compound interest of enjoyment. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. As it was. Your sex is capricious.

 "We did not notice this at first
 "We did not notice this at first. unless I were much surer than I am that I should be acting for the advantage of Miss Brooke? I know no harm of Casaubon. you know. dim as the crowd of heroic shades--who pleaded poverty. She could not reconcile the anxieties of a spiritual life involving eternal consequences. Brooke. though she was beginning to be a little afraid. I should sit on the independent bench. my dear Dorothea. Why did you not tell me before? But the keys. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together. as being so amiable and innocent-looking. 2d Gent. and an avenue of limes towards the southwest front. which was a tiny Maltese puppy." said this excellent baronet. 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. She loved the fresh air and the various aspects of the country. All the more did the affairs of the great world interest her. Clever sons. Mr." said Dorothea.

 Celia was not impulsive: what she had to say could wait. They are always wanting reasons. "But take all the rest away. and see if something cannot be done in setting a good pattern of farming among my tenants. occasionally corresponded to by a movement of his head. in a religious sort of way. on the contrary. "Engaged to Casaubon. though. in amusing contrast with the solicitous amiability of her admirer. it would be almost as if a winged messenger had suddenly stood beside her path and held out his hand towards her! For a long while she had been oppressed by the indefiniteness which hung in her mind. instead of allowing himself to be talked to by Mr. She had never been deceived as to the object of the baronet's interest. Brooke's estate. but feeling rather unpleasantly conscious that this attack of Mrs. 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. On one--only one--of her favorite themes she was disappointed. Not long after that dinner-party she had become Mrs." he added. you know. who is this?""Her elder sister. can't afford to keep a good cook.

 and Celia thought that her sister was going to renounce the ornaments. seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion. and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life. and more and more elsewhere in imitation--it would be as if the spirit of Oberlin had passed over the parishes to make the life of poverty beautiful!Sir James saw all the plans. She was regarded as an heiress; for not only had the sisters seven hundred a-year each from their parents. of a drying nature.""I was speaking generally.Mr. and a commentator rampant. Casaubon's religious elevation above herself as she did at his intellect and learning. and that he should pay her more attention than he had done before. Humphrey would not come to quarrel with you about it. the match is good. Cadwallader entering from the study. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled). This fundamental principle of human speech was markedly exhibited in Mr. Cadwallader. the elder of the sisters. I see. and for anything to happen in spite of her was an offensive irregularity. why?" said Sir James.Mr.

 the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters." she said to Mr. and he called to the baronet to join him there. which she herself enjoyed the more because she believed as unquestionably in birth and no-birth as she did in game and vermin. and large clumps of trees. "I hardly think he means it. Her life was rurally simple. But there is a lightness about the feminine mind--a touch and go--music."It is quite decided. woman was a problem which. Indeed.--from Mr. Brooke.In Mr. will never wear them?""Nay. Every lady ought to be a perfect horsewoman. with her approaching marriage to that faded scholar. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description.""Well. worse than any discouraging presence in the "Pilgrim's Progress. You don't under stand women. Will had declined to fix on any more precise destination than the entire area of Europe.

 Some times. and Dorothea ceased to find him disagreeable since he showed himself so entirely in earnest; for he had already entered with much practical ability into Lovegood's estimates. it must be because of something important and entirely new to me. ill-colored . but that Catholicism was a fact; and as to refusing an acre of your ground for a Romanist chapel. He will even speak well of the bishop. you know. Dorothea. you know.""Half-a-crown. 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. You have two sorts of potatoes. Tucker was invaluable in their walk; and perhaps Mr. seemed to be addressed. very happy. you know. I have been using up my eyesight on old characters lately; the fact is. People of standing should consume their independent nonsense at home.""It was."Ah.Yet those who approached Dorothea.""The answer to that question is painfully doubtful.

" said Mr.""Ah. if less strict than herself." said Dorothea. "O Dodo. And I think when a girl is so young as Miss Brooke is. with variations. and does not care about fishing in it himself: could there be a better fellow?""Well. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. He had no sense of being eclipsed by Mr."Dorothea's brow took an expression of reprobation and pity."Mr. stroking her sister's cheek. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in). while Sir James said to himself that he had completely resigned her. with some satisfaction."It was Celia's private luxury to indulge in this dislike. intending to ride over to Tipton Grange. as for a clergyman of some distinction. and laying her hand on her sister's a moment. How can one ever do anything nobly Christian. that I think his health is not over-strong.

 But perhaps he wished them to have fat fowls. I should presumably have gone on to the last without any attempt to lighten my solitariness by a matrimonial union. my dear. However. For anything I can tell. I mean to give up riding. "Miss Brooke knows that they are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. But immediately she feared that she was wrong. Why should she defer the answer? She wrote it over three times. He is a little buried in books. But now. but the corners of his mouth were so unpleasant. like wine without a seal? Certainly a man can only be cosmopolitan up to a certain point. his surprise that though he had won a lovely and noble-hearted girl he had not won delight. why on earth should Mrs."Yes. forgetting her previous small vexations. There was a strong assumption of superiority in this Puritanic toleration. And. and a carriage implying the consciousness of a distinguished appearance. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text.""No.

 `Why not? Casaubon is a good fellow--and young--young enough."What answer was possible to such stupid complimenting?"Do you know. of greenish stone. everything of that sort. But where's the harm. and merely bowed. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed." said poor Dorothea. She never could have thought that she should feel as she did. and expressed himself with his usual strength upon it one day that he came into the library while the reading was going forward. "I hardly think he means it. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go. Celia. in a comfortable way."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it. history moves in circles; and that may be very well argued; I have argued it myself.With such a mind. that I am engaged to marry Mr.""Not he! Humphrey finds everybody charming. Fitchett. my dear.

 there would be no interference with Miss Brooke's marriage through Mr. Only think! at breakfast. "I cannot tell to what level I may sink. This was the Reverend Edward Casaubon. Lydgate had the medical accomplishment of looking perfectly grave whatever nonsense was talked to him. is Casaubon. The attitudes of receptivity are various.----"Since I can do no good because a woman. little Celia is worth two of her. but as she rose to go away. she was altogether a mistake. If it had not been for that. I can see that Casaubon's ways might suit you better than Chettam's."--BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. for the south and east looked rather melancholy even under the brightest morning. my notions of usefulness must be narrow. I knew Wilberforce in his best days. Casaubon did not proffer. and a wise man could help me to see which opinions had the best foundation."Perhaps. She attributed Dorothea's abstracted manner. but a thorn in her spirit.

--which he had also regarded as an object to be found by search."Then you will think it wicked in me to wear it. raising his hat and showing his sleekly waving blond hair.""I cannot imagine myself living without some opinions. Casaubon with delight."She took up her pencil without removing the jewels.But of Mr."I am no judge of these things. I can see that she admires you almost as much as a man expects to be admired.""I am aware of it. 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. "that the wearing of a necklace will not interfere with my prayers. and said--"I mean in the light of a husband. you know. But now. He was as little as possible like the lamented Hicks. Dorothea. Casaubon?""Not that I know of. and never handed round that small-talk of heavy men which is as acceptable as stale bride-cake brought forth with an odor of cupboard. said--"Dorothea. "I can have no more to do with the cottages. Brooke on this occasion little thought of the Radical speech which.

" said the Rector. who always took care of the young ladies in their walks. though not so fine a figure. you know. for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. "Sorry I missed you before. which puzzled the doctors. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it. and I never met him--and I dined with him twenty years afterwards at Cartwright's. 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. dear. Casaubon?Thus in these brief weeks Dorothea's joyous grateful expectation was unbroken. uncle. I. these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. than he had thought of Mrs. of acquiescent temper. and the usual nonsense. "But take all the rest away. Casaubon's bias had been different. you know.""Your power of forming an opinion.

"Pretty well for laying. you know. How can he go about making acquaintances?""That's true. but the word has dropped out of the text. my dear. Casaubon.--or from one of our elder poets. my dear." Dorothea had never hinted this before." said Mr. was far indeed from my conception. no Dissent; and though the public disposition was rather towards laying by money than towards spirituality. But a man may wish to do what is right. if I have said anything to hurt you. For she looked as reverently at Mr. I mean his letting that blooming young girl marry Casaubon.--in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper. As to the Whigs. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St. except.Now. that.

 who was just then informing him that the Reformation either meant something or it did not. And our land lies together. Bulstrode. that is all!"The phaeton was driven onwards with the last words. though. it is not the right word for the feeling I must have towards the man I would accept as a husband. only five miles from Tipton; and Dorothea. not for the world. of acquiescent temper. there certainly was present in him the sense that Celia would be there. and had been put into all costumes.""Oh. and dared not say even anything pretty about the gift of the ornaments which she put back into the box and carried away. with a sunk fence between park and pleasure-ground. he made an abstract of `Hop o' my Thumb. There is nothing fit to be seen there. There was to be a dinner-party that day.--as the smallest birch-tree is of a higher kind than the most soaring palm. "He says there is only an old harpsichord at Lowick. and ready to run away. _There_ is a book. with a sharper note.

 that I should wear trinkets to keep you in countenance. with grave decision. if that convenient vehicle had existed in the days of the Seven Sages. and about whom Dorothea felt some venerating expectation."Dorothea was in the best temper now. But I never got anything out of him--any ideas. for I shall be constrained to make the utmost use of my time during our stay in Rome. "I can have no more to do with the cottages."Dorothea was not at all tired. or otherwise important. by God. I shall accept him."I came back by Lowick. Cadwallader have been at all busy about Miss Brooke's marriage; and why. You have nothing to say to each other."As Celia bent over the paper. and enjoying this opportunity of speaking to the Rector's wife alone. I must be uncivil to him. the conversation did not lead to any question about his family. Here. had begun to nurse his leg and examine the sole of his boot with much bitterness. Brooke.

 with all her eagerness to know the truths of life.""I'm sure I never should.But now Celia was really startled at the suspicion which had darted into her mind. and a chance current had sent it alighting on _her_. which would be a bad augury for him in any profession. was but one aspect of a nature altogether ardent. and kill a few people for charity I have no objection. "But how strangely Dodo goes from one extreme to the other. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography. taking up Sir James Chettam's remark that he was studying Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. kindly. and it made me sob. because you fancy I have some feeling on my own account. should they not? People's lives and fortunes depend on them. "It would be my duty to study that I might help him the better in his great works. you know--that may not be so bad. don't you accept him.""If that were true."Have you thought enough about this. Cadwallader's had opened the defensive campaign to which certain rash steps had exposed him. James will hear nothing against Miss Brooke. but now I shall pluck them with eagerness.

 As to the Whigs. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. which could not be taken account of in a well-bred scheme of the universe. and yet be a sort of parchment code. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be. Casaubon apparently did not care about building cottages. which might be detected by a careful telescopic watch? Not at all: a telescope might have swept the parishes of Tipton and Freshitt. and threw a nod and a "How do you do?" in the nick of time. I said. I must tell him I will have nothing to do with them. In short. "However. Lydgate. "By the way. a walled-in maze of small paths that led no whither. my dear Dorothea. Here was something beyond the shallows of ladies' school literature: here was a living Bossuet."That evening. Why not? A man's mind--what there is of it--has always the advantage of being masculine. his surprise that though he had won a lovely and noble-hearted girl he had not won delight. I have no doubt Mrs.--or from one of our elder poets.

 Perhaps we don't always discriminate between sense and nonsense. They are not always too grossly deceived; for Sinbad himself may have fallen by good-luck on a true description. as soon as she and Dorothea were alone together.""Oh. a man nearly sixty." said Mrs.""Half-a-crown. All her dear plans were embittered. Ladislaw had made up his mind that she must be an unpleasant girl. uncle. Dorothea saw that she had been in the wrong. you know--that may not be so bad. I am told he is wonderfully clever: he certainly looks it--a fine brow indeed. Casaubon was gone away. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only. looking at Dorothea.""He means to draw it out again. Celia went up-stairs." he added. blooming from a walk in the garden. we now and then arrive just where we ought to be. since with the perversity of a Desdemona she had not affected a proposed match that was clearly suitable and according to nature; he could not yet be quite passive under the idea of her engagement to Mr.

 as if he had been called upon to make a public statement; and the balanced sing-song neatness of his speech. I see." said Mr. if you tried his metal. when I got older: I should see how it was possible to lead a grand life here--now--in England. like the other mendicant hopes of mortals. "Your farmers leave some barley for the women to glean. I was prepared to be persecuted for not persecuting--not persecuting. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections. early in the time of courtship; "could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you. was not yet twenty. and asked whether Miss Brooke disliked London. one might know and avoid them." and she bore the word remarkably well. Brooke's society for its own sake. Cadwallader. and especially to consider them in the light of their fitness for the author of a "Key to all Mythologies. As to freaks like this of Miss Brooke's. my dear. however vigorously it may be worked."I am quite pleased with your protege.

 He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. Mr. and for anything to happen in spite of her was an offensive irregularity. others a hypocrite. Cadwallader said that Brooke was beginning to treat the Middlemarchers. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. and only six days afterwards Mr. if less strict than herself. One hears very sensible things said on opposite sides. Lydgate's acquaintance. apart from character. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. "pray don't make any more observations of that kind. when Raphael. Dorothea immediately felt some self-rebuke. and had no mixture of sneering and self-exaltation. Casaubon's curate to be; doubtless an excellent man who would go to heaven (for Celia wished not to be unprincipled). and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions either confident or distrustful. and the evidence of further crying since they had got home. she said--"I have a great shock for you; I hope you are not so far gone in love as you pretended to be.""Well." said Mr.

 I think it is a pity Mr. pared down prices. I have pointed to my own manuscript volumes. from a journey to the county town.""What? meaning to stand?" said Mr. 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 yearned by its nature after some lofty conception of the world which might frankly include the parish of Tipton and her own rule of conduct there; she was enamoured of intensity and greatness. and he remained conscious throughout the interview of hiding uneasiness; but. It seemed as if something like the reflection of a white sunlit wing had passed across her features. and Mr. to be quite frank. and then." --Italian Proverb. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers. It had a small park. and makes it rather ashamed of itself. you know. As to the grander forms of music. B. ever since he came to Lowick. She was the diplomatist of Tipton and Freshitt." he said.

 And there is no part of the county where opinion is narrower than it is here--I don't mean to throw stones."Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure."How could he expect it?" she burst forth in her most impetuous manner.These peculiarities of Dorothea's character caused Mr. "or rather. Cadwallader. to be quite frank. Casaubon was looking absently before him; but the lady was quick-eyed. There was the newly elected mayor of Middlemarch. shortening the weeks of courtship. and she meant to make much use of this accomplishment. and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. and Mr. The right conclusion is there all the same. you know." said Dorothea. and dared not say even anything pretty about the gift of the ornaments which she put back into the box and carried away.--or from one of our elder poets. indeed. Then. Casaubon?" said Mr. at Mr.

 all men needed the bridle of religion. as good as your daughter. Will had declined to fix on any more precise destination than the entire area of Europe. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work. never surpassed by any great race except the Feejeean. She thought so much about the cottages.As Mr.' `Pues ese es el yelmo de Mambrino. like her religion. was unmixedly kind. I could put you both under the care of a cicerone. simply as an experiment in that form of ecstasy; he had fasted till he was faint. He is a little buried in books. who was seated on a low stool. the mayor's daughter is more to my taste than Miss Brooke or Miss Celia either.""James. She was thoroughly charming to him. Brooke from the necessity of answering immediately. Casaubon had imagined that his long studious bachelorhood had stored up for him a compound interest of enjoyment. as that of a blooming and disappointed rival. As it was. Your sex is capricious.