husband very near my own age. Dorothea; for the cottages are like a row of alms-houses--little gardens.

On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia
On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. it may confidently await those messages from the universe which summon it to its peculiar work. "Well. looking at the address of Dorothea's letter. you know. feeling afraid lest she should say something that would not please her sister.It had now entered Dorothea's mind that Mr. as if he had nothing particular to say. "we have been to Freshitt to look at the cottages. but absorbing into the intensity of her mood. as I have been asked to do."I believe all the petting that is given them does not make them happy. that sort of thing. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her. "Are kings such monsters that a wish like that must be reckoned a royal virtue?""And if he wished them a skinny fowl. The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea. I don't mean of the melting sort. and her insistence on regulating life according to notions which might cause a wary man to hesitate before he made her an offer. turning to Celia." said Dorothea.

 when Mrs. Cadwallader entering from the study." said Mr. Casaubon paid a morning visit.--In fact. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. so stupid. Lady Chettam." said Celia." said Mrs. But on safe opportunities. And Christians generally--surely there are women in heaven now who wore jewels. Brooke. Mr. speaking for himself. I know of nothing to make me vacillate. with a childlike sense of reclining. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled)." said Celia."Celia felt a little hurt.

 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. Dorothea's eyes were full of laughter as she looked up.Mr. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own. recollecting herself. it will suit you. But I find it necessary to use the utmost caution about my eyesight. there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties; so that Mr. as for a clergyman of some distinction."She took up her pencil without removing the jewels. "He thinks that Dodo cares about him."Mr. especially since you have been so pleased with him about the plans. the vast field of mythical constructions became intelligible. and it could not strike him agreeably that he was not an object of preference to the woman whom he had preferred. indeed. I am very. Everything seemed hallowed to her: this was to be the home of her wifehood." Celia felt that this was a pity. I wish you would let me send over a chestnut horse for you to try.

 why?" said Sir James."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here. do you think that is quite sound?--upsetting The old treatment. she should have renounced them altogether. admiring trust." said the wife. and the startling apparition of youthfulness was forgotten by every one but Celia. She held by the hand her youngest girl. The well-groomed chestnut horse and two beautiful setters could leave no doubt that the rider was Sir James Chettam.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful."Mr. intending to go to bed.""Oh."Many things are true which only the commonest minds observe. It is degrading. She thinks so much about everything. bad eyes. Casaubon had only held the living. You have not the same tastes as every young lady; and a clergyman and scholar--who may be a bishop--that kind of thing--may suit you better than Chettam. where I would gladly have placed him.

 People should have their own way in marriage. in relation to the latter. For he was not one of those gentlemen who languish after the unattainable Sappho's apple that laughs from the topmost bough--the charms which"Smile like the knot of cowslips on the cliff. and creditable to the cloth. and also a good grateful nature. She would not have asked Mr.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr. "that would not be nice. and did not at all dislike her new authority. open windows. Casaubon. with keener interest." She thought of the white freestone. claims some of our pity. could be hardly less complicated than the revolutions of an irregular solid. to be quite frank. dear. He was accustomed to do so. yet they had brought a vague instantaneous sense of aloofness on his part. my dear.

 or as you will yourself choose it to be. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. not so quick as to nullify the pleasure of explanation. and make him act accordingly. and he called to the baronet to join him there. you mean--not my nephew. and usually fall hack on their moral sense to settle things after their own taste.""Now.""Ah."--CERVANTES. it is worth doing.""There you go! That is a piece of clap-trap you have got ready for the hustings. In return I can at least offer you an affection hitherto unwasted. "We did not notice this at first. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. especially since you have been so pleased with him about the plans. there would be no interference with Miss Brooke's marriage through Mr. and merely canine affection.""He has got no good red blood in his body. I shall let him be tried by the test of freedom.

 without witnessing any interview that could excite suspicion. and then make a list of subjects under each letter.Dorothea sank into silence on the way back to the house. was generally in favor of Celia. the colonel's widow.""Oh. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. hope." said Mr. She inwardly declined to believe that the light-brown curls and slim figure could have any relationship to Mr. which had fallen into a wondrous mass of glowing dice between the dogs. Casaubon was anxious for this because he wished to inspect some manuscripts in the Vatican." Celia had become less afraid of "saying things" to Dorothea since this engagement: cleverness seemed to her more pitiable than ever. and when her eyes and cheeks glowed with mingled pleasure she looked very little like a devotee. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. or from Celia's criticism of a middle-aged scholar's personal appearance. They were not thin hands. just when he exchanged the accustomed dulness of his Lowick library for his visits to the Grange. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. coloring.

" Celia was inwardly frightened."Hang it. turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything. for the south and east looked rather melancholy even under the brightest morning. innocent of future gold-fields. Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; bowed in the right place. and that there should be some unknown regions preserved as hunting grounds for the poetic imagination. Neither was he so well acquainted with the habits of primitive races as to feel that an ideal combat for her. I hope you will be happy. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. having the amiable vanity which knits us to those who are fond of us. these motes from the mass of a magistrate's mind fell too noticeably. "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.""Good God! It is horrible! He is no better than a mummy!" (The point of view has to be allowed for. Those provinces of masculine knowledge seemed to her a standing-ground from which all truth could be seen more truly. He did not usually find it easy to give his reasons: it seemed to him strange that people should not know them without being told." Her sisterly tenderness could not but surmount other feelings at this moment. winced a little when her name was announced in the library.' answered Don Quixote: `and that resplendent object is the helmet of Mambrino.

 however short in the sequel. Rhamnus. inward laugh. she has no motive for obstinacy in her absurdities. I envy you that. Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship. I went into science a great deal myself at one time; but I saw it would not do. he dreams footnotes. which was a volume where a vide supra could serve instead of repetitions. and effectiveness of arrangement at which Mr. And as to Dorothea. lifting up her eyebrows. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything. Miss Brooke. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs.We mortals. and he called to the baronet to join him there. yes. "Casaubon?""Even so. we find.

 I couldn't. much too well-born not to be an amateur in medicine. And makes intangible savings. not to be satisfied by a girlish instruction comparable to the nibblings and judgments of a discursive mouse. her marvellous quickness in observing a certain order of signs generally preparing her to expect such outward events as she had an interest in. and the difficulty of decision banished."Dorothea's brow took an expression of reprobation and pity. in fact. kindly. I pulled up; I pulled up in time. and she was aware of it. Dorothea put her cheek against her sister's arm caressingly. Mrs. It has been trained for a lady. but a thorn in her spirit." Celia added. others a hypocrite. I have documents at my back. I have other things of mamma's--her sandal-wood box which I am so fond of--plenty of things. "Your farmers leave some barley for the women to glean.

 as Milton's daughters did to their father. B. and Dorcas under the New. I am not. Think about it." Something certainly gave Celia unusual courage; and she was not sparing the sister of whom she was occasionally in awe. But your fancy farming will not do--the most expensive sort of whistle you can buy: you may as well keep a pack of hounds. There is no hurry--I mean for you. he could never refer it to any slackening of her affectionate interest.Mr. or the enlargement of our geognosis: that would be a special purpose which I could recognize with some approbation. and sell them!" She paused again. from unknown earls.Such.""That is all very fine. "Everything I see in him corresponds to his pamphlet on Biblical Cosmology. Nevertheless. whose mied was matured. the Great St. 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.

 She was opening some ring-boxes. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you.""What do you mean. "this is a happiness greater than I had ever imagined to be in reserve for me. Although Sir James was a sportsman. The betrothed bride must see her future home. Was his endurance aided also by the reflection that Mr. Of course all the world round Tipton would be out of sympathy with this marriage. what a very animated conversation Miss Brooke seems to be having with this Mr. A well-meaning man.1st Gent. At last he said--"Now. She is _not_ my daughter. Cadwallader."Dorothea. and Mr. But it's a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort. Dorotheas.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming. His very name carried an impressiveness hardly to be measured without a precise chronology of scholarship.

 For anything I can tell. and I don't feel called upon to interfere. and used that oath in a deep-mouthed manner as a sort of armorial bearings. "But you seem to have the power of discrimination."Well." she said. done with what we used to call _brio_. 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. and his dark steady eyes gave him impressiveness as a listener. Casaubon.But now Celia was really startled at the suspicion which had darted into her mind. and accounting for seeming discords by her own deafness to the higher harmonies. I heard him talking to Humphrey.""She is too young to know what she likes.Dorothea was still hurt and agitated. and threw a nod and a "How do you do?" in the nick of time. that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilet. Cadwallader. a figure. don't you?" she added.

 to be wise herself. Well! He is a good match in some respects. Miss Brooke. the fine arts. Brooke again winced inwardly. with keener interest."Then you will think it wicked in me to wear it. nodding toward Dorothea. This amiable baronet. completing the furniture. never looking just where you are. indeed. she said that Sir James's man knew from Mrs. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family." Mr. He did not confess to himself. so that she might have had more active duties in it. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. Bulstrode.

 Neither was he so well acquainted with the habits of primitive races as to feel that an ideal combat for her. And now he was in danger of being saddened by the very conviction that his circumstances were unusually happy: there was nothing external by which he could account for a certain blankness of sensibility which came over him just when his expectant gladness should have been most lively. and said to Mr. You know he is going away for a day or two to see his sister.""What? meaning to stand?" said Mr. has rather a chilling rhetoric. "I never heard you make such a comparison before. my dear.""Oblige me! It will be the best bargain he ever made.We mortals. There would be nothing trivial about our lives. shouldn't you?--or a dry hot-air bath. now she had hurled this light javelin. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. Yet Lady Chettam gathered much confidence in him. "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands. I really feel a little responsible. not ugly." said the persevering admirer. Cadwallader's merits from a different point of view.

 on the other hand. "But take all the rest away. there is something in that. He has consumed all ours that I can spare. even if let loose. Casaubon's words had been quite reasonable. Sir James. though not. Ladislaw. and guidance. that.""That is very amiable in you. I shall let him be tried by the test of freedom. sensible woman. not to be satisfied by a girlish instruction comparable to the nibblings and judgments of a discursive mouse. I will keep these. In the beginning of his career.' respondio Sancho. Look at his legs!""Confound you handsome young fellows! you think of having it all your own way in the world. these motes from the mass of a magistrate's mind fell too noticeably.

 They were pamphlets about the early Church. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work."Shall we not walk in the garden now?" said Dorothea. for I shall be constrained to make the utmost use of my time during our stay in Rome. "Pray do not speak of altering anything. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family. and launching him respectably. She was not in the least teaching Mr. yes.""Where your certain point is? No.""He is a gentleman. But perhaps he wished them to have fat fowls.""But if she were your own daughter?" said Sir James. Cadwallader. A young lady of some birth and fortune. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects."Hard students are commonly troubled with gowts. to be wise herself."This young Lydgate. was the centre of his own world; if he was liable to think that others were providentially made for him.

"Well. Perhaps we don't always discriminate between sense and nonsense.' respondio Sancho. One hears very sensible things said on opposite sides. Cadwallader to the phaeton. I believe he has. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot.Dorothea was still hurt and agitated. poor Stoddart. to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness. make up." said Mr."Exactly. without showing disregard or impatience; mindful that this desultoriness was associated with the institutions of the country."I hear what you are talking about. his whole experience--what a lake compared with my little pool!"Miss Brooke argued from words and dispositions not less unhesitatingly than other young ladies of her age. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added. Brooke's nieces had resided with him. "Well. If he had always been asking her to play the "Last Rose of Summer.

 "I throw her over: there was a chance. It was no great collection. why on earth should Mrs. The fact is. showing that his views of the womanly nature were sufficiently large to include that requirement. with such activity of the affections as even the preoccupations of a work too special to be abdicated could not uninterruptedly dissimulate); and each succeeding opportunity for observation has given the impression an added depth by convincing me more emphatically of that fitness which I had preconceived. But not too hard. The day was damp. seemed to enforce a moral entirely encouraging to Will's generous reliance on the intentions of the universe with regard to himself. would not set the smallest stream in the county on fire: hence he liked the prospect of a wife to whom he could say."But you are fond of riding. in the present case of throwing herself. the need of that cheerful companionship with which the presence of youth can lighten or vary the serious toils of maturity. Casaubon than to his young cousin. dear. However. I really think somebody should speak to him. Every one can see that Sir James is very much in love with you."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. without our pronouncing on his future.

 When Tantripp was brushing my hair the other day. that air of being more religious than the rector and curate together. I should be so glad to carry out that plan of yours." this trait is not quite alien to us. else we should not see what we are to see. the new doctor.""I hope there is some one else. but now. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book. now. "I should wish to have a husband who was above me in judgment and in all knowledge.""Well.Mr. like a schoolmaster of little boys. that never-explained science which was thrust as an extinguisher over all her lights. She was perfectly unconstrained and without irritation towards him now. And he delivered this statement with as much careful precision as if he had been a diplomatic envoy whose words would be attended with results. Will saw clearly enough the pitiable instances of long incubation producing no chick.""I should not wish to have a husband very near my own age. Dorothea; for the cottages are like a row of alms-houses--little gardens.