Speaker 1: Chapter eighty four, Middle March. This is in LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: March by George Eliot, chapter eighty four. Though it be
Speaker 1: song of old and young, that I should be to
Speaker 1: blame theirs be the charge that spoke so large in
Speaker 1: hurting of my name, the not brown Maid. It was
Speaker 1: just after the Lord's had thrown out the reform bill
Speaker 1: that explains how mister Cadwalder came to be walking on
Speaker 1: the slope of the lawn near the Great Conservatory at
Speaker 1: Freshad Hall, holding the Times in his hands behind him,
Speaker 1: while he talked with the trout fisher's dispassionateness about the
Speaker 1: prospects of the country to Sir James Chettam, Missus Cadwalader,
Speaker 1: the Dowager, Lady Chettam, and Celia were sometimes seated on
Speaker 1: garden chairs, sometimes walking to meet Little Arthur, who was
Speaker 1: being drawn in his chariot, and as becomes the Infantine
Speaker 1: Buddha was sheltered by his sacred umbrella with handsome silken fringe.
Speaker 1: The ladies also talked politics, though more fitfully. Missus Cadwalader
Speaker 1: was strong on the intended creation of peers. She had
Speaker 1: it for certain from her cousin that Truebury had gone
Speaker 1: over to the other side entirely at the instigation of
Speaker 1: his wife, who had scented peerages in the air from
Speaker 1: the very first introduction of the reform question, and would
Speaker 1: sign her soul away to take precedence of her younger sister,
Speaker 1: who had married a baronet. Lady Chatham thought that such
Speaker 1: conduct was very reprehensible, and remembered that Missus Trubury's mother
Speaker 1: was a miss Walshingham of Millspring. Celia confessed it was
Speaker 1: nicer to be lady than Missus, and that Dodo never
Speaker 1: minded about precedence if she could have her own way.
Speaker 1: Missus Cadwalader held that it was a poor satisfaction to
Speaker 1: take precedence when everybody about you knew that you had
Speaker 1: not a drop of good blood in your veins, and Celia,
Speaker 1: again stopping to look at Arthur, said it be very nice,
Speaker 1: though if he were a viscount and his lordship's little
Speaker 1: tooth coming through, he might have been if James had
Speaker 1: been an earl, My dear Celia said the dowager. James's
Speaker 1: title is worth far more than any new earldom. I
Speaker 1: never wished his father to be anything else than Sir James. Oh,
Speaker 1: I only meant about Arthur's little tooth, said Celia comfortably.
Speaker 1: But see, here is my uncle coming. She tripped off
Speaker 1: to meet her uncle, while Sir James and mister Cadwalader
Speaker 1: came forward to make one group with the ladies. Celia
Speaker 1: had slipped her arm through her uncle's and he patted
Speaker 1: her hand with a rather melancholy well, my dear. As
Speaker 1: they approached, it was evident that mister Brooke was looking dejected,
Speaker 1: and this was fully accounted for by the state of politics.
Speaker 1: And as he was shaking hands all round without more
Speaker 1: greeting than a well you're all here, you know, and
Speaker 1: the actor said laughingly, don't take the throwing out of
Speaker 1: the bill so much to heart, Brook. You've got all
Speaker 1: the riff raff of the country on your side the bill,
Speaker 1: eh ah, said mister Brooke, with a mild distractedness of manner.
Speaker 1: Thrown out. You know, eh, the lord's going too far though,
Speaker 1: they'll have to pull up sad news, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean here at home sad news. But you must not
Speaker 1: play me, Chettam. What is the matter, said Sir James,
Speaker 1: Not another gamekeeper short. I hope it's what I should
Speaker 1: expect when a fellow like trapping Bass is let off
Speaker 1: so easily gamekeeper and no let us go in. I
Speaker 1: can tell you all in the house, you know, said
Speaker 1: mister Brooke, nodding at the Cadwaladers to show that he
Speaker 1: included them in his confidence. As to poachers like trapping Bass,
Speaker 1: you know, Chettam, he continued, as they were entering. When
Speaker 1: you are a mad straight you'll not find it so
Speaker 1: easy to commit. Severity is all very well, but it's
Speaker 1: a great deal easier when you've got somebody to do
Speaker 1: it for you. You've a soft place in your heart yourself.
Speaker 1: You know, you're not a draco A Jeffrey's that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. Mister Brooke was evidently in a state of
Speaker 1: nervous perturbation. When he had something painful to tell, it
Speaker 1: was usually his way to introduce it among a number
Speaker 1: of disjointed particulars, as if it were a medicine that
Speaker 1: would yet a milder flavor by mixing. He continued his
Speaker 1: chat with Sir James about the poachers until they were
Speaker 1: all seated, and missus Cadwalader, impatient of this, lings said,
Speaker 1: I am dying to know the sad news. The gamekeeper
Speaker 1: is not shot. That is settled. What is it then? Well,
Speaker 1: it's a very trying thing, you know, said mister Brooke.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you and the rector are here. It's a
Speaker 1: family matter, but you will help us all to Barrett Catwalader,
Speaker 1: I've got to bring it to you, my dear here.
Speaker 1: Mister Brooke looked at Celia. You've no notion what it is,
Speaker 1: you know, and Chettam, it will annoy you uncommonly, but
Speaker 1: you see you have not been able to hinder it
Speaker 1: any more than I have. There's something singular in things
Speaker 1: they come round, you know. It must be about Dodo,
Speaker 1: said Celia, who had been used to think of her
Speaker 1: sister as the dangerous part of the family machinery. She
Speaker 1: had seated herself on a low stool against her husband's knee.
Speaker 1: For God's sake, let us hear what it is, said
Speaker 1: Sir James. Well, you know, Chettam, I couldn't help Casaubon's will.
Speaker 1: It was a sort of will to make things worse exactly,
Speaker 1: said Sir James. But what is worse. Dorothy is going
Speaker 1: to be married again, you know, said mister Brook, nodding
Speaker 1: towards Celia, who immediately looked up at her husband with
Speaker 1: a frightened glance and put her hand on his knee.
Speaker 1: Sir James was almost white with anger, but he did
Speaker 1: not speak. Masterful heaven, said missus Cadwalader, not to young Ladislaw.
Speaker 1: Brooke nodded, saying yes to Lad's law, and then fell
Speaker 1: into a prudential silence. You see, Humphrey, said Missus Cadwalader,
Speaker 1: waving her arm towards her husband. Another time you'll admit
Speaker 1: that I have some foresight, or rather you will contradict
Speaker 1: me and be just as blind as ever. You suppose
Speaker 1: that the young gentleman has gone out of the country
Speaker 1: so he might be, and he had come back, said
Speaker 1: the rector quietly. When did you learn this? Said Sir James,
Speaker 1: not lucking to hear any one else speak, though finding
Speaker 1: it difficult to speak himself. Yesterday, said mister Brook meekly.
Speaker 1: I went to Lowick Dorothea sent for me. You know.
Speaker 1: It had come about quite suddenly. Neither of them had
Speaker 1: any idea two days ago, not any idea. You know
Speaker 1: there's something singular endings, but Dorothea is quite determined. It
Speaker 1: is no use supposing I put it strongly to her.
Speaker 1: I did my duty, Chutcham, but she can act she
Speaker 1: likes You know. It would have been better if I
Speaker 1: had called him out and shot him a year ago,
Speaker 1: said Sir James, not from a bloody mindedness, but because
Speaker 1: he needed something strong to say. Merely, James would have
Speaker 1: been very disagreeable, said Celia. Be reasonable, Chettam. Look at
Speaker 1: the affair more quietly, said mister Cadwarlado, sorry to see
Speaker 1: his good natured friend so overmastered by anger. That is
Speaker 1: not so very easy for a man of any dignity
Speaker 1: with any sense of right, when the affair happens to
Speaker 1: be in his own family, said Sir James, still in
Speaker 1: his white indignation. It is perfectly scandalous. If Ladislaw had
Speaker 1: had a spark of honor, he would have gone out
Speaker 1: of the country at once and never turned his face
Speaker 1: in it again. However, I am not surprised. The day
Speaker 1: after Gasabon's funeral, I said what ought to be done,
Speaker 1: but I was not listened to. You wanted what was
Speaker 1: impossible you know Chettam, said mister Rook. You wanted him
Speaker 1: shipped off, I do't you. Ladislav was not to be
Speaker 1: done as we liked with. He has his ideas. He
Speaker 1: was a remarkable fellow. I always said he was a
Speaker 1: remarkable fellow. Yes, said Sir James, unable to repress a retort.
Speaker 1: It is rather a pity you formed that high opinion
Speaker 1: of him. We are indebted to that for his being
Speaker 1: lodged in this neighborhood. We are indebted to that for
Speaker 1: seeing a woman like Doroth here degrading herself by marrying him.
Speaker 1: Sir James made a little stoppage between his classes, the
Speaker 1: words not coming easily. A man so marked her husband's
Speaker 1: will that delicacy ought to have forbidden her from seeing
Speaker 1: him again. Oh takes her out of a proper rank
Speaker 1: into poverty. Has the man as to accept such a
Speaker 1: sacrifice has always had the objectionable position a bad origin,
Speaker 1: And I believe is a man of little principal and
Speaker 1: light character. That is my opinion, Sir James ended, emphatically,
Speaker 1: turning aside and crossing his leg. I pointed everything out
Speaker 1: to her, said mister Brooke, apologetically. I mean the poverty
Speaker 1: in abandoning her position. I said, my dear, you don't
Speaker 1: know what it is to live on seven hundred a
Speaker 1: year and have no carrit in that kind of thing,
Speaker 1: and go amongst people who don't know who you are.
Speaker 1: I put it strongly to her, But I advise you
Speaker 1: to talk to Dorothea yourself. The fact is she has
Speaker 1: a dislike to Casaubond's property. You will hear what she says.
Speaker 1: You know, no, excuse me, I shall not, said Sir James,
Speaker 1: with more coolness. I cannot bear to see her again.
Speaker 1: Tis too painful. It hurts me too much that a
Speaker 1: woman like Dorothea should have done what is wrong? Be
Speaker 1: just chatto, said the easy, large lips rector, who objected
Speaker 1: to all this unnecessary discomfort. Missus Casaubon may be acting imprudently.
Speaker 1: She is giving a fortune for the sake of a man,
Speaker 1: And we men have so poor opinion of each other
Speaker 1: that we can hardly call the woman wise who does that?
Speaker 1: But I think you should not condemn it as a
Speaker 1: wrong action in the strict sense of the word. Yes,
Speaker 1: I do, answered said James. I think that Dorothea commits
Speaker 1: a wrong action in marrying Ladislaw. My dear fellow, we
Speaker 1: are rather apt to consider an act wrong because it
Speaker 1: is unpleasant to us, said the rector quietly. Like many
Speaker 1: men who take life easily, he had the knack of
Speaker 1: saying a home truth occasionally to those who felt themselves
Speaker 1: virtuously out of temper. Sir James took out his handkerchief
Speaker 1: and began to bite the corner. It is very dreadful
Speaker 1: of Dodo, though, said Celia. Wishing to justify her husband,
Speaker 1: she said she never would marry again, not anybody at all.
Speaker 1: I heard her say the same thing myself, said Lady
Speaker 1: Chettam majestically, as if this were royal evidence. Oh, there
Speaker 1: is usually a silent exception in such cases, said missus Cadwolater.
Speaker 1: The only wonder to me is that any of you
Speaker 1: are surprised. You do nothing to hinder it. If you
Speaker 1: would have had Lord Trilton down here to woo her
Speaker 1: with his philanthropy, he might have carried her off before
Speaker 1: the year was over. There was no safety in anything else.
Speaker 1: Mister Casubon had prepared all this as beautifully as possible.
Speaker 1: He made himself disagreeable, or it pleased God to make
Speaker 1: him so, and then he dared her to contradict him.
Speaker 1: It's the way to make any trumpery tempting to take
Speaker 1: it it at a high price in that way. I
Speaker 1: don't know what you mean by wrong, Cadwalader, said Sir James,
Speaker 1: still feeling a little stung and turning round in his
Speaker 1: chair towards the rector. He's not a man we can
Speaker 1: take into the family. At least I must speak for myself,
Speaker 1: he continued, carefully, keeping his eyes off mister Brooke. I
Speaker 1: suppose others will find his society too pleasant to care
Speaker 1: about the propriety of the thing. Well, you know, Chettam,
Speaker 1: said mister Brooke, good humoredly, nursing his leg. I can't
Speaker 1: turn my back on Dorothea. I must be a father
Speaker 1: to her up to a certain point, I said, my dear.
Speaker 1: I won't refuse to give you away. I had spoken
Speaker 1: strongly before. But I can cut off the entail. You know.
Speaker 1: It will cost money and be troublesome, but I can
Speaker 1: do it, you know. Mister Brooke nodded at Sir James
Speaker 1: and felt that he was both showing his own force
Speaker 1: of resolution and propitiating what was just in the Baronet's vexation.
Speaker 1: He had hit on a more ingenious mode of parrying
Speaker 1: than he was aware of. He had touched a motive
Speaker 1: of which Sir James was ashamed. The mass of his
Speaker 1: feeling about Dorothea's marriage to Ladislaw was due partly to
Speaker 1: excusable prejudice or even justifiable opinion, partly to a jealous repugnance,
Speaker 1: hardly less in Ladislaw's case than in Casabot's. He was
Speaker 1: convinced that the marriage was a fatal one for Dorothea,
Speaker 1: But amid that mass ran a vein of which he
Speaker 1: was too good and honorable a man to lack the
Speaker 1: avowal even to himself. It was undeniable that the union
Speaker 1: of the two estates Tipton and Freshet, lying charmingly within
Speaker 1: a ring fence, was a prospect that flattered him for
Speaker 1: his son and heir. Hence, when mister Brooke noddingly appealed
Speaker 1: to that motive, Sir James felt a sudden embarrassment. There
Speaker 1: was a stoppage in his throat. He even blushed. He
Speaker 1: had found more words than usual in the first jet
Speaker 1: of his anger, but mister Brooke's propitiation was more clogging
Speaker 1: to his tongue than mister Cadwalader's caustic hint. But Celia
Speaker 1: was glad to have room for speech after her uncle's
Speaker 1: suggestion of the marriage ceremony, and she said, though with
Speaker 1: a little eagerness of men, as if the question had
Speaker 1: turned on an invitation to dinner? Do you mean that
Speaker 1: Dodo is going to be married directly? Uncle? In three weeks?
Speaker 1: You know? Said mister Brook helplessly. I can do nothing
Speaker 1: to hinder it. Catwalader, he added, turning for a little
Speaker 1: countenance toward the rector, who said, I should not make
Speaker 1: any fuss about it. If she likes to be poor,
Speaker 1: that is her affair. Nobody would have said anything if
Speaker 1: she had married the young fellow because he was rich.
Speaker 1: Plenty of beneficed clergy are poorer than they will be
Speaker 1: nearest Eleanor, continued the provoking husband. She vexed her friends
Speaker 1: by me, I had hardly a thousand a year. I
Speaker 1: was allout. Nobody could see anything in me. My shoes
Speaker 1: were not the right cut. All the men wondered how
Speaker 1: a woman would like me upon my word, I must
Speaker 1: take that as last part until I hear a more
Speaker 1: harm of him. Humphrey that is all sophistry, and you
Speaker 1: know it, said his wife. Everything is all one, that
Speaker 1: is the beginning in the end, with you, as if
Speaker 1: you had not been a Catwalader. Does any one suppose
Speaker 1: that I would have taken such a monster as you
Speaker 1: by any other name? And a clergyman too, observed Lady
Speaker 1: Chettam with approbation. Eleanor cannot be said to have descended
Speaker 1: below her rat. It is difficult to say what mister
Speaker 1: Ladislaw is, eh James. Sir James gave a small grunt,
Speaker 1: which was less respectful than his usual mode of answering.
Speaker 1: His mother, Celia, looked up at him like a thoughtful kitten.
Speaker 1: It must be admitted that his blood is a frightful mixture,
Speaker 1: said Missus Cadwalader. The casabon cuddlefish to begin with, and
Speaker 1: then a rebellious Polish fiddler or dancing master, what was it?
Speaker 1: And then an old clo nonsense, Eleanor, said the rector, rising.
Speaker 1: It is time for us to go. After all, he
Speaker 1: is a pretty sprig, said Missus Cadwalader, rising too, and
Speaker 1: wishing to make amends. He's like the fine old cricklely
Speaker 1: portraits before the idiots came in. I'll go with you,
Speaker 1: said mister Brooke, starting up at the lactry. You must
Speaker 1: all come and dine with me to morrow, you know, eh, Celia,
Speaker 1: my dear, you will, James, won't you, said Celia, taking
Speaker 1: her husband's hand. Oh of course, if you like, said
Speaker 1: Sir James, pulling down his waistcoat, but unable yet to
Speaker 1: adjust his face. Good humoredly, that is to say, if
Speaker 1: it is not to meet anybody else. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: said mister Brooke, understanding the condition. Dorothea will not come,
Speaker 1: you know, unless you had been to see her. When
Speaker 1: Sir James and Celia were alone, she said, do you
Speaker 1: mind about my having the carriage to go to Lilig? James,
Speaker 1: what now? Directly, he answered with some surprise. Yes, it
Speaker 1: is very important, said Celia. Remember Celia, I cannot see her,
Speaker 1: said Sir James, not as she gave up Mary, what
Speaker 1: is the use of saying that? However, I am going
Speaker 1: to the stables. I'll tell Briggs to bring the carriage round.
Speaker 1: Celia thought it was of great use, if not to
Speaker 1: say that, at least to take a journey to Lowig
Speaker 1: in order to influence Dorothea's mind. All through their girlhood,
Speaker 1: she had felt that she could act on her sister
Speaker 1: by a word judiciously placed, by opening a little window
Speaker 1: for the daylight of her own understanding to enter among
Speaker 1: the strange colored lamps by which Dodo habitually saw, and Celia,
Speaker 1: the matron naturally felt more able to advise her childless sister.
Speaker 1: How could any one understand Dodo so well as Celia did,
Speaker 1: or love her so tenderly? Dorothea, busy in her boudoir,
Speaker 1: felt a glow of pleasure at the sight of her
Speaker 1: sister so soon after the riveration of her intended marriage.
Speaker 1: She had prefigured to herself, even with exaggeration, the disgust
Speaker 1: of her friends, and she had even feared that Celia
Speaker 1: might be kept aloof from her. Oh, kitty, I am
Speaker 1: delighted to see you, said Dorothea, putting her hands on
Speaker 1: Celia's shoulders and beaming on her. I almost thought you
Speaker 1: would not come to me. I have not brought Arthur
Speaker 1: because I was in a hurry, said Celia, and they
Speaker 1: sat down on two small chairs opposite each other, with
Speaker 1: their knees touching. You know, Dodo, it is very bad,
Speaker 1: said Celia in her placid gutural, looking as prettily free
Speaker 1: from humors as possible. You have disappointed us all so
Speaker 1: and I can't think that it ever will be. You
Speaker 1: never can go and live in that way. And then
Speaker 1: there are all your plans. You never can have thought
Speaker 1: of that James would have taken any trouble for you,
Speaker 1: and you might have gone all your life doing what
Speaker 1: you liked. On the contrary, dear, said Dorothea, I never
Speaker 1: could do anything that I liked. I've never carried out
Speaker 1: any plan yet, because you always wanted things that wouldn't do.
Speaker 1: But ill a plan? What have come? And how can
Speaker 1: you marry mister Ladislaw that we none of us ever
Speaker 1: thought you could marry. It shocks James so dreadfully. And
Speaker 1: then it is all so different from what you have
Speaker 1: always been. You would have mister Casaubon because he had
Speaker 1: such a great soul and was so dismal and learned.
Speaker 1: And now to think of marrying mister Latterslaw, who has
Speaker 1: got no estate or anything. I suppose it is because
Speaker 1: you must be making usself uncomfortable in some way or other.
Speaker 1: Dorothea laughed. Well, it is very serious, don't, said Celia,
Speaker 1: becoming more impressive. How will you live? And you will
Speaker 1: go away among queer people? And I shall never see you,
Speaker 1: and you won't mind about little Arthur, and I always
Speaker 1: thought you would. Celia's rare tears had got into our eyes,
Speaker 1: and the corners of her mouth were agitated. Dear Celia,
Speaker 1: said Dorothea with tender gravity. If you don't ever see me,
Speaker 1: it will not be my fault. Yes it will, said Celia,
Speaker 1: with the same touching distortion of her small features. How
Speaker 1: can I come to you or have you with me
Speaker 1: when James can't bear it? That is because he thinks
Speaker 1: it is not right. He thinks you are so wrong,
Speaker 1: do doo? But you always were wrong. Only I can't
Speaker 1: help loving you, and nobody can think where you will live?
Speaker 1: Where can you go? I am going to London, said Dorothea,
Speaker 1: And how can you always live in a street? And
Speaker 1: you will be so poor? I could give you half
Speaker 1: my things? Only how can I when I never see you?
Speaker 1: Bless you, kitty, said Dorothea, with gentle warmth to a comfort.
Speaker 1: Perhaps James will forgive me some time, But it would
Speaker 1: be much better if you would not be married, said Celia,
Speaker 1: drawing her eyes and returning to her argument, then there
Speaker 1: would be nothing uncomfortable, and you would not do what
Speaker 1: nobody thought you could do. James always said you ought
Speaker 1: to be a queen. But this is not at all
Speaker 1: being like a queen. You know what mistakes you have
Speaker 1: always been making, Dodo, and this is a mother nobody
Speaker 1: thinks mister Laddislaw a proper husband for you, and you
Speaker 1: said you would never be married again. It is quite
Speaker 1: true that I might be a wiser person, Celia, said Dorothea.
Speaker 1: And I said I might have done something better if
Speaker 1: I had been better. But this is what I am
Speaker 1: going to do. I promised married mister Ladislaw, and I
Speaker 1: am going to marry him. The tone in which Dorothea
Speaker 1: said this was a note that Celia had long learned
Speaker 1: to recognize. She was silence a few moments, and then said,
Speaker 1: as if she had dismissed all contest. Is he very
Speaker 1: fond of you? Doto? I hope so I am very
Speaker 1: fond of him. Well, that is nice, said Celia comfortably.
Speaker 1: Only or rather, you had such a sort of husband
Speaker 1: as Jamesy's, with a place very near that I could
Speaker 1: drive to. Dorothea smiled, and Celia looked rather meditative. Presently,
Speaker 1: she said, I cannot think how it all came about.
Speaker 1: Celia thought it would be pleasant to hear the story.
Speaker 1: I daresay not, said Dorothea, pinching her sister's chin. If
Speaker 1: you knew how it came about, it would not seem
Speaker 1: wonderful to you. Can't you tell me, said Celia, settling
Speaker 1: her arms cozily. No, dear, you would have to feel
Speaker 1: with me, else you would never know. End of Chapter
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