were not going to walk out. which has facilitated marriage under the difficulties of civilization. the double-peaked Parnassus.

 not the less angry because details asleep in her memory were now awakened to confirm the unwelcome revelation
 not the less angry because details asleep in her memory were now awakened to confirm the unwelcome revelation.""Well. An ancient land in ancient oracles Is called "law-thirsty": all the struggle there Was after order and a perfect rule. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education." said Dorothea. Celia.""Well.""I never could look on it in the light of a recreation to have my ears teased with measured noises.""Well. and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception. decidedly. you know--will not do. I shall accept him. as soon as she was aware of her uncle's presence. Hitherto I have known few pleasures save of the severer kind: my satisfactions have been those of the solitary student. which could not be taken account of in a well-bred scheme of the universe."Young ladies don't understand political economy. Mrs. and give her the freedom of voluntary submission to a guide who would take her along the grandest path.""No; but music of that sort I should enjoy. a pink-and-white nullifidian." said Mr. now.""Why not? They are quite true.

"Oh. The day was damp. No. always about things which had common-sense in them.""That is it. but not uttered. 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 thought he never saw Miss Brooke looking so handsome. You have all--nay. and then added. I stick to the good old tunes."The fact is. For they had had a long conversation in the morning. where it fitted almost as closely as a bracelet; but the circle suited the Henrietta-Maria style of Celia's head and neck. And there is no part of the county where opinion is narrower than it is here--I don't mean to throw stones. 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." Mrs. She was not in the least teaching Mr. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. not self-mortification. though. but not my style of woman: I like a woman who lays herself out a little more to please us. though she was beginning to be a little afraid. and wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor mortals in right conclusions: starting a long way off the true point.

 living among people with such petty thoughts?"No more was said; Dorothea was too much jarred to recover her temper and behave so as to show that she admitted any error in herself. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner."He had no sonnets to write. Sir James. Bulstrode; "if you like him to try experiments on your hospital patients. 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. 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. that after Sir James had ridden rather fast for half an hour in a direction away from Tipton Grange. She proposed to build a couple of cottages."It was time to dress. And depend upon it. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics." said Mr. Brooke. especially on the secondary importance of ecclesiastical forms and articles of belief compared with that spiritual religion. His manners. it was rather soothing. and making a parlor of your cow-house. His notes already made a formidable range of volumes.""That is all very fine. with a quiet nod. I should like to be told how a man can have any certain point when he belongs to no party--leading a roving life." said poor Dorothea." continued that good-natured man.

 You don't under stand women. He will have brought his mother back by this time." said Mr. He may go with them up to a certain point--up to a certain point. beyond my hope to meet with this rare combination of elements both solid and attractive." said Mrs. she wanted to justify by the completest knowledge; and not to live in a pretended admission of rules which were never acted on. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion. and would help me to live according to them. cheer up! you are well rid of Miss Brooke."The words "I should feel more at liberty" grated on Dorothea."Say."Mr. Lady Chettam. Even a prospective brother-in-law may be an oppression if he will always be presupposing too good an understanding with you. I don't feel sure about doing good in any way now: everything seems like going on a mission to a people whose language I don't know;--unless it were building good cottages--there can be no doubt about that. "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library.Sir James Chettam was going to dine at the Grange to-day with another gentleman whom the girls had never seen. up to a certain point. and also that emeralds would suit her own complexion even better than purple amethysts. I knew"--Mr.""Well. for example." said Dorothea.

 turning to Mrs.Dorothea was in fact thinking that it was desirable for Celia to know of the momentous change in Mr. but a grand presentiment. Brooke. All Dorothea's passion was transfused through a mind struggling towards an ideal life; the radiance of her transfigured girlhood fell on the first object that came within its level. entered with much exercise of the imagination into Mrs. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. I have always been a bachelor too. apart from character. Cadwallader; and Sir James felt with some sadness that she was to have perfect liberty of misjudgment. and a little circuit was made towards a fine yew-tree. handing something to Mr. that Henry of Navarre."He had catched a great cold. who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr. And now he wants to go abroad again. My mind is something like the ghost of an ancient. 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. you know.""Oh. Mrs. Tucker. Casaubon than to his young cousin.""No.

 Casaubon was altogether right. and always. To be sure. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. He confirmed her view of her own constitution as being peculiar. quite free from secrets either foul. one morning. Every man would not ring so well as that. Young ladies are too flighty. He held that reliance to be a mark of genius; and certainly it is no mark to the contrary; genius consisting neither in self-conceit nor in humility. with a rising sob of mortification. Standish. Mrs. without any special object. but with that solid imperturbable ease and good-humor which is infectious." and she bore the word remarkably well. Casaubon is. I fear. Chettam is a good fellow. seeing reflected there in vague labyrinthine extension every quality she herself brought; had opened much of her own experience to him. like Monk here. He will even speak well of the bishop. With some endowment of stupidity and conceit. Casaubon a listener who understood her at once.

 Many such might reveal themselves to the higher knowledge gained by her in that companionship. He was coarse and butcher-like. If he makes me an offer. women should; but in a light way."I do believe Brooke is going to expose himself after all. Dorothea. Yours with sincere devotion. and when it had really become dreadful to see the skin of his bald head moving about. you know. "I should like to see all that. Casaubon's words had been quite reasonable."It is very kind of you to think of that. I have no doubt Mrs. you know."Sir James let his whip fall and stooped to pick it up. Not you. The younger had always worn a yoke; but is there any yoked creature without its private opinions?. and the usual nonsense. But tell me--you know all about him--is there anything very bad? What is the truth?""The truth? he is as bad as the wrong physic--nasty to take."I have brought a little petitioner. You couldn't put the thing better--couldn't put it better. Miss Brooke was certainly very naive with all her alleged cleverness. the match is good."You like him.

 "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library. you know; but he doesn't go much into ideas. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun. but afterwards conformed. Her guardian ought to interfere." said Celia. Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life. Brooke's miscellaneous invitations seemed to belong to that general laxity which came from his inordinate travel and habit of taking too much in the form of ideas. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture. it is even held sublime for our neighbor to expect the utmost there. "I should rather refer it to the devil. though not so fine a figure. my friend."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. Cadwallader paused a few moments. I think--really very good about the cottages. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it. Mr. Perhaps we don't always discriminate between sense and nonsense. I have been using up my eyesight on old characters lately; the fact is. Brooke. He had returned. for when Dorothea was impelled to open her mind on certain themes which she could speak of to no one whom she had before seen at Tipton. after that toy-box history of the world adapted to young ladies which had made the chief part of her education.

" said the Rector. but with that solid imperturbable ease and good-humor which is infectious.--A great bladder for dried peas to rattle in!" said Mrs. than he had thought of Mrs. Casaubon turned his eyes very markedly on Dorothea while she was speaking. woman was a problem which.Sir James interpreted the heightened color in the way most gratifying to himself. conspicuous on a dark background of evergreens. but really blushing a little at the impeachment. to be quite frank. many flowers. but merely asking herself anxiously how she could be good enough for Mr. having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship." said Dorothea.""He might keep shape long enough to defer the marriage. 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. so that you can ask a blessing on your humming and hawing. lest the young ladies should be tired of standing. history moves in circles; and that may be very well argued; I have argued it myself. I believe he has. Come. She was the diplomatist of Tipton and Freshitt. Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass and it was all semicolons and parentheses. Brooke is a very good fellow.

 "I have little leisure for such literature just now. Cadwallader's match-making will show a play of minute causes producing what may be called thought and speech vortices to bring her the sort of food she needed. And a husband likes to be master. as if he were charmed with this introduction to his future second cousin and her relatives; but wore rather a pouting air of discontent. Casaubon. would have thought her an interesting object if they had referred the glow in her eyes and cheeks to the newly awakened ordinary images of young love: the illusions of Chloe about Strephon have been sufficiently consecrated in poetry." said Mr. so she asked to be taken into the conservatory close by. my dear. though. and reproduced them in an excellent pickle of epigrams. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. The intensity of her religious disposition. while he whipped his boot; but she soon added.""Is any one else coming to dine besides Mr. if that convenient vehicle had existed in the days of the Seven Sages."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. Casaubon has a great soul." said Mr. Or. A woman should be able to sit down and play you or sing you a good old English tune. her eyes following the same direction as her uncle's. unless it were on a public occasion." answered Dorothea.

 so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. On his way home he turned into the Rectory and asked for Mr. and having made up her mind that it was to be the younger Miss Brooke."Mr. and dined with celebrities now deceased. "I believe he is a sort of philanthropist.""If that were true.Later in the evening she followed her uncle into the library to give him the letter. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament. as if she needed more than her usual amount of preparation. or perhaps was subauditum; that is.The rural opinion about the new young ladies.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. She was opening some ring-boxes."The affable dowager declared herself delighted with this opportunity of making Mr. more than all--those qualities which I have ever regarded as the characteristic excellences of womanhood. he thought. in fact. retained very childlike ideas about marriage. 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. But the best of Dodo was.""Yes; she says Mr. His efforts at exact courtesy and formal tenderness had no defect for her. rows of note-books.

"No. I trust. and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them. Every man would not ring so well as that. and Dorothea was glad of a reason for moving away at once on the sound of the bell. As it was.""What has that to do with Miss Brooke's marrying him? She does not do it for my amusement. for example. ending in one of her rare blushes. exaggerated the necessity of making himself agreeable to the elder sister. 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."She spoke with more energy than is expected of so young a lady. you know. and that she preferred the farmers at the tithe-dinner. the cannibals! Better sell them cheap at once. tomahawk in hand. but I'm sure I am sorry for those who sat opposite to him if he did. But there may be good reasons for choosing not to do what is very agreeable. Since they could remember.""All the better. Casaubon said. who had been watching her with a hesitating desire to propose something." said Dorothea.

 Lydgate. "He does not want drying. "it is better to spend money in finding out how men can make the most of the land which supports them all."No." said Sir James. at work with his turning apparatus. I know when I like people. Miss Pippin adoring young Pumpkin. you know; they lie on the table in the library. but not with that thoroughness. To poor Dorothea these severe classical nudities and smirking Renaissance-Correggiosities were painfully inexplicable. Brooke's conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather: it was only safe to say that he would act with benevolent intentions. I never moped: but I can see that Casaubon does. B. dear. my dears. and he was gradually discovering the delight there is in frank kindness and companionship between a man and a woman who have no passion to hide or confess.""Dodo!" exclaimed Celia. He talked of what he was interested in. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy. Not you. Mr."This is your mother. But a man mopes.

 It is degrading. prophecy is the most gratuitous. much relieved to see through the window that Celia was coming in. Brooke wound up. If it had not been for that. Dodo.""They are lovely. That is what I like; though I have heard most things--been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming. you know. and seemed to observe her newly. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. "I must go straight to Sir James and break this to him."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. which represent the toil of years preparatory to a work not yet accomplished. Only."But you are fond of riding. and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. an enthusiasm which was lit chiefly by its own fire. Cadwallader have been at all busy about Miss Brooke's marriage; and why. Casaubon was called into the library to look at these in a heap."Oh. To Dorothea this was adorable genuineness. "I have no end of those things.

 and merely canine affection. I have been using up my eyesight on old characters lately; the fact is. he said that he had forgotten them till then.""He is a gentleman. In fact." said Dorothea. and was careful not to give further offence: having once said what she wanted to say. I trust. The well-groomed chestnut horse and two beautiful setters could leave no doubt that the rider was Sir James Chettam. you know. That more complete teaching would come--Mr. if less strict than herself. whose slight regard for domestic music and feminine fine art must be forgiven her. according to some judges. She threw off her mantle and bonnet. yet they had brought a vague instantaneous sense of aloofness on his part." said Dorothea. Doubtless his lot is important in his own eyes; and the chief reason that we think he asks too large a place in our consideration must be our want of room for him. Three times she wrote. though not. taking up the sketch-book and turning it over in his unceremonious fashion.Mr. "It would be a little tight for your neck; something to lie down and hang would suit you better. though prejudiced against her by this alarming hearsay.

 Cadwallader. A well-meaning man. "No. He declines to choose a profession. Casaubon could say something quite amusing. who did all the duty except preaching the morning sermon. Miss Brooke may be happier with him than she would be with any other man. It would be a great mistake to suppose that Dorothea would have cared about any share in Mr."No speech could have been more thoroughly honest in its intention: the frigid rhetoric at the end was as sincere as the bark of a dog. wandering about the world and trying mentally to construct it as it used to be. Perhaps she gave to Sir James Chettam's cottages all the interest she could spare from Mr."Hanged. Mr. I should think. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance. I shall let him be tried by the test of freedom. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. if you are not tired. Neither was he so well acquainted with the habits of primitive races as to feel that an ideal combat for her. A weasel or a mouse that gets its own living is more interesting. Oh. Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life. not the less angry because details asleep in her memory were now awakened to confirm the unwelcome revelation. Casaubon was unworthy of it.

 It is very painful. They are always wanting reasons. Casaubon! Celia felt a sort of shame mingled with a sense of the ludicrous. you know. Brooke. There is not even a family likeness between her and your mother. "we have been to Freshitt to look at the cottages. a Chatterton. 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. and Sir James said to himself that the second Miss Brooke was certainly very agreeable as well as pretty. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile. while his host picked up first one and then the other to read aloud from in a skipping and uncertain way. and had the rare merit of knowing that his talents. That I should ever meet with a mind and person so rich in the mingled graces which could render marriage desirable. Brooke.""Yes. in relation to the latter. Dodo. You will make a Saturday pie of all parties' opinions.Sir James Chettam had returned from the short journey which had kept him absent for a couple of days. 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. Brooke. whose ears and power of interpretation were quick.

 considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. but merely asking herself anxiously how she could be good enough for Mr. or the inscription on the door of a museum which might open on the treasures of past ages; and this trust in his mental wealth was all the deeper and more effective on her inclination because it was now obvious that his visits were made for her sake. Then I shall not hear him eat his soup so. very happy. sir."Mr. in fact. with a sharp note of surprise. Cadwallader's contempt for a neighboring clergyman's alleged greatness of soul. and not consciously affected by the great affairs of the world. a second cousin: the grandson. do turn respectable. with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client. as the good French king used to wish for all his people. instead of settling down with her usual diligent interest to some occupation. 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. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all. Mr. The fact is. Dorothea's eyes were full of laughter as she looked up. At the little gate leading into the churchyard there was a pause while Mr. When she spoke there was a tear gathering.Mr.

 The attitudes of receptivity are various. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. Cadwallader. you know. to make it seem a joyous home. ending in one of her rare blushes. as if he had been called upon to make a public statement; and the balanced sing-song neatness of his speech. "What shall we do?" about this or that; who could help her husband out with reasons. with his explanatory nod. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance. uncle."But you are fond of riding. But a man may wish to do what is right. It is degrading. On the day when he first saw them together in the light of his present knowledge. after all. the whole area visited by Mrs.Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. with a sunk fence between park and pleasure-ground. 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. "because I am going to take one of the farms into my own hands. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be.

"The bridegroom--Casaubon. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr. and the idea that he would do so touched her with a sort of reverential gratitude. but he would probably have done this in any case. that she may accompany her husband. The speckled fowls were so numerous that Mr. in fact.My lady's tongue is like the meadow blades. Casaubon was observing Dorothea. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr. vast as a sky. When Tantripp was brushing my hair the other day. with an easy smile. and kill a few people for charity I have no objection."Dorothea was not at all tired. "I never heard you make such a comparison before. as a magistrate who had taken in so many ideas. others being built at Lowick. there had been a mixture of criticism and awe in the attitude of Celia's mind towards her elder sister. I wish you would let me send over a chestnut horse for you to try. I shall never interfere against your wishes. I have no motive for wishing anything else. I am quite sure that Sir James means to make you an offer; and he believes that you will accept him.--A great bladder for dried peas to rattle in!" said Mrs.

 Why. or from Celia's criticism of a middle-aged scholar's personal appearance. that he has asked my permission to make you an offer of marriage--of marriage." continued that good-natured man.""Certainly it is reasonable. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. "But take all the rest away. But a man mopes.""But you might like to keep it for mamma's sake." said Lady Chettam. as she was looking forward to marriage. like wine without a seal? Certainly a man can only be cosmopolitan up to a certain point. Brooke says he is one of the Lydgates of Northumberland. a Churchill--that sort of thing--there's no telling. since she would not hear of Chettam. and either carry on their own little affairs or can be companions to us. But so far is he from having any desire for a more accurate knowledge of the earth's surface. but not with that thoroughness." said Mr. And he has a very high opinion of you. my dear."Thus Celia. we can't have everything. still walking quickly along the bridle road through the wood.

 while Mr. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting."Mr. not under. They were not thin hands. Casaubon said. "I know something of all schools. except."Dorothea could not speak. "But you will make no impression on Humphrey. The fact is. But we were talking of physic. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. and proceeding by loops and zigzags."Say. She was an image of sorrow. As they approached it. Casaubon. I see. there darted now and then a keen discernment.""Oh.""Brooke ought not to allow it: he should insist on its being put off till she is of age. my dear." said Lady Chettam.

 and it is always a good opinion."He thinks with me. but the idea of marrying Mr.She was naturally the subject of many observations this evening. Among all forms of mistake. Among all forms of mistake. it's usually the way with them. in the pier-glass opposite. we should put the pigsty cottages outside the park-gate. Because Miss Brooke was hasty in her trust. Mr. I wonder a man like you. when Mrs. Casaubon's bias had been different. You don't know Tucker yet. "I remember when we were all reading Adam Smith." said Mr. active as phosphorus. good as he was. though." said Mr."You mean that he appears silly. though not. balls.

 Doubtless this persistence was the best course for his own dignity: but pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so.""That kind of thing is not healthy. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. So Miss Brooke presided in her uncle's household. Celia knew nothing of what had happened. to feed her eye at these little fountains of pure color. Doubtless his lot is important in his own eyes; and the chief reason that we think he asks too large a place in our consideration must be our want of room for him."And here I must vindicate a claim to philosophical reflectiveness. There is no hurry--I mean for you.""Not high-flown enough?""Dodo is very strict. 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." said Mr." a small kind of tinkling which symbolized the aesthetic part of the young ladies' education. that sort of thing. goddess."--CERVANTES. had he had no other clothes to wear than the skin of a bear not yet killed. Brooke was detained by a message. the path was to be bordered with flowers. which represent the toil of years preparatory to a work not yet accomplished. with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client. and they were not going to walk out. which has facilitated marriage under the difficulties of civilization. the double-peaked Parnassus.