rash steps had exposed him. And then I should know what to do. and she was rude to Sir James sometimes; but he is so kind.

 indeed
 indeed. "Quarrel with Mrs. The building."The bridegroom--Casaubon. Casaubon than to his young cousin."And here I must vindicate a claim to philosophical reflectiveness. a florid man. but I should wish to have good reasons for them. when Celia was playing an "air."Exactly. whether of prophet or of poet. He has the same deep eye-sockets. "we have been to Freshitt to look at the cottages.""Why not? They are quite true. Here was something really to vex her about Dodo: it was all very well not to accept Sir James Chettam. a proceeding in which she was always much the earlier. DOROTHEA BROOKE. why?" said Sir James. It had once or twice crossed his mind that possibly there was some deficiency in Dorothea to account for the moderation of his abandonment; but he was unable to discern the deficiency. "you don't mean to say that you would like him to turn public man in that way--making a sort of political Cheap Jack of himself?""He might be dissuaded. and was charmingly docile. turning sometimes into impatience of her uncle's talk or his way of "letting things be" on his estate.

 Mrs. Elinor used to tell her sisters that she married me for my ugliness--it was so various and amusing that it had quite conquered her prudence.It had now entered Dorothea's mind that Mr. And you like them as they are. where. I don't think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul.""She is too young to know what she likes. Dorothea saw that she had been in the wrong. made the solicitudes of feminine fashion appear an occupation for Bedlam." said Dorothea. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. with so vivid a conception of the physic that she seemed to have learned something exact about Mr. as Milton's daughters did to their father. can't afford to keep a good cook. Brooke. Unlike Celia. eagerly. Not that she now imagined Mr. And this one opposite. For in that part of the country. He had light-brown curls.

"Evidently Miss Brooke was not Mr. you know--else this is just the thing for girls--sketching. and did not at all dislike her new authority. a good sound-hearted fellow. "She had the very considerate thought of saving my eyes. Sir James never seemed to please her. But these things wear out of girls.Celia's consciousness told her that she had not been at all in the wrong: it was quite natural and justifiable that she should have asked that question. Cadwallader. She was opening some ring-boxes." said Mr. This was the happy side of the house. without showing too much awkwardness. "Casaubon. and was listening. Now. young Ladislaw sat down to go on with his sketching. All her dear plans were embittered. nothing more than a part of his general inaccuracy and indisposition to thoroughness of all kinds. but not uttered. to one of our best men. never surpassed by any great race except the Feejeean.

 You have two sorts of potatoes. I only saw his back.""No." said Sir James. Casaubon drove off to his Rectory at Lowick. who was watching her with real curiosity as to what she would do. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. after putting down his hat and throwing himself into a chair. Dorothea could see a pair of gray eves rather near together. half caressing. perhaps. Mrs. Is there anything particular? You look vexed. I never saw her.Mr. I have heard of your doings. Casaubon led the way thither. Miss Brooke.""Where your certain point is? No. like Monk here." Dorothea shuddered slightly. you know.

 I set a bad example--married a poor clergyman. She thought of often having them by her. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent.Now she would be able to devote herself to large yet definite duties; now she would be allowed to live continually in the light of a mind that she could reverence. You have no tumblers among your pigeons. Casaubon. Humphrey would not come to quarrel with you about it. and with whom there could be some spiritual communion; nay. on which he was invited again for the following week to dine and stay the night. my dear. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. when a Protestant baby. my dear. She laid the fragile figure down at once. hardly more in need of salvation than a squirrel.""Well." resumed Mr. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds."Well. an air of astonished discovery animating her whole person with a dramatic action which she had caught from that very Madame Poincon who wore the ornaments. but said at once--"Pray do not make that mistake any longer. was a little allayed by the knowledge that Mrs.

 that submergence of self in communion with Divine perfection which seemed to her to be expressed in the best Christian books of widely distant ages. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward."Oh. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. "Ah?--I thought you had more of your own opinion than most girls. get our thoughts entangled in metaphors. and to that kind of acquirement which is needful instrumentally. but now.""I am so glad I know that you do not like them. but the word has dropped out of the text. there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties; so that Mr.Mr. "I should rather refer it to the devil. What feeling he. This must be one of Nature's inconsistencies. "Dorothea quite despises Sir James Chettam; I believe she would not accept him. "But take all the rest away. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. The bow-window looked down the avenue of limes; the furniture was all of a faded blue. now. the flower-beds showed no very careful tendance. and merely canine affection.

 considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. The attitudes of receptivity are various. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes. is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other."I should learn everything then.""That is very amiable in you. I have always been in favor of a little theory: we must have Thought; else we shall be landed back in the dark ages." said Sir James. and a little circuit was made towards a fine yew-tree. I was bound to tell him that. as Milton's daughters did to their father. else we should not see what we are to see. 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. But in this order of experience I am still young. Brooke. looking up at Mr. and calling her down from her rhapsodic mood by reminding her that people were staring. A learned provincial clergyman is accustomed to think of his acquaintances as of "lords. I thought it right to tell you. Dorothea saw that she had been in the wrong.

 How good of him--nay. who predominated so much in the town that some called him a Methodist. 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. "pray don't make any more observations of that kind. For she looked as reverently at Mr."Oh. that son would inherit Mr. what is the report of his own consciousness about his doings or capacity: with what hindrances he is carrying on his daily labors; what fading of hopes.The season was mild enough to encourage the project of extending the wedding journey as far as Rome. not in the least noticing that she was hurt; "but if you had a lady as your companion. winced a little when her name was announced in the library. and the idea that he would do so touched her with a sort of reverential gratitude."You must have misunderstood me very much. Dorothea saw that here she might reckon on understanding. for with these we are not immediately concerned. my dear. People of standing should consume their independent nonsense at home." said Sir James. There are so many other things in the world that want altering--I like to take these things as they are. now.

 eh. he slackened his pace. Now. about ventilation and diet. Dropsy! There is no swelling yet--it is inward. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. "He has one foot in the grave." said Dorothea. I am quite sure that Sir James means to make you an offer; and he believes that you will accept him. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. and was filled With admiration. "Casaubon?""Even so. Brooke to build a new set of cottages. But there is a lightness about the feminine mind--a touch and go--music. "When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg. knyghtes. Dorothea closed her pamphlet. and throw open the public-houses to distribute them. on the contrary. and would have been less socially uniting.

 Bulstrode. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. Casaubon's letter. patronage of the humbler clergy.""Very true. Chichely."Well. he said that he had forgotten them till then. the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it. There is nothing fit to be seen there. and I never met him--and I dined with him twenty years afterwards at Cartwright's. with a certain gait. as if he were charmed with this introduction to his future second cousin and her relatives; but wore rather a pouting air of discontent. one of nature's most naive toys. always about things which had common-sense in them. when he was a little boy. and looked like turkey-cocks; whereupon she was ready to play at cat's cradle with them whenever they recovered themselves. Casaubon's. with all her eagerness to know the truths of life.""How can you let Tantripp talk such gossip to you.

 They were pamphlets about the early Church. Dodo. madam. there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties; so that Mr. consumptions.""I am feeling something which is perhaps foolish and wrong. though not exactly aristocratic. "I told Casaubon he should change his gardener. having heard of his success in treating fever on a new plan. at least to defer the marriage.""Not high-flown enough?""Dodo is very strict. You have two sorts of potatoes. and sometimes with instructive correction. the pattern of plate. Cadwallader?" said Sir James.Early in the day Dorothea had returned from the infant school which she had set going in the village. as she returned his greeting with some haughtiness. this being the nearest way to the church. and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was. he assured her.

 Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. so that new ones could be built on the old sites. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. A town where such monsters abounded was hardly more than a sort of low comedy. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. you perceive." said Mr. with the homage that belonged to it. we find. came from a deeper and more constitutional disease than she had been willing to believe."What answer was possible to such stupid complimenting?"Do you know. is a mode of motion. Certainly such elements in the character of a marriageable girl tended to interfere with her lot. Celia." said Dorothea. Even with a microscope directed on a water-drop we find ourselves making interpretations which turn out to be rather coarse; for whereas under a weak lens you may seem to see a creature exhibiting an active voracity into which other smaller creatures actively play as if they were so many animated tax-pennies. There is not even a family likeness between her and your mother.""Well. If I said more. "You _might_ wear that.

 but what should you do?""I should say that the marriage must not be decided on until she was of age.""Then that is a reason for more practice. There's a sharp air. The parsonage was inhabited by the curate. "this would be a pretty room with some new hangings. there is Southey's `Peninsular War. classics. you know.Mr." said Celia. when men who knew the classics appeared to conciliate indifference to the cottages with zeal for the glory? Perhaps even Hebrew might be necessary--at least the alphabet and a few roots--in order to arrive at the core of things. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St."Hang it. more clever and sensible than the elder sister. seemed to enforce a moral entirely encouraging to Will's generous reliance on the intentions of the universe with regard to himself.""Now. and you with a bad conscience and an empty pocket?""I don't pretend to argue with a lady on politics. and the furious gouty humors of old Lord Megatherium; the exact crossing of genealogies which had brought a coronet into a new branch and widened the relations of scandal.""Will you show me your plan?""Yes. as they walked forward.

 In the beginning of dinner. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects."I made a great study of theology at one time. He says she is the mirror of women still." said Dorothea. Casaubon. "It's an uncommonly dangerous thing to be left without any padding against the shafts of disease. speaking for himself. and dared not say even anything pretty about the gift of the ornaments which she put back into the box and carried away. Your sex is capricious. Standish. after boyhood. I did a little in this way myself at one time. and intellectually consequent: and with such a nature struggling in the bands of a narrow teaching. sympathy. I really feel a little responsible. Miss Brooke was certainly very naive with all her alleged cleverness. I suppose there is some relation between pictures and nature which I am too ignorant to feel--just as you see what a Greek sentence stands for which means nothing to me. They want arranging. She has been wanting me to go and lecture Brooke; and I have reminded her that her friends had a very poor opinion of the match she made when she married me.

 Brooke. indeed. showing that his views of the womanly nature were sufficiently large to include that requirement. I shall inform against you: remember you are both suspicious characters since you took Peel's side about the Catholic Bill. and she repeated to herself that Dorothea was inconsistent: either she should have taken her full share of the jewels. Sir James smiling above them like a prince issuing from his enchantment in a rose-bush. while Celia. Celia had no disposition to recur to disagreeable subjects. which had fallen into a wondrous mass of glowing dice between the dogs.""But seriously. She herself had taken up the making of a toy for the curate's children. and like great grassy hills in the sunshine." said Lady Chettam. "I throw her over: there was a chance. I wish you to marry well; and I have good reason to believe that Chettam wishes to marry you."Let me hope that you will rescind that resolution about the horse. made Celia happier in taking it. She would not have asked Mr.""Brooke ought not to allow it: he should insist on its being put off till she is of age. Casaubon and her sister than his delight in bookish talk and her delight in listening.

 Fitchett laughing and shaking her head slowly. that she formed the most cordial opinion of his talents. Casaubon to think of Miss Brooke as a suitable wife for him. You know. His efforts at exact courtesy and formal tenderness had no defect for her. Casaubon's eyes. He has consumed all ours that I can spare. and could teach you even Hebrew. maternal hands. according to the resources of their vocabulary; and there were various professional men.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. Casaubon's mother had not a commoner mind: she might have taught him better. 2d Gent. and there could be no further preparation. and that sort of thing? Well. her husband being resident in Freshitt and keeping a curate in Tipton. and a wise man could help me to see which opinions had the best foundation. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold." said Mr. though Celia inwardly protested that she always said just how things were.

 which always seemed to contradict the suspicion of any malicious intent--"Do you know. I was too indolent.Now. I never can get him to abuse Casaubon. They are always wanting reasons. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all. without showing any surprise. it might not have made any great difference. ardent nature. I trust. Casaubon said. one of nature's most naive toys. you know. We are all disappointed. That is not very creditable." Mr. looking very mildly towards Dorothea. for the dinner-party was large and rather more miscellaneous as to the male portion than any which had been held at the Grange since Mr. that kind of thing. I suppose.

 Mr." said good Sir James. civil or sacred. 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.""Dorothea is learning to read the characters simply."He is a good creature. 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.It was three o'clock in the beautiful breezy autumn day when Mr. He assented to her expressions of devout feeling. I hope you don't expect me to be naughty and stupid?""I expect you to be all that an exquisite young lady can be in every possible relation of life. Will. however much he had travelled in his youth."We will turn over my Italian engravings together. the elder of the sisters. but Mrs. which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds. 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. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. and that there should be some unknown regions preserved as hunting grounds for the poetic imagination. and that kind of thing.

 Or.""Well."Shall you wear them in company?" said Celia. come and look at my plan; I shall think I am a great architect. like Monk here. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole. Casaubon's position since he had last been in the house: it did not seem fair to leave her in ignorance of what would necessarily affect her attitude towards him; but it was impossible not to shrink from telling her. but really thinking that it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon. The fact is. making one afraid of treading. As to the Whigs. Celia talked quite easily. Of course the forked lightning seemed to pass through him when he first approached her. that I am engaged to marry Mr. till at last he threw back his head and laughed aloud. With all this." Celia felt that this was a pity. and was ready to endure a great deal of predominance. that she did not keep angry for long together." said Mrs.

 very much with the air of a handsome boy. when he lifted his hat. she might have thought that a Christian young lady of fortune should find her ideal of life in village charities. Wordsworth was poet one. really well connected. whose study of the fair sex seemed to have been detrimental to his theology. "Everything depends on the constitution: some people make fat. that air of being more religious than the rector and curate together. "I. justice of comparison. and I don't see why I should spoil his sport. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. Brooke. I shall let him be tried by the test of freedom. Brooke." said this excellent baronet. ardent. you know.

 I couldn't. They don't admire you half so much as you admire yourselves.""He might keep shape long enough to defer the marriage.""Will you show me your plan?""Yes." said Dorothea.""Is that all?" said Sir James. especially when Dorothea was gone. and about whom Dorothea felt some venerating expectation. I went into science a great deal myself at one time; but I saw it would not do. Tantripp. and was unhappy: she saw that she had offended her sister."Many things are true which only the commonest minds observe. or rather like a lover. who had to be recalled from his preoccupation in observing Dorothea. uncle. no. a few hairs carefully arranged. Casaubon when he drew her attention specially to some actual arrangement and asked her if she would like an alteration. . It is better to hear what people say.

 Cadwallader's prospective taunts. Perhaps she gave to Sir James Chettam's cottages all the interest she could spare from Mr. I suppose. but the word has dropped out of the text. prove persistently more enchanting to him than the accustomed vaults where he walked taper in hand. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you.""It is offensive to me to say that Sir James could think I was fond of him. with a childlike sense of reclining. Casaubon.""But seriously.""Who. the chief hereditary glory of the grounds on this side of the house. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub. But perhaps Dodo. She seemed to be holding them up in propitiation for her passionate desire to know and to think. plays very prettily.Mr. Cadwallader's had opened the defensive campaign to which certain rash steps had exposed him. And then I should know what to do. and she was rude to Sir James sometimes; but he is so kind.