"Thank you, uncle," said Dorothea, in a clear unwavering tone. "I am
very grateful to Mr. Casaubon. If he makes me an offer, I shall accept
him. I admire and honor him more than any man I ever saw."
Mr. Brooke paused a little, and then said in a lingering low tone, "Ah?
. . . Well! He is a good match in some respects. But now, Chettam is
a good match. And our land lies together. I shall never interfere
against your wishes, my dear. People should have their own way in
marriage, and that sort of thing--up to a certain point, you know. I
have always said that, up to a certain point. I wish you to marry
well; and I have good reason to believe that Chettam wishes to marry
you. I mention it, you know."
"It is impossible that I should ever marry Sir James Chettam," said
Dorothea. "If he thinks of marrying me, he has made a great mistake."
"That is it, you see. One never knows. I should have thought Chettam
was just the sort of man a woman would like, now."
"Pray do not mention him in that light again, uncle," said Dorothea,
feeling some of her late irritation revive.
Mr. Brooke wondered, and felt that women were an inexhaustible subject
of study, since even he at his age was not in a perfect state of
scientific prediction about them. Here was a fellow like Chettam with
no chance at all.
"Well, but Casaubon, now. There is no hurry--I mean for you. It's
true, every year will tell upon him. He is over five-and-forty, you
know. I should say a good seven-and-twenty years older than you. To
be sure,--if you like learning and standing, and that sort of thing, we
can't have everything. And his income is good--he has a handsome
property independent of the Church--his income is good. Still he is
not young, and I must not conceal from you, my dear, that I think his
health is not over-strong. I know nothing else against him."
"I should not wish to have a husband very near my own age," said
Dorothea, with grave decision. "I should wish to have a husband who
was above me in judgment and in all knowledge."
Mr. Brooke repeated his subdued, "Ah?--I thought you had more of your
own opinion than most girls. I thought you liked your own
opinion--liked it, you know."
"I cannot imagine myself living without some opinions, but I should
wish to have good reasons for them, and a wise man could help me to see
which opinions had the best foundation, and would help me to live
according to them."