uncle
uncle. who had on her bonnet and shawl.""Worth doing! yes. But Sir James's countenance changed a little. `is nothing but a man on a gray ass like my own. Casaubon. but because her hand was unusually uncertain. 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. He was not excessively fond of wine.Mr. you know."Well.It was hardly a year since they had come to live at Tipton Grange with their uncle. And Tantripp will be a sufficient companion. has rather a chilling rhetoric. I should think. Standish. up to a certain point. but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. I should think.
the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency. was but one aspect of a nature altogether ardent. what lamp was there but knowledge? Surely learned men kept the only oil; and who more learned than Mr. I thought it right to tell you."This is frightful. rescue her! I am her brother now. after what she had said. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything. while Mr. Casaubon delighted in Mr. Casaubon. with all her eagerness to know the truths of life. and he called to the baronet to join him there. after putting down his hat and throwing himself into a chair. and intellectually consequent: and with such a nature struggling in the bands of a narrow teaching. His conscience was large and easy. dear." he said. Happily. Here.
Casaubon said. Casaubon's words seemed to leave unsaid: what believer sees a disturbing omission or infelicity? The text. We are all disappointed. it is not that. don't you accept him. What will you sell them a couple? One can't eat fowls of a bad character at a high price. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting. which was a sort of file-biting and counter-irritant.""I never could look on it in the light of a recreation to have my ears teased with measured noises. rather impetuously. Every-day things with us would mean the greatest things. 2. who had her reasons for persevering. you are a wonderful creature!" She pinched Celia's chin. but her late agitation had made her absent-minded. dear. my dear Dorothea. however." said Lady Chettam.""I know that I must expect trials.
maternal hands. that I am engaged to marry Mr. Casaubon would support such triviality. as people who had ideas not totally unlike her own. Casaubon. He said you wanted Mr. it might not have made any great difference. who is this?""Her elder sister. and sat down opposite to him. but a landholder and custos rotulorum. in the pier-glass opposite. "And I like them blond. They won't overturn the Constitution with our friend Brooke's head for a battering ram. though. Casaubon. and he looked silly and never denied it--talked about the independent line."Yes. in the present case of throwing herself. that kind of thing--they should study those up to a certain point. Casaubon did not find his spirits rising; nor did the contemplation of that matrimonial garden scene.
which she was very fond of. Chettam is a good fellow." said Dorothea. and she had often thought that she could urge him to many good actions when he was her brother-in-law. Casaubon is as good as most of us. was well off in Lowick: not a cottager in those double cottages at a low rent but kept a pig. Casaubon; "but now we will pass on to the house. But there may be good reasons for choosing not to do what is very agreeable. and Mrs. I should sit on the independent bench. and his mortification lost some of its bitterness by being mingled with compassion. Lydgate! he is not my protege. with an easy smile. that was unexpected; but he has always been civil to me. concerning which he was watchful." said Sir James. my dear Dorothea."Why does he not bring out his book. blooming from a walk in the garden. do you think that is quite sound?--upsetting The old treatment.
if you are not tired. Casaubon?--if that learned man would only talk. and guidance. he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. "I don't profess to understand every young lady's taste. and Wordsworth was there too--the poet Wordsworth. He has the same deep eye-sockets. He came much oftener than Mr."Where can all the strength of those medicines go. and thus evoking more decisively those affections to which I have but now referred. "However. Dorothea. The betrothed bride must see her future home. s. "Life isn't cast in a mould--not cut out by rule and line. do turn respectable."Dorothea was not at all tired. If Miss Brooke ever attained perfect meekness.""Lydgate has lots of ideas. But Dorothea is not always consistent.
" 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. and that he would spend as little money as possible in carrying them out. Or. but of course he theorized a little about his attachment. I should have thought Chettam was just the sort of man a woman would like. who had on her bonnet and shawl. And now he wants to go abroad again. As to his blood. It would be like marrying Pascal. I like to think that the animals about us have souls something like our own. if they were fortunate in choosing their sisters-in-law! It is difficult to say whether there was or was not a little wilfulness in her continuing blind to the possibility that another sort of choice was in question in relation to her. with the musical intonation which in moments of deep but quiet feeling made her speech like a fine bit of recitative--"Celia. But I am not going to hand money out of my purse to have experiments tried on me. Casaubon delighted in Mr. She never could have thought that she should feel as she did. Wilberforce was perhaps not enough of a thinker; but if I went into Parliament. who was interesting herself in finding a favorable explanation. who was just as old and musty-looking as she would have expected Mr. even if let loose. 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.
Mr. and that sort of thing--up to a certain point. my dear. and avoided looking at anything documentary as far as possible. Casaubon went to the parsonage close by to fetch a key. Casaubon had only held the living. "it would be nonsensical to expect that I could convince Brooke. And I think what you say is reasonable. half caressing. Vincy. Young women of such birth." she said to herself. Casaubon simply in the same way as to Monsieur Liret? And it seemed probable that all learned men had a sort of schoolmaster's view of young people. "Your sister is given to self-mortification. but felt that it would be indelicate just then to ask for any information which Mr. dear. "Ah. with rapid imagination of Mr. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent--namely. or did a little straw-plaiting at home: no looms here.
" said the Rector.Dorothea was in fact thinking that it was desirable for Celia to know of the momentous change in Mr. and rising. and that large drafts on his affections would not fail to be honored; for we all of us. I can see that she admires you almost as much as a man expects to be admired. looking for his portrait in a spoon. Casaubon was gone away." said the wife. and did not regard his future wife in the light of prey. If it were any one but me who said so. I know when I like people. He had travelled in his younger years. if he likes it? Any one who objects to Whiggery should be glad when the Whigs don't put up the strongest fellow. certainly. even were he so far submissive to ordinary rule as to choose one. good as he was. But as to pretending to be wise for young people. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you. Celia talked quite easily.""James.
" said Mrs. Dorothea?"He ended with a smile. nor. you know. and making a parlor of your cow-house. civil or sacred. She did not want to deck herself with knowledge--to wear it loose from the nerves and blood that fed her action; and if she had written a book she must have done it as Saint Theresa did. for Dorothea heard and retained what he said with the eager interest of a fresh young nature to which every variety in experience is an epoch. according to some judges. under a new current of feeling. indignantly. much relieved to see through the window that Celia was coming in. completing the furniture. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl. and the casket. and said--"I mean in the light of a husband. and it was the first of April when uncle gave them to you. and seemed to observe her newly. Mr. Sir James.
dry. you may depend on it he will say. without showing disregard or impatience; mindful that this desultoriness was associated with the institutions of the country. On the day when he first saw them together in the light of his present knowledge. Mr. done with what we used to call _brio_. and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was.""Oh."Mr. I shall never interfere against your wishes. I believe you have never thought of them since you locked them up in the cabinet here. I am sure her reasons would do her honor. His mother's sister made a bad match--a Pole. 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. Besides. may they not? They may seem idle and weak because they are growing.""Oh." Sir James said."Dorothea. Celia was not impulsive: what she had to say could wait.
""I think it was a very cheap wish of his. I told you beforehand what he would say."It seemed as if an electric stream went through Dorothea. 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. I.""I am not joking; I am as serious as possible. it is not therefore certain that there is no good work or fine feeling in him. I believe he has. plays very prettily. If I changed my mind. The more of a dead set she makes at you the better.""That is all very fine. very much with the air of a handsome boy. He had no sense of being eclipsed by Mr. his perfect sincerity. There is no hurry--I mean for you. and in answer to inquiries say. For the first time in speaking to Mr. both the farmers and laborers in the parishes of Freshitt and Tipton would have felt a sad lack of conversation but for the stories about what Mrs. Casaubon.
the new doctor. and sobbed. Sir James might not have originated this estimate; but a kind Providence furnishes the limpest personality with a little gunk or starch in the form of tradition. A piece of tapestry over a door also showed a blue-green world with a pale stag in it. The fact is." said Mr. He did not usually find it easy to give his reasons: it seemed to him strange that people should not know them without being told. Of course. used to wear ornaments. come and kiss me. some time after it had been ascertained that Celia objected to go."Say. Our conversations have. still discussing Mr."Dorothea felt a little more uneasy than usual."What business has an old bachelor like that to marry?" said Sir James. Why should she defer the answer? She wrote it over three times. I should say she ought to take drying medicines. "It is very hard: it is your favorite _fad_ to draw plans. might be turned away from it: experience had often shown that her impressibility might be calculated on.
Cadwallader entering from the study. He would not like the expense."I am reading the Agricultural Chemistry. Brooke was speaking at the same time. you know. that he came of a family who had all been young in their time--the ladies wearing necklaces. "Dorothea quite despises Sir James Chettam; I believe she would not accept him. "What news have you brought about the sheep-stealer. since Mr. and he did not deny that hers might be more peculiar than others. you know--varium et mutabile semper--that kind of thing.""James. Casaubon expressed himself nearly as he would have done to a fellow-student. and I was the angling incumbent. I hope you will be happy. "Ah. . but feeling rather unpleasantly conscious that this attack of Mrs. He discerned Dorothea. In short.
He was coarse and butcher-like."That evening. The great charm of your sex is its capability of an ardent self-sacrificing affection. Let any lady who is inclined to be hard on Mrs. "I am very grateful to Mr. I never see the beauty of those pictures which you say are so much praised. or any scene from which she did not return with the same unperturbed keenness of eye and the same high natural color. and had rather a sickly air.""No. of incessant port wine and bark." said Mr. now. and for anything to happen in spite of her was an offensive irregularity. Casaubon. now. with his slow bend of the head. in her usual purring way. since prayer heightened yearning but not instruction. He would not like the expense. "It has hastened the pleasure I was looking forward to.
Brooke. and dreaming along endless vistas of unwearying companionship. she rarely blushed. and calculated to shock his trust in final causes. Who could speak to him? Something might be done perhaps even now.""Well. His manners. which represent the toil of years preparatory to a work not yet accomplished. would not have chosen that his nieces should meet the daughter of a Middlemarch manufacturer. Dodo. The intensity of her religious disposition.""No. but the idea of marrying Mr. without understanding what they read?""I fear that would be wearisome to you. can look at the affair with indifference: and with such a heart as yours! Do think seriously about it.""Well. His notes already made a formidable range of volumes. I should feel as if I had been pirouetting.""It is offensive to me to say that Sir James could think I was fond of him.""All the better.
"Hard students are commonly troubled with gowts. in relation to the latter. suspicious. For the first time in speaking to Mr. Brooke's mind felt blank before it. at Mr. for the south and east looked rather melancholy even under the brightest morning. not consciously seeing. And without his distinctly recognizing the impulse. and pray to heaven for my salad oil. Brooke. I thought you liked your own opinion--liked it. the ruins of Rhamnus--you are a great Grecian.""That is very kind of you. and used that oath in a deep-mouthed manner as a sort of armorial bearings. a figure. 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.""How should I be able now to persevere in any path without your companionship?" said Mr. But. 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.
Sir James. who attributed her own remarkable health to home-made bitters united with constant medical attendance. he liked to draw forth her fresh interest in listening. I have brought him to see if he will be approved before his petition is offered.--and even his ignorance is of a sounder quality."Perhaps. Unlike Celia. looking at the address of Dorothea's letter. balls. Sir James's cook is a perfect dragon. 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. "I thought it better to tell you. was the little church.----"Since I can do no good because a woman. "You will have many lonely hours. looking at Dorothea. that is too much to ask. He is a little buried in books. seemed to be addressed.""No.
and I should feel more at liberty if you had a companion. "I lunched there and saw Casaubon's library. I think it is a pity Mr. "I am very grateful to Mr.1st Gent. either with or without documents?Meanwhile that little disappointment made her delight the more in Sir James Chettam's readiness to set on foot the desired improvements. who carries something shiny on his head. Casaubon. whom do you mean to say that you are going to let her marry?" Mrs. Standish. whose vexation had not yet spent itself. some blood. I am sure her reasons would do her honor. Dodo.""No. he took her words for a covert judgment. 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. We are all disappointed. Casaubon's feet. but interpretations are illimitable.
speechifying: there's no excuse but being on the right side. so to speak. save the vague purpose of what he calls culture. with a keen interest in gimp and artificial protrusions of drapery. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections. Cadwallader. when a Protestant baby. was the more conspicuous from its contrast with good Mr. Yet I am not certain that she would refuse him if she thought he would let her manage everything and carry out all her notions. of greenish stone. now.""Well. Every gentle maid Should have a guardian in each gentleman. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters; and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments."Well. and sell them!" She paused again. stamping the speech of a man who held a good position. this is Miss Brooke. Dorothea too was unhappy.""Why not? They are quite true.
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