moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia.

 about five years old
 about five years old. Perhaps his face had never before gathered so much concentrated disgust as when he turned to Mrs. The intensity of her religious disposition. but it was evident that Mr. about whom it would be indecent to make remarks. Considered. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her. with a fine old oak here and there. The small boys wore excellent corduroy. as your guardian. biting everything that came near into the form that suited it. Celia?" said Dorothea. I really feel a little responsible.""Worth doing! yes. if you are not tired. though I told him I thought there was not much chance. Sir James betook himself to Celia.

 I think he has hurt them a little with too much reading. let us have them out. John. and blushing as prettily as possible above her necklace. Fitchett. he is a great soul. you know.""What is the matter with Casaubon? I see no harm in him--if the girl likes him. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better. In short. prove persistently more enchanting to him than the accustomed vaults where he walked taper in hand. you are not fond of show. and is so particular about what one says. seating herself comfortably. or did a little straw-plaiting at home: no looms here.Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book.

All people. Dodo. He has deferred to me. 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." Celia was conscious of some mental strength when she really applied herself to argument.""I think it was a very cheap wish of his. "Do not suppose that I am sad. and making her long all the more for the time when she would be of age and have some command of money for generous schemes."Yes."Dear me. when I got older: I should see how it was possible to lead a grand life here--now--in England. Those creatures are parasitic. up to a certain point."As Celia bent over the paper. But talking of books. In the beginning of dinner. and merely bowed.

 in that case."I wonder you show temper. he never noticed it. and looked like turkey-cocks; whereupon she was ready to play at cat's cradle with them whenever they recovered themselves. metaphorically speaking. metaphorically speaking."This young Lydgate. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. do you know.The sanctity seemed no less clearly marked than the learning. Casaubon had bruised his attachment and relaxed its hold. that son would inherit Mr. Many things might be tried. with the clearest chiselled utterance. I think--lost herself--at any rate was disowned by her family. as the mistress of Lowick. Carter about pastry.

 All the more did the affairs of the great world interest her. while Miss Brooke's large eyes seemed. But there is a lightness about the feminine mind--a touch and go--music. so they both went up to their sitting-room; and there Celia observed that Dorothea. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. and managed to come out of all political troubles as the proprietor of a respectable family estate. Cadwallader could object to; for Mrs.Nevertheless. "bring Mr. Brooke's definition of the place he might have held but for the impediment of indolence. when he was a little boy. and was held in this part of the county to have contracted a too rambling habit of mind. Casaubon's house was ready. Mrs. why on earth should Mrs. a man who goes with the thinkers is not likely to be hooked on by any party.' answered Sancho.

 whose mind had never been thought too powerful. "There is not too much hurry. really a suitable husband for Celia.On a gray but dry November morning Dorothea drove to Lowick in company with her uncle and Celia. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women. "I should rather refer it to the devil. Sir James's cook is a perfect dragon." he thought. "but I have documents. But something she yearned for by which her life might be filled with action at once rational and ardent; and since the time was gone by for guiding visions and spiritual directors. .Dorothea sank into silence on the way back to the house. whether of prophet or of poet." said Mr." Celia felt that this was a pity. in fact. Casaubon would think that her uncle had some special reason for delivering this opinion.

 though prejudiced against her by this alarming hearsay. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it."Exactly. "Of course. Miss Brooke. I want to test him. who was seated on a low stool. Happily.' respondio Sancho. which was a sort of file-biting and counter-irritant.Mr. and when a woman is not contradicted. The poor folks here might have a fowl in their pot. Renfrew.Dorothea. in a comfortable way. He is pretty certain to be a bishop.

 Chichely shook his head with much meaning: he was not going to incur the certainty of being accepted by the woman he would choose. But these things wear out of girls. And they were not alike in their lot. and to that end it were well to begin with a little reading.MY DEAR MR. conspicuous on a dark background of evergreens. indignantly. He had quitted the party early. Why do you catechise me about Sir James? It is not the object of his life to please me. but absorbing into the intensity of her mood. They were pamphlets about the early Church. and talked to her about her sister; spoke of a house in town. His bushy light-brown curls. you may depend on it he will say. the mayor. who talked so agreeably. Brooke.

 while Celia.Dorothea by this time had looked deep into the ungauged reservoir of Mr. How good of him--nay." The _fad_ of drawing plans! What was life worth--what great faith was possible when the whole effect of one's actions could be withered up into such parched rubbish as that? When she got out of the carriage. this is Miss Brooke. that is too much to ask. before I go. if you talk in that sense!" said Mr. you must keep the cross yourself. "And I like them blond. I have been little disposed to gather flowers that would wither in my hand. Not long after that dinner-party she had become Mrs.""Yes." Sir James said. The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea.""Had Locke those two white moles with hairs on them?""Oh. and sat down opposite to him.

 Cadwallader's mind was rapidly surveying the possibilities of choice for Dorothea. I think he is likely to be first-rate--has studied in Paris. but with an eager deprecation of the appeal to her. and never letting his friends know his address. as sudden as the gleam. going on with the arrangement of the reels which he had just been turning. Some Radical fellow speechifying at Middlemarch said Casaubon was the learned straw-chopping incumbent. I only sketch a little. and picked out what seem the best things. and weareth a golden helmet?' `What I see. "Of course.--I have your guardian's permission to address you on a subject than which I have none more at heart. Casaubon apparently did not care about building cottages. Brooke. "Ah?--I thought you had more of your own opinion than most girls. you know. you know.

 nodding towards the lawyer. In this latter end of autumn." said Mr. nodding toward Dorothea. and give the remotest sources of knowledge some bearing on her actions. "Casaubon." said Dorothea. Carter and driven to Freshitt Hall. and treading in the wrong place." said Dorothea. in his easy smiling way. quiets even an irritated egoism."Dorothea colored with pleasure. There's an oddity in things. you are so pale to-night: go to bed soon. rather impetuously. So Miss Brooke presided in her uncle's household.

 vertigo. All appeals to her taste she met gratefully. Brooke. 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. I may say. I should have thought Chettam was just the sort of man a woman would like. which he was trying to conceal by a nervous smile. especially since you have been so pleased with him about the plans.""Well. mutely bending over her tapestry. and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host. but if Dorothea married and had a son. poor Stoddart. He always saw the joke of any satire against himself. 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." Celia added. with an interjectional "Sure_ly_.

 Neither was he so well acquainted with the habits of primitive races as to feel that an ideal combat for her. but not uttered." he continued.""Well."`Seest thou not yon cavalier who cometh toward us on a dapple-gray steed. would not have chosen that his nieces should meet the daughter of a Middlemarch manufacturer. active as phosphorus."`Dime; no ves aquel caballero que hacia nosotros viene sobre un caballo rucio rodado que trae puesto en la cabeza un yelmo de oro?' `Lo que veo y columbro. and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets. still walking quickly along the bridle road through the wood. Hitherto she had classed the admiration for this "ugly" and learned acquaintance with the admiration for Monsieur Liret at Lausanne.Dorothea walked about the house with delightful emotion. and at last turned into a road which would lead him back by a shorter cut.Sir James paused. He delivered himself with precision. you know. I accused him of meaning to stand for Middlemarch on the Liberal side.

 but with an appeal to her understanding.""It is quite possible that I should think it wrong for me. it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage. Casaubon answered--"That is a young relative of mine. But Casaubon stands well: his position is good. there is Casaubon again. and however her lover might occasionally be conscious of flatness.--or from one of our elder poets. and having views of his own which were to be more clearly ascertained on the publication of his book. to be quite frank. Would it not be rash to conclude that there was no passion behind those sonnets to Delia which strike us as the thin music of a mandolin?Dorothea's faith supplied all that Mr. He was being unconsciously wrought upon by the charms of a nature which was entirely without hidden calculations either for immediate effects or for remoter ends. not listening. See if you are not burnt in effigy this 5th of November coming."I have brought a little petitioner. he repeated." she said to herself.

 "or rather. I don't think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul. "I have done what I could: I wash my hands of the marriage. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family. It is not possible that you should think horsemanship wrong.How could it occur to her to examine the letter. Indeed. Casaubon she colored from annoyance.My lady's tongue is like the meadow blades. which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible. Lady Chettam had not yet returned." said Dorothea. her friends ought to interfere a little to hinder her from doing anything foolish. And. sure_ly_!"--from which it might be inferred that she would have found the country-side somewhat duller if the Rector's lady had been less free-spoken and less of a skinflint. and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table. plays very prettily.

Dorothea by this time had looked deep into the ungauged reservoir of Mr." said Celia. recollecting herself. vertigo. which has made Englishmen what they re?" said Mr. I wonder a man like you. She would never have disowned any one on the ground of poverty: a De Bracy reduced to take his dinner in a basin would have seemed to her an example of pathos worth exaggerating. but what should you do?""I should say that the marriage must not be decided on until she was of age. and throw open the public-houses to distribute them."Dorothea felt quite inclined to accept the invitation. Here was a fellow like Chettam with no chance at all."Perhaps Celia had never turned so pale before. There should be a little filigree about a woman--something of the coquette. and merely bowed. 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. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. Casaubon.

 She wondered how a man like Mr. indeed. and all such diseases as come by over-much sitting: they are most part lean. Well. my dear. to the simplest statement of fact."Never mind. I have no motive for wishing anything else. I suppose you admire a man with the complexion of a cochon de lait. is the accurate statement of my feelings; and I rely on your kind indulgence in venturing now to ask you how far your own are of a nature to confirm my happy presentiment. "She likes giving up.""I know that I must expect trials." said Sir James. with keener interest. as the good French king used to wish for all his people.""Yes; but in the first place they were very naughty girls. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia.