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“Perhaps I have been mistaken in many things," said poor Dorothea to herself, while the tears came rolling and she had to dry them quickly. She felt confusedly unhappy, and the image of Will which had been so clear to her before was mysteriously spoiled.”

“imagine Rosamond's infantine blondness and wondrous crown of hair-plaits, with her pale-blue dress of a fit and fashion so perfect that no dressmaker could look at it without emotion, a large embroidered collar which it was to be hoped all beholders would know the price of,her small hands duly set off with rings, and that controlled self-consciousness of manner which is the expensive substitute for simplicity.”

“the grace and dignity were in her limbs and neck; and about her simply parted hair and candid eyes the large round poke which was then in the fate of women, seemed no more odd as a head-dress than the gold trencher we call a halo”

“There was something horrible to Dorothea in the sensation which this unresponsive hardness inflicted on her. That is a strong word, but not too strong: it is in these acts called trivialities that the seeds of joy are forever wasted, until men and women look round with haggard faces at the devastation their own waste has made,

“But she hesitated, fearing to offend him by obtruding herself; for her ardor, continually repulsed, served, with her intense memory, to heighten her dread, as thwarted energy subsides into a shudder; and she wandered slowly round the nearer clumps of trees until she saw him advancing.

“When the commonplace "We must all die" transforms itself suddenly into the acute consciousness "I must die—and soon," then death grapples us, and his fingers are cruel; afterwards, he may come to fold us in his arms as our mother did, and our last moment of dim earthly discerning may be like the first.”

“There was no denying that Dorothea was as virtuous and lovely a young lady as he could have obtained for a wife; but a young lady turned out to be something more troublesome than he had conceived. She nursed him, she read to him, she anticipated his wants, and was solicitous about his feelings;

“The soul of man," said Caleb, with the deep tone and grave shake of the head which always came when he used this phrase—"The soul of man, when it gets fairly rotten, will bear you all sorts of poisonous toad-stools, and no eye can see whence came the seed thereof."

“What could two men, so different from each other, see in this "brown patch," as Mary called herself? It was certainly not her plainness that attracted them (and let all plain young ladies be warned against the dangerous encouragement given them by Society to confide in their want of beauty).

“If you want to know more particularly how Mary looked, ten to one you will see a face like hers in the crowded street to-morrow, if you are there on the watch: she will not be among those daughters of Zion who are haughty, and walk with stretched-out necks and wanton eyes, mincing as they go:

“But I have a belief of my own, and it comforts me."
"What is that?" said Will, rather jealous of the belief.
"That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don't quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil—widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower.”

“Dorothea had gathered emotion as she went on, and had forgotten everything except the relief of pouring forth her feelings, unchecked: an experience once habitual with her, but hardly ever present since her marriage, which had been a perpetual struggle of energy with fear. For the moment, Will's admiration was accompanied with a chilling sense of remoteness.

“Well, my dear, this is pleasant, now," said Mr. Brooke, meeting and kissing her. "You have left Casaubon with his books,I suppose.That's right.We must not have you getting too learned for a woman, you know.
“There is no fear of that, uncle,"said Dorothea.I am very slow. When I want to be busy with books, I am often playing truant among my thoughts. I find it is not so easy to be learned as to plan cottages.”

“The fact is," said Sir James, "if a man goes into public life he must be prepared for the consequences. He must make himself proof against calumny.
"My dear Chettam, that is all very fine, you know," said Mr. Brooke. "But how will you make yourself proof against calumny? You should read history—look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing.

“I thought the most expensive hobby in the world was standing for Parliament," said Mrs. Cadwallader. "They said the last unsuccessful candidate at Middlemarch—Giles, wasn't his name?—spent ten thousand pounds and failed because he did not bribe enough. What a bitter reflection for a man!”

I must flatter my Imagination,That every Thing goes well with You-Surely no evil can have befallen You- for if it had-I had felt some monitory sympathetic Shock within me,which would have spoke like Revelation. So farewell to all tormenting May be's, in regard to my Eliza, She is well, she thinks of her Yorick with as much Affection & true esteem as ever,& values him as much above the World, as he values his Bramine-

At court - every thing in this world seems in Masquerade, but thee dear Woman - & therefore I am sick of all the world but thee- one Evening so spent, as the Saturday's which preceeded our Separation - would sicken all the Conversation of the world - I relish no Converse since - when will the like return? - tis hidden from us both, for the wisest ends - & the hour will come my Eliza!

Thou hast bewitch'd me with powers, my dear Girl, from which no power shall unlose me- & if fate can put this Journal of my Love into thy hands, before we meet, I know with what warmth it will inflame the kindest of hearts, to receive me. Peace be with thee, my Eliza, till that happy moment!

-be true my dear girl, to thy self-& the rights of Self preservation which Nature has given thee!-perservere-be firm-be pliant be placid-be courteous-but still be true to thy self- & never give up your Life- or suffer the disquieting altercations, or small outrages you may undergo in this momentous point, to weigh a Scruple in the Ballance-Firmness-& Fortitude & Perseverance gain almost impossibilities...

I was not deceived Eliza! by my presentiment that I should find thee out in my dreams; for I have been with thee almost the whole night, alternately soothing thee, or telling thee my sorrows - I have rose up comforted and strengthend - and found myself so much better, that I orderd my Carriage, to carry me to our mutual friend - Tears ran down her cheeks when she saw how pale and wan I was...

“But this Ladislaw—there again is a vexatious business," said Sir James. There are stories going about him as a quill-driving alien, a foreign emissary, and what not. There is some foreign blood in Ladislaw, I hope he won't go into extreme opinions and carry Brooke on."

“I warned you all of it," said Mrs. Cadwallader, waving her hands outward. "I said to Humphrey long ago, Mr. Brooke is going to make a splash in the mud. And now he has done it."

"Well, he might have taken it into his head to marry," said the Rector. "That would have been a graver mess than a little flirtation with politics."

“But Will wanted to talk with Dorothea alone, and was impatient of slow circumstance. However slight the terrestrial intercourse between Dante and Beatrice or Petrarch and Laura, time changes the proportion of things, and in later days it is preferable to have fewer sonnets and more conversation. Necessity excused stratagem, but stratagem was limited by the dread of offending Dorothea.

“A man was bound to know himself better than that, and if he chose to grow gray crunching bones in a cavern, he had no business to be luring a girl into his companionship. "It is the most horrible of virgin-sacrifices," said Will; and he painted to himself what were Dorothea's inward sorrows as if he had been writing a choric wail.

“Dear!" he said to her one evening, in his gentlest tone, as he sat down by her and looked closely at her face—

"Dear! your eyelids are red."

"Are they?" said Rosamond. "I wonder why." It was not in her nature to pour forth wishes or grievances. They only came forth gracefully on solicitation.”

“Eros has degenerated; he began by introducing order and harmony, and now he brings back chaos."
"Yes, at some stages," said Lydgate, lifting his brows and smiling, while he began to arrange his microscope. "But a better order will begin after."
"Soon?" said the Vicar.”

I pore so much on thy Picture- I have it off by heart- dear Girl- oh tis sweet! tis kind! tis reflecting! tis affectionate! tis - thine my Bramine- I say my matins & Vespers to it - I quiet my Murmurs, by the Spirit which speaks in it- "all will end Well my Yorick".
I declare my dear Bramine I am so secured & wrapt up in this Belief, That I would not part with the Imagination, of how happy I am to be with thee...

Slept not till three this morning-was in too delicious Society to think of it; for I was all the time with thee besides me, talking over the projess of our friendship, & turning the world into a thousand Shapes to enjoy it.
Got up much better for the Conversation-found myself improved in body & mind & recruited beyond any thing I looked for

“Thus while I tell the truth about loobies, my reader's imagination need not be entirely excluded from an occupation with lords; and the petty sums which any bankrupt of high standing would be sorry to retire upon, may be lifted to the level of high commercial transactions by the inexpensive addition of proportional ciphers.

“Scenes which make vital changes in our neighbors' lot are but the background of our own, yet, like a particular aspect of the fields and trees, they become associated for us with the epochs of our own history, and make a part of that unity which lies in the selection of our keenest consciousness.”