thegenerosity
as
well
as
defiant
force
of
his
nature
that
he
resolved
not
to
shrink
from
showing
to
the
full
his
sense
of
obligation
to
Bulstrode
.
It
was
true
that
the
association
with
this
man
had
been
fatal
to
him
—
true
that
if
he
had
had
the
thousand
pounds
still
in
his
hands
with
all
his
debts
unpaid
he
would
have
returned
the
money
to
Bulstrode
,
and
taken
beggary
rather
than
the
rescue
which
had
been
sullied
with
the
suspicion
of
a
bribe
(
for
,
remember
,
he
was
one
of
the
proudest
among
the
sons
of
men
)
—
nevertheless
,
he
would
not
turn
away
from
this
crushed
fellow-mortal
whose
aid
he
had
used
,
and
make
a
pitiful
effort
to
get
acquittal
for
himself
by
howling
against
another
.
"
I
shall
do
as
I
think
right
,
and
explain
to
nobody
.
They
will
try
to
starve
me
out
,
but
—
"
he
was
going
on
with
an
obstinate
resolve
,
but
he
was
getting
near
home
,
and
the
thought
of
Rosamond
urged
itself
again
into
that
chief
place
from
which
it
had
been
thrust
by
the
agonized
struggles
of
wounded
honour
and
pride
.
How
would
Rosamond
take
it
all
?
Here
was
another
weight
of
chain
to
drag
,
and
poor
Lydgate
was
in
a
bad
mood
for
bearing
her
dumb
mastery
.
He
had
no
impulse
to
tell
her
the
trouble
which
must
soon
be
common
to
them
both
.
He
preferred
waiting
for
the
incidental
disclosure
which
events
must
soon
bring
about
.
CHAPTER
LXXIV
.
"
Mercifully
grant
that
we
may
grow
aged
together
.
"
—
BOOK
OF
TOBIT
:
Marriage
Prayer
.
In
Middlemarch
a
wife
could
not
long
remain
ignorant
that
the
town
held
a
bad
opinion
of
her
husband
.
No
feminine
intimate
might
carry
her
friendship
so
far
as
to
make
a
plain
statement
to
the
wife
of
the
unpleasant
fact
known
or
believed
about
her
husband
;
but
when
a
woman
with
her
thoughts
much
at
leisure
got
them
suddenly
employed
on
something
grievously
disadvantageous
to
her
neighbors
,
various
moral
impulses
were
called
into
play
which
tended
to
stimulate
utterance
.
Candor
was
one
.
To
be
candid
,
in
Middlemarch
phraseology
,
meant
,
to
use
an
early
opportunity
of
letting
your
friends
know
that
you
did
not
take
a
cheerful
view
of
their
capacity
,
their
conduct
,
or
their
position
;
and
a
robust
candor
never
waited
to
be
asked
for
its
opinion
.
Then
,
again
,
there
was
the
love
of
truth
—
a
wide
phrase
,
but
meaning
in
this
relation
,
a
lively
objection
to
seeing
a
wife
look
happier
than
her
husband
's
character
warranted
,
or
manifest
too
much
satisfaction
in
her
lot
—
the
poor
thing
should
have
some
hint
given
her
that
if
she
knew
the
truth
she
would
have
less
complacency
in
her
bonnet
,
and
in
light
dishes
for
a
supper-party
.
Stronger
than
all
,
there
was
the
regard
for
a
friend
's
moral
improvement
,
sometimes
called
her
soul
,
which
was
likely
to
be
benefited
by
remarks
tending
to
gloom
,
uttered
with
the
accompaniment
of
pensive
staring
at
the
furniture
and
a
manner
implying
that
the
speaker
would
not
tell
what
was
on
her
mind
,
from
regard
to
the
feelings
of
her
hearer
.
On
the
whole
,
one
might
say
that
an
ardent
charity
was
at
work
setting
the
virtuous
mind
to
make
a
neighbor
unhappy
for
her
good
.
There
were
hardly
any
wives
in
Middlemarch
whose
matrimonial
misfortunes
would
in
different
ways
be
likely
to
call
forth
more
of
this
moral
activity
than
Rosamond
and
her
aunt
Bulstrode
.
Mrs.
Bulstrode
was
not
an
object
of
dislike
,
and
had
never
consciously
injured
any
human
being
.
Men
had
always
thought
her
a
handsome
comfortable
woman
,
and
had
reckoned
it
among
the
signs
of
Bulstrode
's
hypocrisy
that
he
had
chosen
a
red-blooded
Vincy
,
instead
of
a
ghastly
and
melancholy
person
suited
to
his
low
esteem
for
earthly
pleasure
.
When
the
scandal
about
her
husband
was
disclosed
they
remarked
of
her
—
"
Ah
,
poor
woman
!
She
's
as
honest
as
the
day
—
she
never
suspected
anything
wrong
in
him
,
you
may
depend
on
it
.
"
Women
,
who
were
intimate
with
her
,
talked
together
much
of
"
poor
Harriet
,
"
imagined
what
her
feelings
must
be
when
she
came
to
know
everything
,
and
conjectured
how
much
she
had
already
come
to
know
.
There
was
no
spiteful
disposition
towards
her
;
rather
,
there
was
a
busy
benevolence
anxious
to
ascertain
what
it
would
be
well
for
her
to
feel
and
do
under
the
circumstances
,
which
of
course
kept
the
imagination
occupied
with
her
character
and
history
from
the
times
when
she
was
Harriet
Vincy
till
now
.
With
the
review
of
Mrs.
Bulstrode
and
her
position
it
was
inevitable
to
associate
Rosamond
,
whose
prospects
were
under
the
same
blight
with
her
aunt
's
.
Rosamond
was
more
severely
criticised
and
less
pitied
,
though
she
too
,
as
one
of
the
good
old
Vincy
family
who
had
always
been
known
in
Middlemarch
,
was
regarded
as
a
victim
to
marriage
with
an
interloper
.
The
Vincys
had
their
weaknesses
,
but
then
they
lay
on
the
surface
:
there
was
never
anything
bad
to
be
"
found
out
"
concerning
them
.
Mrs.
Bulstrode
was
vindicated
from
any
resemblance
to
her
husband
.
Harriet
's
faults
were
her
own
.
"
She
has
always
been
showy
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
,
making
tea
for
a
small
party
,
"
though
she
has
got
into
the
way
of
putting
her
religion
forward
,
to
conform
to
her
husband
;
she
has
tried
to
hold
her
head
up
above
Middlemarch
by
making
it
known
that
she
invites
clergymen
and
heaven-knows-who
from
Riverston
and
those
places
.
"
"
We
can
hardly
blame
her
for
that
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
;
"
because
few
of
the
best
people
in
the
town
cared
to
associate
with
Bulstrode
,
and
she
must
have
somebody
to
sit
down
at
her
table
.
"
"
Mr.
Thesiger
has
always
countenanced
him
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
I
think
he
must
be
sorry
now
.
"
"
But
he
was
never
fond
of
him
in
his
heart
—
that
every
one
knows
,
"
said
Mrs.
Tom
Toller
.
"
Mr.
Thesiger
never
goes
into
extremes
.
He
keeps
to
the
truth
in
what
is
evangelical
.
It
is
only
clergymen
like
Mr.
Tyke
,
who
want
to
use
Dissenting
hymn-books
and
that
low
kind
of
religion
,
who
ever
found
Bulstrode
to
their
taste
.
"
"
I
understand
,
Mr.
Tyke
is
in
great
distress
about
him
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
And
well
he
may
be
:
they
say
the
Bulstrodes
have
half
kept
the
Tyke
family
.
"
"
And
of
course
it
is
a
discredit
to
his
doctrines
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
,
who
was
elderly
,
and
old-fashioned
in
her
opinions
.
"
People
will
not
make
a
boast
of
being
methodistical
in
Middlemarch
for
a
good
while
to
come
.
"
"
I
think
we
must
not
set
down
people
's
bad
actions
to
their
religion
,
"
said
falcon-faced
Mrs.
Plymdale
,
who
had
been
listening
hitherto
.
"
Oh
,
my
dear
,
we
are
forgetting
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
.
"
We
ought
not
to
be
talking
of
this
before
you
.
"
"
I
am
sure
I
have
no
reason
to
be
partial
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
,
colouring
.
"
It
's
true
Mr.
Plymdale
has
always
been
on
good
terms
with
Mr.
Bulstrode
,
and
Harriet
Vincy
was
my
friend
long
before
she
married
him
.
But
I
have
always
kept
my
own
opinions
and
told
her
where
she
was
wrong
,
poor
thing
.
Still
,
in
point
of
religion
,
I
must
say
,
Mr.
Bulstrode
might
have
done
what
he
has
,
and
worse
,
and
yet
have
been
a
man
of
no
religion
.
I
do
n't
say
that
there
has
not
been
a
little
too
much
of
that
—
I
like
moderation
myself
.
But
truth
is
truth
.
The
men
tried
at
the
assizes
are
not
all
over-religious
,
I
suppose
.
"
"
Well
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
,
wheeling
adroitly
,
"
all
I
can
say
is
,
that
I
think
she
ought
to
separate
from
him
.
"
"
I
ca
n't
say
that
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
.
"
She
took
him
for
better
or
worse
,
you
know
.
"
"
But
'
worse
'
can
never
mean
finding
out
that
your
husband
is
fit
for
Newgate
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
Fancy
living
with
such
a
man
!
I
should
expect
to
be
poisoned
.
"
"
Yes
,
I
think
myself
it
is
an
encouragement
to
crime
if
such
men
are
to
be
taken
care
of
and
waited
on
by
good
wives
,
"
said
Mrs.
Tom
Toller
.
"
And
a
good
wife
poor
Harriet
has
been
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
.
"
She
thinks
her
husband
the
first
of
men
.
It
's
true
he
has
never
denied
her
anything
.
"
"
Well
,
we
shall
see
what
she
will
do
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
I
suppose
she
knows
nothing
yet
,
poor
creature
.
I
do
hope
and
trust
I
shall
not
see
her
,
for
I
should
be
frightened
to
death
lest
I
should
say
anything
about
her
husband
.
Do
you
think
any
hint
has
reached
her
?
"
"
I
should
hardly
think
so
,
"
said
Mrs.
Tom
Toller
.
"
We
hear
that
he
is
ill
,
and
has
never
stirred
out
of
the
house
since
the
meeting
on
Thursday
;
but
she
was
with
her
girls
at
church
yesterday
,
and
they
had
new
Tuscan
bonnets
.
Her
own
had
a
feather
in
it
.
I
have
never
seen
that
her
religion
made
any
difference
in
her
dress
.
"
"
She
wears
very
neat
patterns
always
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
,
a
little
stung
.
"
And
that
feather
I
know
she
got
dyed
a
pale
lavender
on
purpose
to
be
consistent
.
I
must
say
it
of
Harriet
that
she
wishes
to
do
right
.
"
"
As
to
her
knowing
what
has
happened
,
it
ca
n't
be
kept
from
her
long
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
The
Vincys
know
,
for
Mr.
Vincy
was
at
the
meeting
.
It
will
be
a
great
blow
to
him
.
There
is
his
daughter
as
well
as
his
sister
.
"
"
Yes
,
indeed
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
.
"
Nobody
supposes
that
Mr.
Lydgate
can
go
on
holding
up
his
head
in
Middlemarch
,
things
look
so
black
about
the
thousand
pounds
he
took
just
at
that
man
's
death
.
It
really
makes
one
shudder
.
"
"
Pride
must
have
a
fall
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
.
"
I
am
not
so
sorry
for
Rosamond
Vincy
that
was
as
I
am
for
her
aunt
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
.
"
She
needed
a
lesson
.
"
"
I
suppose
the
Bulstrodes
will
go
and
live
abroad
somewhere
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
.
"
That
is
what
is
generally
done
when
there
is
anything
disgraceful
in
a
family
.
"
"
And
a
most
deadly
blow
it
will
be
to
Harriet
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
.
"
If
ever
a
woman
was
crushed
,
she
will
be
.
I
pity
her
from
my
heart
.
And
with
all
her
faults
,
few
women
are
better
.
From
a
girl
she
had
the
neatest
ways
,
and
was
always
good-hearted
,
and
as
open
as
the
day
.
You
might
look
into
her
drawers
when
you
would
—
always
the
same
.
And
so
she
has
brought
up
Kate
and
Ellen
.
You
may
think
how
hard
it
will
be
for
her
to
go
among
foreigners
.
"
"
The
doctor
says
that
is
what
he
should
recommend
the
Lydgates
to
do
,
"
said
Mrs.
Sprague
.
"
He
says
Lydgate
ought
to
have
kept
among
the
French
.
"
"
That
would
suit
her
well
enough
,
I
dare
say
,
"
said
Mrs.
Plymdale
;
"
there
is
that
kind
of
lightness
about
her
.
But
she
got
that
from
her
mother
;
she
never
got
it
from
her
aunt
Bulstrode
,
who
always
gave
her
good
advice
,
and
to
my
knowledge
would
rather
have
had
her
marry
elsewhere
.
"
Mrs.
Plymdale
was
in
a
situation
which
caused
her
some
complication
of
feeling
.
There
had
been
not
only
her
intimacy
with
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
but
also
a
profitable
business
relation
of
the
great
Plymdale
dyeing
house
with
Mr.
Bulstrode
,
which
on
the
one
hand
would
have
inclined
her
to
desire
that
the
mildest
view
of
his
character
should
be
the
true
one
,
but
on
the
other
,
made
her
the
more
afraid
of
seeming
to
palliate
his
culpability
.
Again
,
the
late
alliance
of
her
family
with
the
Tollers
had
brought
her
in
connection
with
the
best
circle
,
which
gratified
her
in
every
direction
except
in
the
inclination
to
those
serious
views
which
she
believed
to
be
the
best
in
another
sense
.
The
sharp
little
woman
's
conscience
was
somewhat
troubled
in
the
adjustment
of
these
opposing
"
bests
,
"
and
of
her
griefs
and
satisfactions
under
late
events
,
which
were
likely
to
humble
those
who
needed
humbling
,
but
also
to
fall
heavily
on
her
old
friend
whose
faults
she
would
have
preferred
seeing
on
a
background
of
prosperity
.
Poor
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
meanwhile
,
had
been
no
further
shaken
by
the
oncoming
tread
of
calamity
than
in
the
busier
stirring
of
that
secret
uneasiness
which
had
always
been
present
in
her
since
the
last
visit
of
Raffles
to
The
Shrubs
.
That
the
hateful
man
had
come
ill
to
Stone
Court
,
and
that
her
husband
had
chosen
to
remain
there
and
watch
over
him
,
she
allowed
to
be
explained
by
the
fact
that
Raffles
had
been
employed
and
aided
in
earlier-days
,
and
that
this
made
a
tie
of
benevolence
towards
him
in
his
degraded
helplessness
;
and
she
had
been
since
then
innocently
cheered
by
her
husband
's
more
hopeful
speech
about
his
own
health
and
ability
to
continue
his
attention
to
business
.
The
calm
was
disturbed
when
Lydgate
had
brought
him
home
ill
from
the
meeting
,
and
in
spite
of
comforting
assurances
during
the
next
few
days
,
she
cried
in
private
from
the
conviction
that
her
husband
was
not
suffering
from
bodily
illness
merely
,
but
from
something
that
afflicted
his
mind
.
He
would
not
allow
her
to
read
to
him
,
and
scarcely
to
sit
with
him
,
alleging
nervous
susceptibility
to
sounds
and
movements
;
yet
she
suspected
that
in
shutting
himself
up
in
his
private
room
he
wanted
to
be
busy
with
his
papers
.
Something
,
she
felt
sure
,
had
happened
.
Perhaps
it
was
some
great
loss
of
money
;
and
she
was
kept
in
the
dark
.
Not
daring
to
question
her
husband
,
she
said
to
Lydgate
,
on
the
fifth
day
after
the
meeting
,
when
she
had
not
left
home
except
to
go
to
church
—
"
Mr.
Lydgate
,
pray
be
open
with
me
:
I
like
to
know
the
truth
.
Has
anything
happened
to
Mr.
Bulstrode
?
"
"
Some
little
nervous
shock
,
"
said
Lydgate
,
evasively
.
He
felt
that
it
was
not
for
him
to
make
the
painful
revelation
.
"
But
what
brought
it
on
?
"
said
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
looking
directly
at
him
with
her
large
dark
eyes
.
"
There
is
often
something
poisonous
in
the
air
of
public
rooms
,
"
said
Lydgate
.
"
Strong
men
can
stand
it
,
but
it
tells
on
people
in
proportion
to
the
delicacy
of
their
systems
.
It
is
often
impossible
to
account
for
the
precise
moment
of
an
attack
—
or
rather
,
to
say
why
the
strength
gives
way
at
a
particular
moment
.
"
Mrs.
Bulstrode
was
not
satisfied
with
this
answer
.
There
remained
in
her
the
belief
that
some
calamity
had
befallen
her
husband
,
of
which
she
was
to
be
kept
in
ignorance
;
and
it
was
in
her
nature
strongly
to
object
to
such
concealment
.
She
begged
leave
for
her
daughters
to
sit
with
their
father
,
and
drove
into
the
town
to
pay
some
visits
,
conjecturing
that
if
anything
were
known
to
have
gone
wrong
in
Mr.
Bulstrode
's
affairs
,
she
should
see
or
hear
some
sign
of
it
.
She
called
on
Mrs.
Thesiger
,
who
was
not
at
home
,
and
then
drove
to
Mrs.
Hackbutt
's
on
the
other
side
of
the
churchyard
.
Mrs.
Hackbutt
saw
her
coming
from
an
up-stairs
window
,
and
remembering
her
former
alarm
lest
she
should
meet
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
felt
almost
bound
in
consistency
to
send
word
that
she
was
not
at
home
;
but
against
that
,
there
was
a
sudden
strong
desire
within
her
for
the
excitement
of
an
interview
in
which
she
was
quite
determined
not
to
make
the
slightest
allusion
to
what
was
in
her
mind
.
Hence
Mrs.
Bulstrode
was
shown
into
the
drawing-room
,
and
Mrs.
Hackbutt
went
to
her
,
with
more
tightness
of
lip
and
rubbing
of
her
hands
than
was
usually
observable
in
her
,
these
being
precautions
adopted
against
freedom
of
speech
.
She
was
resolved
not
to
ask
how
Mr.
Bulstrode
was
.
"
I
have
not
been
anywhere
except
to
church
for
nearly
a
week
,
"
said
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
after
a
few
introductory
remarks
.
"
But
Mr.
Bulstrode
was
taken
so
ill
at
the
meeting
on
Thursday
that
I
have
not
liked
to
leave
the
house
.
"
Mrs.
Hackbutt
rubbed
the
back
of
one
hand
with
the
palm
of
the
other
held
against
her
chest
,
and
let
her
eyes
ramble
over
the
pattern
on
the
rug
.
"
Was
Mr.
Hackbutt
at
the
meeting
?
"
persevered
Mrs.
Bulstrode
.
"
Yes
,
he
was
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
,
with
the
same
attitude
.
"
The
land
is
to
be
bought
by
subscription
,
I
believe
.
"
"
Let
us
hope
that
there
will
be
no
more
cases
of
cholera
to
be
buried
in
it
,
"
said
Mrs.
Bulstrode
.
"
It
is
an
awful
visitation
.
But
I
always
think
Middlemarch
a
very
healthy
spot
.
I
suppose
it
is
being
used
to
it
from
a
child
;
but
I
never
saw
the
town
I
should
like
to
live
at
better
,
and
especially
our
end
.
"
"
I
am
sure
I
should
be
glad
that
you
always
should
live
at
Middlemarch
,
Mrs.
Bulstrode
,
"
said
Mrs.
Hackbutt
,
with
a
slight
sigh
.
"
Still
,
we
must
learn
to
resign
ourselves
,
wherever
our
lot
may
be
cast
.
Though
I
am
sure
there
will
always
be
people
in
this
town
who
will
wish
you
well
.
"
Mrs.
Hackbutt
longed
to
say
,
"
if
you
take
my
advice
you
will
part
from
your
husband
,
"
but
it
seemed
clear
to
her
that
the
poor
woman
knew
nothing
of
the
thunder
ready
to
bolt
on
her
head
,
and
she
herself
could
do
no
more
than
prepare
her
a
little
.
Mrs.
Bulstrode
felt
suddenly
rather
chill
and
trembling
:
there
was
evidently
something
unusual
behind
this
speech
of
Mrs.
Hackbutt
's
;
but
though
she
had
set
out
with
the
desire
to
be
fully
informed
,
she
found
herself
unable
now
to
pursue
her
brave
purpose
,
and
turning
the
conversation
by
an
inquiry
about
the
young
Hackbutts
,
she
soon
took
her
leave
saying
that
she
was
going
to
see
Mrs.
Plymdale
.
On
her
way
thither
she
tried
to
imagine
that
there
might
have
been
some
unusually
warm
sparring
at
the
meeting
between
Mr.
Bulstrode
and
some
of
his
frequent
opponents
—
perhaps
Mr.
Hackbutt
might
have
been
one
of
them
.
That
would
account
for
everything
.
But
when
she
was
in
conversation
with
Mrs.
Plymdale
that
comforting
explanation
seemed
no
longer
tenable
.
"
Selina
"
received
her
with
a
pathetic
affectionateness
and
a
disposition
to
give
edifying
answers
on
the
commonest
topics
,
which
could
hardly
have
reference
to
an
ordinary
quarrel
of
which
the
most
important
consequence
was
a
perturbation
of
Mr.
Bulstrode
's
health
.
Beforehand
Mrs.
Bulstrode
had
thought
that
she
would
sooner
question
Mrs.
Plymdale
than
any
one
else
;
but
she
found
to
her
surprise
that
an
old
friend
is
not
always
the
person
whom
it
is
easiest
to
make
a
confidant
of
:
there
was
the
barrier
of
remembered
communication
under
other
circumstances
—
there
was
the
dislike
of
being
pitied
and
informed
by
one
who
had
been
long
wont
to
allow
her
the
superiority
.
For
certain
words
of
mysterious
appropriateness
that
Mrs.
Plymdale
let
fall
about
her
resolution
never
to
turn
her
back
on
her
friends
,
convinced
Mrs.
Bulstrode
that
what
had
happened
must
be
some
kind
of
misfortune
,
and
instead
of
being
able
to
say
with
her
native
directness
,
"
What
is
it
that
you
have
in
your
mind
?
"
she
found
herself
anxious
to
get
away
before
she
had
heard
anything
more
explicit
.
She
began
to
have
an
agitating
certainty
that
the
misfortune
was
something
more
than
the
mere
loss
of
money
,
being
keenly
sensitive
to
the
fact
that
Selina
now
,
just
as
Mrs.
Hackbutt
had
done
before
,
avoided
noticing
what
she
said
about
her
husband
,
as
they
would
have
avoided
noticing
a
personal
blemish
.
She
said
good-by
with
nervous
haste
,
and
told
the
coachman
to
drive
to
Mr.
Vincy
's
warehouse
.
In
that
short
drive
her
dread
gathered
so
much
force
from
the
sense
of
darkness
,
that
when
she
entered
the
private
counting-house
where
her
brother
sat
at
his
desk
,
her
knees
trembled
and
her
usually
florid
face
was
deathly
pale
.
Something
of
the
same
effect
was
produced
in
him
by
the
sight
of
her
:
he
rose
from
his
seat
to
meet
her
,
took
her
by
the
hand
,
and
said
,
with
his
impulsive
rashness
—
"
God
help
you
,
Harriet
!
you
know
all
.
"
That
moment
was
perhaps
worse
than
any
which
came
after
.
It
contained
that
concentrated
experience
which
in
great
crises
of
emotion
reveals
the
bias
of
a
nature
,
and
is
prophetic
of
the
ultimate
act
which
will
end
an
intermediate
struggle
.
Without
that
memory
of
Raffles
she
might
still
have
thought
only
of
monetary
ruin
,
but
now
along
with
her
brother
's
look
and
words
there
darted
into
her
mind
the
idea
of
some
guilt
in
her
husband
—
then
,
under
the
working
of
terror
came
the
image
of
her
husband
exposed
to
disgrace
—
and
then
,
after
an
instant
of
scorching
shame
in
which
she
felt
only
the
eyes
of
the
world
,
with
one
leap
of
her
heart
she
was
at
his
side
in
mournful
but
unreproaching
fellowship
with
shame
and
isolation
.
All
this
went
on
within
her
in
a
mere
flash
of
time
—
while
she
sank
into
the
chair
,
and
raised
her
eyes
to
her
brother
,
who
stood
over
her
.
"
I
know
nothing
,
Walter
.
What
is
it
?
"
she
said
,
faintly
.
He
told
her
everything
,
very
inartificially
,
in
slow
fragments
,
making
her
aware
that
the
scandal
went
much
beyond
proof
,
especially
as
to
the
end
of
Raffles
.
"
People
will
talk
,
"
he
said
.
"
Even
if
a
man
has
been
acquitted
by
a
jury
,
they
'll
talk
,
and
nod
and
wink
—
and
as
far
as
the
world
goes
,
a
man
might
often
as
well
be
guilty
as
not
.
It
's
a
breakdown
blow
,
and
it
damages
Lydgate
as
much
as
Bulstrode
.
I
do
n't
pretend
to
say
what
is
the
truth
.
I
only
wish
we
had
never
heard
the
name
of
either
Bulstrode
or
Lydgate
.
You
'd
better
have
been
a
Vincy
all
your
life
,
and
so
had
Rosamond
.
"
Mrs.
Bulstrode
made
no
reply
.
"
But
you
must
bear
up
as
well
as
you
can
,
Harriet
.
People
do
n't
blame
you
.
And
I
'll
stand
by
you
whatever
you
make
up
your
mind
to
do
,
"
said
the
brother
,
with
rough
but
well-meaning
affectionateness
.
"
Give
me
your
arm
to
the
carriage
,
Walter
,
"
said
Mrs.
Bulstrode
.
"
I
feel
very
weak
.
"
And
when
she
got
home
she
was
obliged
to
say
to
her
daughter
,
"
I
am
not
well
,
my
dear
;
I
must
go
and
lie
down
.
Attend
to
your
papa
.
Leave
me
in
quiet
.
I
shall
take
no
dinner
.
"
She
locked
herself
in
her
room
.
She
needed
time
to
get
used
to
her
maimed
consciousness
,
her
poor
lopped
life
,
before
she
could
walk
steadily
to
the
place
allotted
her
.
A
new
searching
light
had
fallen
on
her
husband
's
character
,
and
she
could
not
judge
him
leniently
:
the
twenty
years
in
which
she
had
believed
in
him
and
venerated
him
by
virtue
of
his
concealments
came
back
with
particulars
that
made
them
seem
an
odious
deceit
.
He
had
married
her
with
that
bad
past
life
hidden
behind
him
,
and
she
had
no
faith
left
to
protest
his
innocence
of
the
worst
that
was
imputed
to
him
.
Her
honest
ostentatious
nature
made
the
sharing
of
a
merited
dishonour
as
bitter
as
it
could
be
to
any
mortal
.
But
this
imperfectly
taught
woman
,
whose
phrases
and
habits
were
an
odd
patchwork
,
had
a
loyal
spirit
within
her
.
The
man
whose
prosperity
she
had
shared
through
nearly
half
a
life
,
and
who
had
unvaryingly
cherished
her
—
now
that
punishment
had
befallen
him
it
was
not
possible
to
her
in
any
sense
to
forsake
him
.
There
is
a
forsaking
which
still
sits
at
the
same
board
and
lies
on
the
same
couch
with
the
forsaken
soul
,
withering
it
the
more
by
unloving
proximity
.
She
knew
,
when
she
locked
her
door
,
that
she
should
unlock
it
ready
to
go
down
to
her
unhappy
husband
and
espouse
his
sorrow
,
and
say
of
his
guilt
,
I
will
mourn
and
not
reproach
.
But
she
needed
time
to
gather
up
her
strength
;
she
needed
to
sob
out
her
farewell
to
all
the
gladness
and
pride
of
her
life
.
When
she
had
resolved
to
go
down
,
she
prepared
herself
by
some
little
acts
which
might
seem
mere
folly
to
a
hard
onlooker
;
they
were
her
way
of
expressing
to
all
spectators
visible
or
invisible
that
she
had
begun
a
new
life
in
which
she
embraced
humiliation
.
She
took
off
all
her
ornaments
and
put
on
a
plain
black
gown
,
and
instead
of
wearing
her
much-adorned
cap
and
large
bows
of
hair
,
she
brushed
her
hair
down
and
put
on
a
plain
bonnet-cap
,
which
made
her
look
suddenly
like
an
early
Methodist
.
Bulstrode
,
who
knew
that
his
wife
had
been
out
and
had
come
in
saying
that
she
was
not
well
,
had
spent
the
time
in
an
agitation
equal
to
hers
.
He
had
looked
forward
to
her
learning
the
truth
from
others
,
and
had
acquiesced
in
that
probability
,
as
something
easier
to
him
than
any
confession
.
But
now
that
he
imagined
the
moment
of
her
knowledge
come
,
he
awaited
the
result
in
anguish
.
His
daughters
had
been
obliged
to
consent
to
leave
him
,
and
though
he
had
allowed
some
food
to
be
brought
to
him
,
he
had
not
touched
it
.
He
felt
himself
perishing
slowly
in
unpitied
misery
.
Perhaps
he
should
never
see
his
wife
's
face
with
affection
in
it
again
.
And
if
he
turned
to
God
there
seemed
to
be
no
answer
but
the
pressure
of
retribution
.
It
was
eight
o'clock
in
the
evening
before
the
door
opened
and
his
wife
entered
.
He
dared
not
look
up
at
her
.
He
sat
with
his
eyes
bent
down
,
and
as
she
went
towards
him
she
thought
he
looked
smaller
—
he
seemed
so
withered
and
shrunken
.
A
movement
of
new
compassion
and
old
tenderness
went
through
her
like
a
great
wave
,
and
putting
one
hand
on
his
which
rested
on
the
arm
of
the
chair
,
and
the
other
on
his
shoulder
,
she
said
,
solemnly
but
kindly
—
"
Look
up
,
Nicholas
.
"
He
raised
his
eyes
with
a
little
start
and
looked
at
her
half
amazed
for
a
moment
:
her
pale
face
,
her
changed
,
mourning
dress
,
the
trembling
about
her
mouth
,
all
said
,
"
I
know
;
"
and
her
hands
and
eyes
rested
gently
on
him
.
He
burst
out
crying
and
they
cried
together
,
she
sitting
at
his
side
.
They
could
not
yet
speak
to
each
other
of
the
shame
which
she
was
bearing
with
him
,
or
of
the
acts
which
had
brought
it
down
on
them
.
His
confession
was
silent
,
and
her
promise
of
faithfulness
was
silent
.
Open-minded
as
she
was
,
she
nevertheless
shrank
from
the
words
which
would
have
expressed
their
mutual
consciousness
,
as
she
would
have
shrunk
from
flakes
of
fire
.
She
could
not
say
,
"
How
much
is
only
slander
and
false
suspicion
?
"
and
he
did
not
say
,
"
I
am
innocent
.
"
CHAPTER
LXXV
.
"
Le
sentiment
de
la
fausseté
des
plaisirs
présents
,
et
l'ignorance
de
la
vanité
des
plaisirs
absents
causent
l'inconstance
.
"
—
PASCAL
.
Rosamond
had
a
gleam
of
returning
cheerfulness
when
the
house
was
freed
from
the
threatening
figure
,
and
when
all
the
disagreeable
creditors
were
paid
.
But
she
was
not
joyous
:
her
married
life
had
fulfilled
none
of
her
hopes
,
and
had
been
quite
spoiled
for
her
imagination
.
In
this
brief
interval
of
calm
,
Lydgate
,
remembering
that
he
had
often
been
stormy
in
his
hours
of
perturbation
,
and
mindful
of
the
pain
Rosamond
had
had
to
bear
,
was
carefully
gentle
towards
her
;
but
he
,
too
,
had
lost
some
of
his
old
spirit
,
and
he
still
felt
it
necessary
to
refer
to
an
economical
change
in
their
way
of
living
as
a
matter
of
course
,
trying
to
reconcile
her
to
it
gradually
,
and
repressing
his
anger
when
she
answered
by
wishing
that
he
would
go
to
live
in
London
.
When
she
did
not
make
this
answer
,
she
listened
languidly
,
and
wondered
what
she
had
that
was
worth
living
for
.
The
hard
and
contemptuous
words
which
had
fallen
from
her
husband
in
his
anger
had
deeply
offended
that
vanity
which
he
had
at
first
called
into
active
enjoyment
;
and
what
she
regarded
as
his
perverse
way
of
looking
at
things
,
kept
up
a
secret
repulsion
,
which
made
her
receive
all
his
tenderness
as
a
poor
substitute
for
the
happiness
he
had
failed
to
give
her
.
They
were
at
a
disadvantage
with
their
neighbors
,
and
there
was
no
longer
any
outlook
towards
Quallingham
—
there
was
no
outlook
anywhere
except
in
an
occasional
letter
from
Will
Ladislaw
.
She
had
felt
stung
and
disappointed
by
Will
's
resolution
to
quit
Middlemarch
,
for
in
spite
of
what
she
knew
and
guessed
about
his
admiration
for
Dorothea
,
she
secretly
cherished
the
belief
that
he
had
,
or
would
necessarily
come
to
have
,
much
more
admiration
for
herself
;
Rosamond
being
one
of
those
women
who
live
much
in
the
idea
that
each
man
they
meet
would
have
preferred
them
if
the
preference
had
not
been
hopeless
.
Mrs.
Casaubon
was
all
very
well
;
but
Will
's
interest
in
her
dated
before
he
knew
Mrs.
Lydgate
.
Rosamond
took
his
way
of
talking
to
herself
,
which
was
a
mixture
of
playful
fault-finding
and
hyperbolical
gallantry
,
as
the
disguise
of
a
deeper
feeling
;
and
in
his
presence
she
felt
that
agreeable
titillation
of
vanity
and
sense
of
romantic
drama
which
Lydgate
's
presence
had
no
longer
the
magic
to
create
.
She
even
fancied
—
what
will
not
men
and
women
fancy
in
these
matters
?
—
that
Will
exaggerated
his
admiration
for
Mrs.
Casaubon
in
order
to
pique
herself
.
In
this
way
poor
Rosamond
's
brain
had
been
busy
before
Will
's
departure
.
He
would
have
made
,
she
thought
,
a
much
more
suitable
husband
for
her
than
she
had
found
in
Lydgate
.
No
notion
could
have
been
falser
than
this
,
for
Rosamond
's
discontent
in
her
marriage
was
due
to
the
conditions
of
marriage
itself
,
to
its
demand
for
self-suppression
and
tolerance
,
and
not
to
the
nature
of
her
husband
;
but
the
easy
conception
of
an
unreal
Better
had
a
sentimental
charm
which
diverted
her
ennui
.
She
constructed
a
little
romance
which
was
to
vary
the
flatness
of
her
life
:
Will
Ladislaw
was
always
to
be
a
bachelor
and
live
near
her
,
always
to
be
at
her
command
,
and
have
an
understood
though
never
fully
expressed
passion
for
her
,
which
would
be
sending
out
lambent
flames
every
now
and
then
in
interesting
scenes
.
His
departure
had
been
a
proportionate
disappointment
,
and
had
sadly
increased
her
weariness
of
Middlemarch
;
but
at
first
she
had
the
alternative
dream
of
pleasures
in
store
from
her
intercourse
with
the
family
at
Quallingham
.
Since
then
the
troubles
of
her
married
life
had
deepened
,
and
the
absence
of
other
relief
encouraged
her
regretful
rumination
over
that
thin
romance
which
she
had
once
fed
on
.
Men
and
women
make
sad
mistakes
about
their
own
symptoms
,
taking
their
vague
uneasy
longings
,
sometimes
for
genius
,
sometimes
for
religion
,
and
oftener
still
for
a
mighty
love
.
Will
Ladislaw
had
written
chatty
letters
,
half
to
her
and
half
to
Lydgate
,
and
she
had
replied
:
their
separation
,
she
felt
,
was
not
likely
to
be
final
,
and
the
change
she
now
most
longed
for
was
that
Lydgate
should
go
to
live
in
London
;
everything
would
be
agreeable
in
London
;
and
she
had
set
to
work
with
quiet
determination
to
win
this
result
,
when
there
came
a
sudden
,
delightful
promise
which
inspirited
her
.
It
came
shortly
before
the
memorable
meeting
at
the
town-hall
,
and
was
nothing
less
than
a
letter
from
Will
Ladislaw
to
Lydgate
,
which
turned
indeed
chiefly
on
his
new
interest
in
plans
of
colonization
,
but
mentioned
incidentally
,
that
he
might
find
it
necessary
to
pay
a
visit
to
Middlemarch
within
the
next
few
weeks
—
a
very
pleasant
necessity
,
he
said
,
almost
as
good
as
holidays
to
a
schoolboy
.
He
hoped
there
was
his
old
place
on
the
rug
,
and
a
great
deal
of
music
in
store
for
him
.
But
he
was
quite
uncertain
as
to
the
time
.
While
Lydgate
was
reading
the
letter
to
Rosamond
,
her
face
looked
like
a
reviving
flower
—
it
grew
prettier
and
more
blooming
.
There
was
nothing
unendurable
now
:
the
debts
were
paid
,
Mr.
Ladislaw
was
coming
,
and
Lydgate
would
be
persuaded
to
leave
Middlemarch
and
settle
in
London
,
which
was
"
so
different
from
a
provincial
town
.
"
That
was
a
bright
bit
of
morning
.
But
soon
the
sky
became
black
over
poor
Rosamond
.
The
presence
of
a
new
gloom
in
her
husband
,
about
which
he
was
entirely
reserved
towards
her
—
for
he
dreaded
to
expose
his
lacerated
feeling
to
her
neutrality
and
misconception
—
soon
received
a
painfully
strange
explanation
,
alien
to
all
her
previous
notions
of
what
could
affect
her
happiness
.
In
the
new
gayety
of
her
spirits
,
thinking
that
Lydgate
had
merely
a
worse
fit
of
moodiness
than
usual
,
causing
him
to
leave
her
remarks
unanswered
,
and
evidently
to
keep
out
of
her
way
as
much
as
possible
,
she
chose
,
a
few
days
after
the
meeting
,
and
without
speaking
to
him
on
the
subject
,
to
send
out
notes
of
invitation
for
a
small
evening
party
,
feeling
convinced
that
this
was
a
judicious
step
,
since
people
seemed
to
have
been
keeping
aloof
from
them
,
and
wanted
restoring
to
the
old
habit
of
intercourse
.
When
the
invitations
had
been
accepted
,
she
would
tell
Lydgate
,
and
give
him
a
wise
admonition
as
to
how
a
medical
man
should
behave
to
his
neighbors
;
for
Rosamond
had
the
gravest
little
airs
possible
about
other
people
's
duties
.
But
all
the
invitations
were
declined
,
and
the
last
answer
came
into
Lydgate
's
hands
.
"
This
is
Chichely
's
scratch
.
What
is
he
writing
to
you
about
?
"
said
Lydgate
,
wonderingly
,
as
he
handed
the
note
to
her
.
She
was
obliged
to
let
him
see
it
,
and
,
looking
at
her
severely
,
he
said
—
"
Why
on
earth
have
you
been
sending
out
invitations
without
telling
me
,
Rosamond
?
I
beg
,
I
insist
that
you
will
not
invite
any
one
to
this
house
.
I
suppose
you
have
been
inviting
others
,
and
they
have
refused
too
.
"
She
said
nothing
.
"
Do
you
hear
me
?
"
thundered
Lydgate
.
"
Yes
,
certainly
I
hear
you
,
"
said
Rosamond
,
turning
her
head
aside
with
the
movement
of
a
graceful
long-necked
bird
.
Lydgate
tossed
his
head
without
any
grace
and
walked
out
of
the
room
,
feeling
himself
dangerous
.
Rosamond
's
thought
was
,
that
he
was
getting
more
and
more
unbearable
—
not
that
there
was
any
new
special
reason
for
this
peremptoriness
.
His
indisposition
to
tell
her
anything
in
which
he
was
sure
beforehand
that
she
would
not
be
interested
was
growing
into
an
unreflecting
habit
,
and
she
was
in
ignorance
of
everything
connected
with
the
thousand
pounds
except
that
the
loan
had
come
from
her
uncle
Bulstrode
.
Lydgate
's
odious
humors
and
their
neighbors
'
apparent
avoidance
of
them
had
an
unaccountable
date
for
her
in
their
relief
from
money
difficulties
.
If
the
invitations
had
been
accepted
she
would
have
gone
to
invite
her
mamma
and
the
rest
,
whom
she
had
seen
nothing
of
for
several
days
;
and
she
now
put
on
her
bonnet
to
go
and
inquire
what
had
become
of
them
all
,
suddenly
feeling
as
if
there
were
a
conspiracy
to
leave
her
in
isolation
with
a
husband
disposed
to
offend
everybody
.
It
was
after
the
dinner
hour
,
and
she
found
her
father
and
mother
seated
together
alone
in
the
drawing-room
.
They
greeted
her
with
sad
looks
,
saying
"
Well
,
my
dear
!
"
and
no
more
.
She
had
never
seen
her
father
look
so
downcast
;
and
seating
herself
near
him
she
said
—
"
Is
there
anything
the
matter
,
papa
?
"
He
did
not
answer
,
but
Mrs.
Vincy
said
,
"
Oh
,
my
dear
,
have
you
heard
nothing
?
It
wo
n't
be
long
before
it
reaches
you
.
"
"
Is
it
anything
about
Tertius
?
"
said
Rosamond
,
turning
pale
.
The
idea
of
trouble
immediately
connected
itself
with
what
had
been
unaccountable
to
her
in
him
.
"
Oh
,
my
dear
,
yes
.
To
think
of
your
marrying
into
this
trouble
.
Debt
was
bad
enough
,
but
this
will
be
worse
.
"
"
Stay
,
stay
,
Lucy
,
"
said
Mr.
Vincy
.
"
Have
you
heard
nothing
about
your
uncle
Bulstrode
,
Rosamond
?
"
"
No
,
papa
,
"
said
the
poor
thing
,
feeling
as
if
trouble
were
not
anything
she
had
before
experienced
,
but
some
invisible
power
with
an
iron
grasp
that
made
her
soul
faint
within
her
.
Her
father
told
her
everything
,
saying
at
the
end
,
"
It
's
better
for
you
to
know
,
my
dear
.
I
think
Lydgate
must
leave
the
town
.
Things
have
gone
against
him
.
I
dare
say
he
could
n't
help
it
.
I
do
n't
accuse
him
of
any
harm
,
"
said
Mr.
Vincy
.
He
had
always
before
been
disposed
to
find
the
utmost
fault
with
Lydgate
.
The
shock
to
Rosamond
was
terrible
.
It
seemed
to
her
that
no
lot
could
be
so
cruelly
hard
as
hers
to
have
married
a
man
who
had
become
the
centre
of
infamous
suspicions
.
In
many
cases
it
is
inevitable
that
the
shame
is
felt
to
be
the
worst
part
of
crime
;
and
it
would
have
required
a
great
deal
of
disentangling
reflection
,
such
as
had
never
entered
into
Rosamond
's
life
,
for
her
in
these
moments
to
feel
that
her
trouble
was
less
than
if
her
husband
had
been
certainly
known
to
have
done
something
criminal
.
All
the
shame
seemed
to
be
there
.
And
she
had
innocently
married
this
man
with
the
belief
that
he
and
his
family
were
a
glory
to
her
!
She
showed
her
usual
reticence
to
her
parents
,
and
only
said
,
that
if
Lydgate
had
done
as
she
wished
he
would
have
left
Middlemarch
long
ago
.
"
She
bears
it
beyond
anything
,
"
said
her
mother
when
she
was
gone
.
"
Ah
,
thank
God
!
"
said
Mr.
Vincy
,
who
was
much
broken
down
.
But
Rosamond
went
home
with
a
sense
of
justified
repugnance
towards
her
husband
.
What
had
he
really
done
—
how
had
he
really
acted
?
She
did
not
know
.
Why
had
he
not
told
her
everything
?
He
did
not
speak
to
her
on
the
subject
,
and
of
course
she
could
not
speak
to
him
.
It
came
into
her
mind
once
that
she
would
ask
her
father
to
let
her
go
home
again
;
but
dwelling
on
that
prospect
made
it
seem
utter
dreariness
to
her
:
a
married
woman
gone
back
to
live
with
her
parents
—
life
seemed
to
have
no
meaning
for
her
in
such
a
position
:
she
could
not
contemplate
herself
in
it
.
The
next
two
days
Lydgate
observed
a
change
in
her
,
and
believed
that
she
had
heard
the
bad
news
.
Would
she
speak
to
him
about
it
,
or
would
she
go
on
forever
in
the
silence
which
seemed
to
imply
that
she
believed
him
guilty
?
We
must
remember
that
he
was
in
a
morbid
state
of
mind
,
in
which
almost
all
contact
was
pain
.
Certainly
Rosamond
in
this
case
had
equal
reason
to
complain
of
reserve
and
want
of
confidence
on
his
part
;
but
in
the
bitterness
of
his
soul
he
excused
himself
;
—
was
he
not
justified
in
shrinking
from
the
task
of
telling
her
,
since
now
she
knew
the
truth
she
had
no
impulse
to
speak
to
him
?
But
a
deeper-lying
consciousness
that
he
was
in
fault
made
him
restless
,
and
the
silence
between
them
became
intolerable
to
him
;
it
was
as
if
they
were
both
adrift
on
one
piece
of
wreck
and
looked
away
from
each
other
.
He
thought
,
"
I
am
a
fool
.
Have
n't
I
given
up
expecting
anything
?
I
have
married
care
,
not
help
.
"
And
that
evening
he
said
—
"
Rosamond
,
have
you
heard
anything
that
distresses
you
?
"
"
Yes
,
"
she
answered
,
laying
down
her
work
,
which
she
had
been
carrying
on
with
a
languid
semi-consciousness
,
most
unlike
her
usual
self
.
"
What
have
you
heard
?
"
"
Everything
,
I
suppose
.
Papa
told
me
.
"
"
That
people
think
me
disgraced
?
"
"
Yes
,
"
said
Rosamond
,
faintly
,
beginning
to
sew
again
automatically
.
There
was
silence
.
Lydgate
thought
,
"
If
she
has
any
trust
in
me
—
any
notion
of
what
I
am
,
she
ought
to
speak
now
and
say
that
she
does
not
believe
I
have
deserved
disgrace
.
"
But
Rosamond
on
her
side
went
on
moving
her
fingers
languidly
.
Whatever
was
to
be
said
on
the
subject
she
expected
to
come
from
Tertius
.
What
did
she
know
?
And
if
he
were
innocent
of
any
wrong
,
why
did
he
not
do
something
to
clear
himself
?
This
silence
of
hers
brought
a
new
rush
of
gall
to
that
bitter
mood
in
which
Lydgate
had
been
saying
to
himself
that
nobody
believed
in
him
—
even
Farebrother
had
not
come
forward
.
He
had
begun
to
question
her
with
the
intent
that
their
conversation
should
disperse
the
chill
fog
which
had
gathered
between
them
,
but
he
felt
his
resolution
checked
by
despairing
resentment
.
Even
this
trouble
,
like
the
rest
,
she
seemed
to
regard
as
if
it
were
hers
alone
.
He
was
always
to
her
a
being
apart
,
doing
what
she
objected
to
.
He
started
from
his
chair
with
an
angry
impulse
,
and
thrusting
his
hands
in
his
pockets
,
walked
up
and
down
the
room
.
There
was
an
underlying
consciousness
all
the
while
that
he
should
have
to
master
this
anger
,
and
tell
her
everything
,
and
convince
her
of
the
facts
.
For
he
had
almost
learned
the
lesson
that
he
must
bend
himself
to
her
nature
,
and
that
because
she
came
short
in
her
sympathy
,
he
must
give
the
more
.
Soon
he
recurred
to
his
intention
of
opening
himself
:
the
occasion
must
not
be
lost
.
If
he
could
bring
her
to
feel
with
some
solemnity
that
here
was
a
slander
which
must
be
met
and
not
run
away
from
,
and
that
the
whole
trouble
had
come
out
of
his
desperate
want
of
money
,
it
would
be
a
moment
for
urging
powerfully
on
her
that
they
should
be
one
in
the
resolve
to
do
with
as
little
money
as
possible
,
so
that
they
might
weather
the
bad
time
and
keep
themselves
independent
.
He
would
mention
the
definite
measures
which
he
desired
to
take
,
and
win
her
to
a
willing
spirit
.
He
was
bound
to
try
this
—
and
what
else
was
there
for
him
to
do
?
He
did
not
know
how
long
he
had
been
walking
uneasily
backwards
and
forwards
,
but
Rosamond
felt
that
it
was
long
,
and
wished
that
he
would
sit
down
.
She
too
had
begun
to
think
this
an
opportunity
for
urging
on
Tertius
what
he
ought
to
do
.
Whatever
might
be
the
truth
about
all
this
misery
,
there
was
one
dread
which
asserted
itself
.
Lydgate
at
last
seated
himself
,
not
in
his
usual
chair
,
but
in
one
nearer
to
Rosamond
,
leaning
aside
in
it
towards
her
,
and
looking
at
her
gravely
before
he
reopened
the
sad
subject
.
He
had
conquered
himself
so
far
,
and
was
about
to
speak
with
a
sense
of
solemnity
,
as
on
an
occasion
which
was
not
to
be
repeated
.
He
had
even
opened
his
lips
,
when
Rosamond
,
letting
her
hands
fall
,
looked
at
him
and
said
—
"
Surely
,
Tertius
—
"
"
Well
?
"
"
Surely
now
at
last
you
have
given
up
the
idea
of
staying
in
Middlemarch
.
I
cannot
go
on
living
here
.
Let
us
go
to
London
.
Papa
,
and
every
one
else
,
says
you
had
better
go
.
Whatever
misery
I
have
to
put
up
with
,
it
will
be
easier
away
from
here
.
"
Lydgate
felt
miserably
jarred
.
Instead
of
that
critical
outpouring
for
which
he
had
prepared
himself
with
effort
,
here
was
the
old
round
to
be
gone
through
again
.
He
could
not
bear
it
.
With
a
quick
change
of
countenance
he
rose
and
went
out
of
the
room
.
Perhaps
if
he
had
been
strong
enough
to
persist
in
his
determination
to
be
the
more
because
she
was
less
,
that
evening
might
have
had
a
better
issue
.
If
his
energy
could
have
borne
down
that
check
,
he
might
still
have
wrought
on
Rosamond
's
vision
and
will
.
We
cannot
be
sure
that
any
natures
,
however
inflexible
or
peculiar
,
will
resist
this
effect
from
a
more
massive
being
than
their
own
.
They
may
be
taken
by
storm
and
for
the
moment
converted
,
becoming
part
of
the
soul
which
enwraps
them
in
the
ardor
of
its
movement
.
But
poor
Lydgate
had
a
throbbing
pain
within
him
,
and
his
energy
had
fallen
short
of
its
task
.
The
beginning
of
mutual
understanding
and
resolve
seemed
as
far
off
as
ever
;
nay
,
it
seemed
blocked
out
by
the
sense
of
unsuccessful
effort
.
They
lived
on
from
day
to
day
with
their
thoughts
still
apart
,
Lydgate
going
about
what
work
he
had
in
a
mood
of
despair
,
and
Rosamond
feeling
,
with
some
justification
,
that
he
was
behaving
cruelly
.
It
was
of
no
use
to
say
anything
to
Tertius
;
but
when
Will
Ladislaw
came
,
she
was
determined
to
tell
him
everything
.
In
spite
of
her
general
reticence
,
she
needed
some
one
who
would
recognize
her
wrongs
.
CHAPTER
LXXVI
.
To
mercy
,
pity
,
peace
,
and
love
All
pray
in
their
distress
,
And
to
these
virtues
of
delight
,
Return
their
thankfulness
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
For
Mercy
has
a
human
heart
,
Pity
a
human
face
;
And
Love
,
the
human
form
divine
;
And
Peace
,
the
human
dress
.
—
WILLIAM
BLAKE
:
Songs
of
Innocence
.
Some
days
later
,
Lydgate
was
riding
to
Lowick
Manor
,
in
consequence
of
a
summons
from
Dorothea
.
The
summons
had
not
been
unexpected
,
since
it
had
followed
a
letter
from
Mr.
Bulstrode
,
in
which
he
stated
that
he
had
resumed
his
arrangements
for
quitting
Middlemarch
,
and
must
remind
Lydgate
of
his
previous
communications
about
the
Hospital
,
to
the
purport
of
which
he
still
adhered
.
It
had
been
his
duty
,
before
taking
further
steps
,
to
reopen
the
subject
with
Mrs.
Casaubon
,
who
now
wished
,
as
before
,
to
discuss
the
question
with
Lydgate
.
"
Your
views
may
possibly
have
undergone
some
change
,
"
wrote
Mr.
Bulstrode
;
"
but
,
in
that
case
also
,
it
is
desirable
that
you
should
lay
them
before
her
.
"
Dorothea
awaited
his
arrival
with
eager
interest
.
Though
,
in
deference
to
her
masculine
advisers
,
she
had
refrained
from
what
Sir
James
had
called
"
interfering
in
this
Bulstrode
business
,
"
the
hardship
of
Lydgate
's
position
was
continually
in
her
mind
,
and
when
Bulstrode
applied
to
her
again
about
the
hospital
,
she
felt
that
the
opportunity
was
come
to
her
which
she
had
been
hindered
from
hastening
.
In
her
luxurious
home
,
wandering
under
the
boughs
of
her
own
great
trees
,
her
thought
was
going
out
over
the
lot
of
others
,
and
her
emotions
were
imprisoned
.
The
idea
of
some
active
good
within
her
reach
,
"
haunted
her
like
a
passion
,
"
and
another
's
need
having
once
come
to
her
as
a
distinct
image
,
preoccupied
her
desire
with
the
yearning
to
give
relief
,
and
made
her
own
ease
tasteless
.
She
was
full
of
confident
hope
about
this
interview
with
Lydgate
,
never
heeding
what
was
said
of
his
personal
reserve
;
never
heeding
that
she
was
a
very
young
woman
.
Nothing
could
have
seemed
more
irrelevant
to
Dorothea
than
insistence
on
her
youth
and
sex
when
she
was
moved
to
show
her
human
fellowship
.
As
she
sat
waiting
in
the
library
,
she
could
do
nothing
but
live
through
again
all
the
past
scenes
which
had
brought
Lydgate
into
her
memories
.
They
all
owed
their
significance
to
her
marriage
and
its
troubles
—
but
no
;
there
were
two
occasions
in
which
the
image
of
Lydgate
had
come
painfully
in
connection
with
his
wife
and
some
one
else
.
The
pain
had
been
allayed
for
Dorothea
,
but
it
had
left
in
her
an
awakened
conjecture
as
to
what
Lydgate
's
marriage
might
be
to
him
,
a
susceptibility
to
the
slightest
hint
about
Mrs.
Lydgate
.
These
thoughts
were
like
a
drama
to
her
,
and
made
her
eyes
bright
,
and
gave
an
attitude
of
suspense
to
her
whole
frame
,
though
she
was
only
looking
out
from
the
brown
library
on
to
the
turf
and
the
bright
green
buds
which
stood
in
relief
against
the
dark
evergreens
.
When
Lydgate
came
in
,
she
was
almost
shocked
at
the
change
in
his
face
,
which
was
strikingly
perceptible
to
her
who
had
not
seen
him
for
two
months
.
It
was
not
the
change
of
emaciation
,
but
that
effect
which
even
young
faces
will
very
soon
show
from
the
persistent
presence
of
resentment
and
despondency
.
Her
cordial
look
,
when
she
put
out
her
hand
to
him
,
softened
his
expression
,
but
only
with
melancholy
.
"
I
have
wished
very
much
to
see
you
for
a
long
while
,
Mr.
Lydgate
,
"
said
Dorothea
when
they
were
seated
opposite
each
other
;
"
but
I
put
off
asking
you
to
come
until
Mr.
Bulstrode
applied
to
me
again
about
the
Hospital
.
I
know
that
the
advantage
of
keeping
the
management
of
it
separate
from
that
of
the
Infirmary
depends
on
you
,
or
,
at
least
,
on
the
good
which
you
are
encouraged
to
hope
for
from
having
it
under
your
control
.
And
I
am
sure
you
will
not
refuse
to
tell
me
exactly
what
you
think
.
"
"
You
want
to
decide
whether
you
should
give
a
generous
support
to
the
Hospital
,
"
said
Lydgate
.
"
I
cannot
conscientiously
advise
you
to
do
it
in
dependence
on
any
activity
of
mine
.
I
may
be
obliged
to
leave
the
town
.
"
He
spoke
curtly
,
feeling
the
ache
of
despair
as
to
his
being
able
to
carry
out
any
purpose
that
Rosamond
had
set
her
mind
against
.
"
Not
because
there
is
no
one
to
believe
in
you
?
"
said
Dorothea
,
pouring
out
her
words
in
clearness
from
a
full
heart
.
"
I
know
the
unhappy
mistakes
about
you
.
I
knew
them
from
the
first
moment
to
be
mistakes
.
You
have
never
done
anything
vile
.
You
would
not
do
anything
dishonourable
.
"
It
was
the
first
assurance
of
belief
in
him
that
had
fallen
on
Lydgate
's
ears
.
He
drew
a
deep
breath
,
and
said
,
"
Thank
you
.
"
He
could
say
no
more
:
it
was
something
very
new
and
strange
in
his
life
that
these
few
words
of
trust
from
a
woman
should
be
so
much
to
him
.
"
I
beseech
you
to
tell
me
how
everything
was
,
"
said
Dorothea
,
fearlessly
.
"
I
am
sure
that
the
truth
would
clear
you
.
"
Lydgate
started
up
from
his
chair
and
went
towards
the
window
,
forgetting
where
he
was
.
He
had
so
often
gone
over
in
his
mind
the
possibility
of
explaining
everything
without
aggravating
appearances
that
would
tell
,
perhaps
unfairly
,
against
Bulstrode
,
and
had
so
often
decided
against
it
—
he
had
so
often
said
to
himself
that
his
assertions
would
not
change
people
's
impressions
—
that
Dorothea
's
words
sounded
like
a
temptation
to
do
something
which
in
his
soberness
he
had
pronounced
to
be
unreasonable
.
"
Tell
me
,
pray
,
"
said
Dorothea
,
with
simple
earnestness
;
"
then
we
can
consult
together
.
It
is
wicked
to
let
people
think
evil
of
any
one
falsely
,
when
it
can
be
hindered
.
"
Lydgate
turned
,
remembering
where
he
was
,
and
saw
Dorothea
's
face
looking
up
at
him
with
a
sweet
trustful
gravity
.
The
presence
of
a
noble
nature
,
generous
in
its
wishes
,
ardent
in
its
charity
,
changes
the
lights
for
us
:
we
begin
to
see
things
again
in
their
larger
,
quieter
masses
,
and
to
believe
that
we
too
can
be
seen
and
judged
in
the
wholeness
of
our
character
.
That
influence
was
beginning
to
act
on
Lydgate
,
who
had
for
many
days
been
seeing
all
life
as
one
who
is
dragged
and
struggling
amid
the
throng
.
He
sat
down
again
,
and
felt
that
he
was
recovering
his
old
self
in
the
consciousness
that
he
was
with
one
who
believed
in
it
.
"
I
do
n't
want
,
"
he
said
,
"
to
bear
hard
on
Bulstrode
,
who
has
lent
me
money
of
which
I
was
in
need
—
though
I
would
rather
have
gone
without
it
now
.
He
is
hunted
down
and
miserable
,
and
has
only
a
poor
thread
of
life
in
him
.
But
I
should
like
to
tell
you
everything
.
It
will
be
a
comfort
to
me
to
speak
where
belief
has
gone
beforehand
,
and
where
I
shall
not
seem
to
be
offering
assertions
of
my
own
honesty
.
You
will
feel
what
is
fair
to
another
,
as
you
feel
what
is
fair
to
me
.
"
"
Do
trust
me
,
"
said
Dorothea
;
"
I
will
not
repeat
anything
without
your
leave
.
But
at
the
very
least
,
I
could
say
that
you
have
made
all
the
circumstances
clear
to
me
,
and
that
I
know
you
are
not
in
any
way
guilty
.
Mr.
Farebrother
would
believe
me
,
and
my
uncle
,
and
Sir
James
Chettam
.
Nay
,
there
are
persons
in
Middlemarch
to
whom
I
could
go
;
although
they
do
n't
know
much
of
me
,
they
would
believe
me
.
They
would
know
that
I
could
have
no
other
motive
than
truth
and
justice
.
I
would
take
any
pains
to
clear
you
.
I
have
very
little
to
