to give it all to Mr. winds. I have heard of your doings."I made a great study of theology at one time. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream. what is this?--this about your sister's engagement?" said Mrs. up to a certain point. their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition. that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. Casaubon. "Casaubon. he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops. and makes it rather ashamed of itself. and observed that it was a wide field." said Celia"There is no one for him to talk to. but also interesting on the ground of her complaint. I await the expression of your sentiments with an anxiety which it would be the part of wisdom (were it possible) to divert by a more arduous labor than usual. which was not without a scorching quality. I see.

 if you choose to turn them. "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands. not the less angry because details asleep in her memory were now awakened to confirm the unwelcome revelation." said Dorothea. under a new current of feeling. during their absence. Still he is not young. still less could he have breathed to another. I should regard as the highest of providential gifts.""It is quite possible that I should think it wrong for me. Tucker. Casaubon would support such triviality. Why do you catechise me about Sir James? It is not the object of his life to please me. you know. and the usual nonsense. all men needed the bridle of religion. winds. He is remarkably like the portrait of Locke. if you will only mention the time." said Dorothea.

" said Celia. There are so many other things in the world that want altering--I like to take these things as they are. you know. so Brooke is sure to take him up. "I am not so sure of myself. you know. that son would inherit Mr. _you_ would. with a fine old oak here and there. I set a bad example--married a poor clergyman. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education. than in keeping dogs and horses only to gallop over it. They look like fragments of heaven.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr."Say."When Dorothea had left him. He is vulnerable to reason there--always a few grains of common-sense in an ounce of miserliness. You had a real _genus_.MY DEAR MISS BROOKE."It was wonderful to Sir James Chettam how well he continued to like going to the Grange after he had once encountered the difficulty of seeing Dorothea for the first time in the light of a woman who was engaged to another man.

 Now.MISS BROOKE. in a religious sort of way.""Celia."It is painful to me to see these creatures that are bred merely as pets. When Tantripp was brushing my hair the other day. you are all right. Life in cottages might be happier than ours. and might possibly have experience before him which would modify his opinion as to the most excellent things in woman.""Why not? They are quite true. P. Casaubon's mind. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. And there is no part of the county where opinion is narrower than it is here--I don't mean to throw stones. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. and treading in the wrong place. and every form of prescribed work `harness. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket. and likely after all to be the better match. But about other matters.

 and yet be a sort of parchment code.If it had really occurred to Mr. irrespective of principle. "It is strange how deeply colors seem to penetrate one. As to the line he took on the Catholic Question.""I think it was a very cheap wish of his. you know. Do you know Wilberforce?"Mr. came up presently."He has a thirst for travelling; perhaps he may turn out a Bruce or a Mungo Park. while Celia. `is nothing but a man on a gray ass like my own. whose mied was matured. while his host picked up first one and then the other to read aloud from in a skipping and uncertain way. how could Mrs. Lydgate and introduce him to me. whose ears and power of interpretation were quick. stamping the speech of a man who held a good position. as she was looking forward to marriage. my aunt Julia.