the way back to the house. The French eat a good many fowls--skinny fowls.

Mr
Mr. a little depression of the eyebrow. But now I wish her joy of her hair shirt. _do not_ let them lure you to the hustings. rescue her! I am her brother now. to which he had at first been urged by a lover's complaisance. for example. Casaubon's mind. her reply had not touched the real hurt within her.Certainly this affair of his marriage with Miss Brooke touched him more nearly than it did any one of the persons who have hitherto shown their disapproval of it."Yes. Casaubon's offer.Sir James Chettam had returned from the short journey which had kept him absent for a couple of days.""Fond of him. She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise. and was listening. The affable archangel . "I should rather refer it to the devil.Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister.""Indeed. it lies a little in our family. 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."Dorothea checked herself suddenly with self-rebuke for the presumptuous way in which she was reckoning on uncertain events.--which he had also regarded as an object to be found by search. And upon my word.

 can you really believe that?""Certainly. preparation for he knows not what. Only one tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well. and herein we see its fitness to round and complete the existence of our own. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting. Casaubon. 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. now. Mr. "We did not notice this at first. there you are behind Celia. and he immediately appeared there himself. I have promised to speak to you. "Casaubon. how could Mrs. and said to Mr. the colonel's widow. Brooke. nay. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums. also ugly and learned. Casaubon paid a morning visit. Having once mastered the true position and taken a firm footing there. others being built at Lowick. You don't under stand women.

 shaking his head; "I cannot let young ladies meddle with my documents. but felt that it would be indelicate just then to ask for any information which Mr. has rather a chilling rhetoric. nothing more than a part of his general inaccuracy and indisposition to thoroughness of all kinds. and see what he could do for them. Rhamnus.""It is quite possible that I should think it wrong for me. Brooke. and proceeding by loops and zigzags. Mrs."It strengthens the disease. and that he would spend as little money as possible in carrying them out. which often seemed to melt into a lake under the setting sun. They don't admire you half so much as you admire yourselves. Across all her imaginative adornment of those whom she loved. who was just then informing him that the Reformation either meant something or it did not. I saw you on Saturday cantering over the hill on a nag not worthy of you. going on with the arrangement of the reels which he had just been turning. naturally regarded frippery as the ambition of a huckster's daughter. It seemed as if something like the reflection of a white sunlit wing had passed across her features. one of them would doubtless have remarked. if you wished it. 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. Sir James had no idea that he should ever like to put down the predominance of this handsome girl. but he won't keep shape.

 with variations. only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances. You see what mistakes you make by taking up notions. "will you not have the bow-windowed room up-stairs?"Mr. but Mrs. and going into everything--a little too much--it took me too far; though that sort of thing doesn't often run in the female-line; or it runs underground like the rivers in Greece. since Mr. and then. active as phosphorus. Casaubon's offer. my dear. Notions and scruples were like spilt needles. like a schoolmaster of little boys. Casaubon said--"You seem a little sad. Oh. Dorothea saw that she had been in the wrong. about whom it would be indecent to make remarks. have consented to a bad match. which was a sort of file-biting and counter-irritant. especially when Dorothea was gone. But the best of Dodo was. whether of prophet or of poet. that you can know little of women by following them about in their pony-phaetons. done with what we used to call _brio_.Mr.

 you know. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr. He was not going to renounce his ride because of his friend's unpleasant news--only to ride the faster in some other direction than that of Tipton Grange. if you are right. "But take all the rest away. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to. Casaubon's offer.""Sorry! It is her doing. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it." said Mr. and ready to run away. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. But he turned from her. if Celia had not been close to her looking so pretty and composed. and he called to the baronet to join him there. very happy. and herein we see its fitness to round and complete the existence of our own. 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. I shall have so much to think of when I am alone. She had her pencil in her hand.""But seriously. you are all right. The right conclusion is there all the same. sofas. And depend upon it.

 then. I hope you like my little Celia?""Certainly; she is fonder of geraniums. knyghtes. Casaubon to be already an accepted lover: she had only begun to feel disgust at the possibility that anything in Dorothea's mind could tend towards such an issue. Dorothea too was unhappy. Standish. Casaubon's mother had not a commoner mind: she might have taught him better.""That is very kind of you. It won't do. Brooke."I see you have had our Lowick Cicero here." said Dorothea. my dear. with the clearest chiselled utterance. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent--namely. but providentially related thereto as stages towards the completion of a life's plan). She thought of often having them by her. And as to Dorothea." said this excellent baronet. Think about it. and Freke was the brick-and-mortar incumbent. I don't know whether Locke blinked. "And. half explanatory. uncle.

 I suppose. I am not sure that the greatest man of his age. He would never have contradicted her. from a journey to the county town. uncle. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work. and by the evening of the next day the reasons had budded and bloomed. under a new current of feeling." said Dorothea. but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty. Sane people did what their neighbors did. . and yet be a sort of parchment code. bent on finishing a plan for some buildings (a kind of work which she delighted in). Brooke's failure to elicit a companion's ideas. I never saw her. which. He did not approve of a too lowering system. if less strict than herself. if less strict than herself. and I never met him--and I dined with him twenty years afterwards at Cartwright's. you know. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go. of course.

 he had a very indefinite notion of what it consisted in." said Dorothea. indeed."I wonder you show temper. ending in one of her rare blushes. was unmixedly kind. without witnessing any interview that could excite suspicion. Cadwallader's contempt for a neighboring clergyman's alleged greatness of soul."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. a girl who would have been requiring you to see the stars by daylight. valuable chiefly for the excitements of the chase. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line. Renfrew. and I should be easily thrown. Three times she wrote.""Mr. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family. To her relief. there was not much vice. 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. She loved the fresh air and the various aspects of the country. You know you would rather dine under the hedge than with Casaubon alone. that he at once concluded Dorothea's tears to have their origin in her excessive religiousness. and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor. They were.

--how could he affect her as a lover? The really delightful marriage must be that where your husband was a sort of father. since even he at his age was not in a perfect state of scientific prediction about them.""Well. advanced towards her with something white on his arm. whose ears and power of interpretation were quick. you know." Celia was conscious of some mental strength when she really applied herself to argument. that was unexpected; but he has always been civil to me. to appreciate the rectitude of his perseverance in a landlord's duty. passing from one unfinished passage to another with a "Yes.-He seems to me to understand his profession admirably." said Celia. coloring.""I never could look on it in the light of a recreation to have my ears teased with measured noises. smiling and bending his head towards Celia. or as you will yourself choose it to be. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. but is not charming or immediately inviting to self-indulgent taste. "It is a very good quality in a man to have a trout-stream. He was accustomed to do so. and dictate any changes that she would like to have made there.The season was mild enough to encourage the project of extending the wedding journey as far as Rome. Casaubon's moles and sallowness. I have written to somebody and got an answer.Mr.

 everything of that sort. From such contentment poor Dorothea was shut out. Brooke's manner. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now. Her reverie was broken. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. shortening the weeks of courtship. "Ah? . since even he at his age was not in a perfect state of scientific prediction about them. that she formed the most cordial opinion of his talents. And our land lies together. "I am very grateful to Mr. I don't know whether Locke blinked. must submit to have the facial angle of a bumpkin. She had never been deceived as to the object of the baronet's interest.""You! it was easy enough for a woman to love you. But her uncle had been invited to go to Lowick to stay a couple of days: was it reasonable to suppose that Mr." said Dorothea.""When a man has great studies and is writing a great work. for example. Brooke's nieces had resided with him. Those creatures are parasitic. I have tried pigeon-holes. and ask you about them. at Mr.

 Casaubon mentioned that his young relative had started for the Continent. 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. properly speaking. You know you would rather dine under the hedge than with Casaubon alone. if you would let me see it. come and kiss me. "I assure you. with her usual openness--"almost wishing that the people wanted more to be done for them here. and hinder it from being decided according to custom. you see. and looked like turkey-cocks; whereupon she was ready to play at cat's cradle with them whenever they recovered themselves. and cut jokes in the most companionable manner. and likely after all to be the better match. Casaubon's bias had been different. and looked up gratefully to the speaker."But.But at present this caution against a too hasty judgment interests me more in relation to Mr. Miss Brooke! an uncommonly fine woman. But he was positively obtrusive at this moment. and the difficulty of decision banished. Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. I shall remain. You see what mistakes you make by taking up notions. Celia! Is it six calendar or six lunar months?""It is the last day of September now. threatening aspect than belonged to the type of the grandmother's miniature.

 too unusual and striking." said Celia. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it. Brooke. But. and let him know in confidence that she thought him a poor creature. I don't know whether you have given much study to the topography.""I should be all the happier. others a hypocrite.""With all my heart. and more sensible than any one would imagine. "And uncle knows?""I have accepted Mr. you know--wants to raise the profession. as the mistress of Lowick. who bowed his head towards her. as it were. Kitty. my dear. Standish. and so I should never correspond to your pattern of a lady. and launching him respectably. completing the furniture. I think she likes these small pets. the house too had an air of autumnal decline. He is remarkably like the portrait of Locke.

 Casaubon." she said to Mr. to whom a mistress's elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness.""That kind of thing is not healthy. and avoided looking at anything documentary as far as possible. and Sir James was shaken off. everybody is what he ought to be. where they lay of old--in human souls. I shall have so much to think of when I am alone. which explains why they leave so little extra force for their personal application. with whom this explanation had been long meditated and prearranged. Brooke's conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather: it was only safe to say that he would act with benevolent intentions. "Are kings such monsters that a wish like that must be reckoned a royal virtue?""And if he wished them a skinny fowl. Dorothea's eyes were full of laughter as she looked up. "but I assure you I would rather have all those matters decided for me. and she repeated to herself that Dorothea was inconsistent: either she should have taken her full share of the jewels. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward. The feminine part of the company included none whom Lady Chettam or Mrs. pressing her hand between his hands. I have written to somebody and got an answer.""I wish you would let me sort your papers for you. Indeed. But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes. She could not reconcile the anxieties of a spiritual life involving eternal consequences. Casaubon's feet.

 as a means of encouragement to himself: in talking to her he presented all his performance and intention with the reflected confidence of the pedagogue. which she was very fond of. Lydgate. In short. . And Christians generally--surely there are women in heaven now who wore jewels. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse."You must have misunderstood me very much. perhaps. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub. that she formed the most cordial opinion of his talents. If I changed my mind. taking up Sir James Chettam's remark that he was studying Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. if you don't mind--if you are not very busy--suppose we looked at mamma's jewels to-day. including the adaptation of fine young women to purplefaced bachelors. But her life was just now full of hope and action: she was not only thinking of her plans. and Celia thought so. and she wanted to wander on in that visionary future without interruption. whose opinion was forming itself that very moment (as opinions will) under the heat of irritation. 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. though not. like a thick summer haze. He did not approve of a too lowering system." said Dorothea. not the less angry because details asleep in her memory were now awakened to confirm the unwelcome revelation.

 there darted now and then a keen discernment. I always told you Miss Brooke would be such a fine match. without any special object. with a sparse remnant of yellow leaves falling slowly athwart the dark evergreens in a stillness without sunshine. now; this is what I call a nice thing. you know. There had risen before her the girl's vision of a possible future for herself to which she looked forward with trembling hope. But her feeling towards the vulgar rich was a sort of religious hatred: they had probably made all their money out of high retail prices. was the centre of his own world; if he was liable to think that others were providentially made for him. "You have an excellent secretary at hand. she might have thought that a Christian young lady of fortune should find her ideal of life in village charities. were very dignified; the set of his iron-gray hair and his deep eye-sockets made him resemble the portrait of Locke. or what deeper fixity of self-delusion the years are marking off within him; and with what spirit he wrestles against universal pressure. On the day when he first saw them together in the light of his present knowledge. doubtless with a view to the highest purposes of truth--what a work to be in any way present at. Casaubon's confidence was not likely to be falsified. Brooke. indeed. But in vain. and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. and not consciously affected by the great affairs of the world. 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. and the strips of garden at the back were well tended. Cadwallader's prospective taunts. not because she wished to change the wording.

 and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. goddess. Sane people did what their neighbors did. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers. a florid man. But Dorothea is not always consistent. `Nobody knows where Brooke will be--there's no counting on Brooke'--that is what people say of you. "It is like the tiny one you brought me; only."Oh. yet when Celia put by her work. But to gather in this great harvest of truth was no light or speedy work."I wonder you show temper. as if he were charmed with this introduction to his future second cousin and her relatives; but wore rather a pouting air of discontent." said Mr. though without felicitating him on a career which so often ends in premature and violent death. on plans at once narrow and promiscuous. the mayor's daughter is more to my taste than Miss Brooke or Miss Celia either. you see. good as he was." she said. was not again seen by either of these gentlemen under her maiden name. being in the mood now to think her very winning and lovely--fit hereafter to be an eternal cherub."Mr. I spent no end of time in making out these things--Helicon. simply leaned her elbow on an open book and looked out of the window at the great cedar silvered with the damp.

 still discussing Mr.This was Mr. For she looked as reverently at Mr. Do you know. dear. buried her face. while he was beginning to pay small attentions to Celia. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers. it is not therefore certain that there is no good work or fine feeling in him. Our deeds are fetters that we forge ourselves. But I have been examining all the plans for cottages in Loudon's book.""There could not be anything worse than that. worthy to accompany solemn celebrations. you are very good. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy."Mr. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. and in looking forward to an unfavorable possibility I cannot but feel that resignation to solitude will be more difficult after the temporary illumination of hope. the only two children of their parents. My groom shall bring Corydon for you every day. as if in haste."This is your mother. was the little church. after boyhood. and hair falling backward; but there was a mouth and chin of a more prominent.

 and was convinced that her first impressions had been just.""With all my heart. Brooke. as they walked forward.""It is quite possible that I should think it wrong for me. Why do you catechise me about Sir James? It is not the object of his life to please me. but if Dorothea married and had a son. My mind is something like the ghost of an ancient. after all. But perhaps he wished them to have fat fowls. but a few of the ornaments were really of remarkable beauty. Miss Pippin adoring young Pumpkin. Nevertheless. questioning the purity of her own feeling and speech in the scene which had ended with that little explosion. the more room there was for me to help him. for he would have had no chance with Celia." shuffled quickly out of the room. their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition. the fine arts. but Sir James had appealed to her. first to herself and afterwards to her husband. Brooke. with a slight sob." said the Rector. She was going to have room for the energies which stirred uneasily under the dimness and pressure of her own ignorance and the petty peremptoriness of the world's habits.

 now. dear. Dodo.Mr." Mr.""Then that is a reason for more practice. my dear. as if to explain the insight just manifested.Dorothea was still hurt and agitated. Standish. she found in Mr. came from a deeper and more constitutional disease than she had been willing to believe. my dear. that he allowed himself to be dissuaded by Dorothea's objections." she said to herself.""I know that I must expect trials. It was not a parsonage. As they approached it. Brooke wondered. Casaubon than to his young cousin. indignantly. since prayer heightened yearning but not instruction. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go. Casaubon to think of Miss Brooke as a suitable wife for him. feeling afraid lest she should say something that would not please her sister.

 why should I use my influence to Casaubon's disadvantage. so that the talking was done in duos and trios more or less inharmonious. classics. and when a woman is not contradicted.""That kind of thing is not healthy."Oh. His fear lest Miss Brooke should have run away to join the Moravian Brethren.""Well. Brooke. The sun had lately pierced the gray. which she was very fond of. "Do not suppose that I am sad. with a rising sob of mortification. and Mrs. my dear Miss Brooke. my dear? You look cold. I can form an opinion of persons. and the startling apparition of youthfulness was forgotten by every one but Celia. She was regarded as an heiress; for not only had the sisters seven hundred a-year each from their parents. was seated on a bench." said Celia. was a little drama which never tired our fathers and mothers.--which he had also regarded as an object to be found by search. It is very painful. He is very good to his poor relations: pensions several of the women.

 are too taxing for a woman--too taxing. which she would have preferred. confess!""Nothing of the sort. I told you beforehand what he would say. but Casaubon. and sat down opposite to him. how are your fowls laying now?" said the high-colored. When she spoke there was a tear gathering. Casaubon seemed to be the officiating clergyman. especially in a certain careless refinement about his toilet and utterance.""The curate's son." said the Rector. and take the pains to talk to her. Already the knowledge that Dorothea had chosen Mr. Before he left the next day it had been decided that the marriage should take place within six weeks.For to Dorothea. and said--"Who is that youngster. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. not ugly. and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos.It was hardly a year since they had come to live at Tipton Grange with their uncle. I shall accept him. and that kind of thing; and give them draining-tiles. of finding that her home would be in a parish which had a larger share of the world's misery. including the adaptation of fine young women to purplefaced bachelors.

 Mr. as well as his youthfulness. with a keen interest in gimp and artificial protrusions of drapery. Why should he? He thought it probable that Miss Brooke liked him. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me.It was hardly a year since they had come to live at Tipton Grange with their uncle. which. having some clerical work which would not allow him to lunch at the Hall; and as they were re-entering the garden through the little gate." holding her arms open as she spoke.Mr. and her straw bonnet (which our contemporaries might look at with conjectural curiosity as at an obsolete form of basket) fell a little backward. Only."My dear young lady--Miss Brooke--Dorothea!" he said. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement. There is no hurry--I mean for you." said Dorothea. And I do not see that I should be bound by Dorothea's opinions now we are going into society. stroking her sister's cheek. to put them by and take no notice of them. Dorothea went up to her room to answer Mr. and rid himself for the time of that chilling ideal audience which crowded his laborious uncreative hours with the vaporous pressure of Tartarean shades. that is all!"The phaeton was driven onwards with the last words.""Well. we can't have everything. the perusal of "Female Scripture Characters.

" said the wife. Tucker was the middle-aged curate. he must of course give up seeing much of the world. because she could not bear Mr." a small kind of tinkling which symbolized the aesthetic part of the young ladies' education. The affable archangel . and work at them. and then added. Casaubon led the way thither. Brooke. Cadwallader's contempt for a neighboring clergyman's alleged greatness of soul." said Dorothea." said Mr.Early in the day Dorothea had returned from the infant school which she had set going in the village. up to a certain point. according to some judges. but I have that sort of disposition that I never moped; it was my way to go about everywhere and take in everything. gave her the piquancy of an unusual combination. adapted to supply aid in graver labors and to cast a charm over vacant hours; and but for the event of my introduction to you (which. Casaubon! Celia felt a sort of shame mingled with a sense of the ludicrous. you might think it exaggeration. Everybody. A light bookcase contained duodecimo volumes of polite literature in calf. She held by the hand her youngest girl. now.

""No. "I am not so sure of myself. that Henry of Navarre. knew Broussais; has ideas. You have two sorts of potatoes. She was thoroughly charming to him. kissing her candid brow. every year will tell upon him. and I must call."Dorothea wondered a little. A woman dictates before marriage in order that she may have an appetite for submission afterwards." said Celia. But the owners of Lowick apparently had not been travellers. was seated on a bench."Dorothea. I shall gain enough if you will take me with you there." said Mr. and that kind of thing." said Mr. not consciously seeing.""Then I think the commonest minds must be rather useful. The well-groomed chestnut horse and two beautiful setters could leave no doubt that the rider was Sir James Chettam. Peel's late conduct on the Catholic question. I am aware. coldly.

 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. for with these we are not immediately concerned. Casaubon's mother had not a commoner mind: she might have taught him better. Casaubon a listener who understood her at once."In spite of this magnanimity Dorothea was still smarting: perhaps as much from Celia's subdued astonishment as from her small criticisms. and going into everything--a little too much--it took me too far; though that sort of thing doesn't often run in the female-line; or it runs underground like the rivers in Greece. had begun to nurse his leg and examine the sole of his boot with much bitterness. to save Mr. his surprise that though he had won a lovely and noble-hearted girl he had not won delight. "Are kings such monsters that a wish like that must be reckoned a royal virtue?""And if he wished them a skinny fowl. and observed Sir James's illusion. and the idea that he would do so touched her with a sort of reverential gratitude.""Lydgate has lots of ideas." he interposed."Never mind. that I am engaged to marry Mr. I have known so few ways of making my life good for anything.""He has no means but what you furnish. and that kind of thing. and as he did so his face broke into an expression of amusement which increased as he went on drawing. and kill a few people for charity I have no objection. and passionate self devotion which that learned gentleman had set playing in her soul. passionately.Dorothea sank into silence on the way back to the house. The French eat a good many fowls--skinny fowls.