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“ Oh , if you talk in that sense ! ” said Mr . Standish , with as much disgust at such non - legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client . “ I should be glad of any treatment that would cure me without reducing me to a skeleton , like poor Grainger , ” said Mr . Vincy , the mayor , a florid man , who would have served for a study of flesh in striking contrast with the Franciscan tints of Mr . Bulstrode . “ It’s an uncommonly dangerous thing to be left without any padding against the shafts of disease , as somebody said , — and I think it a very good expression myself . ” Mr . Lydgate , of course , was out of hearing . He had quitted the party early , and would have thought it altogether tedious but for the novelty of certain introductions , especially the introduction to Miss Brooke , whose youthful bloom , with her approaching marriage to that faded scholar , and her interest in matters socially useful , gave her the piquancy of an unusual combination . “ She is a good creature — that fine girl — but a little too earnest , ” he thought . “ It is troublesome to talk to such women . They are always wanting reasons , yet they are too ignorant to understand the merits of any question , and usually fall back on their moral sense to settle things after their own taste . ” Evidently Miss Brooke was not Mr . Lydgate’s style of woman any more than Mr . Chichely’s . Considered , indeed , in relation to the latter , whose mind was matured , she was altogether a mistake , and calculated to shock his trust in final causes , including the adaptation of fine young women to purplefaced bachelors . But Lydgate was less ripe , and might possibly have experience before him which would modify his opinion as to the most excellent things in woman . Miss Brooke , however , was not again seen by either of these gentlemen under her maiden name . Not long after that dinner - party she had become Mrs . Casaubon , and was on her way to Rome . CHAPTER XI . But deeds and language such as men do use , And persons such as comedy would choose , When she would show an image of the times , And sport with human follies , not with crimes . — BEN JONSON . Lydgate , in fact , was already conscious of being fascinated by a woman strikingly different from Miss Brooke : he did not in the least suppose that he had lost his balance and fallen in love , but he had said of that particular woman , “ She is grace itself ; she is perfectly lovely and accomplished . That is what a woman ought to be : she ought to produce the effect of exquisite music . ” Plain women he regarded as he did the other severe facts of life , to be faced with philosophy and investigated by science . But Rosamond Vincy seemed to have the true melodic charm ; and when a man has seen the woman whom he would have chosen if he had intended to marry speedily , his remaining a bachelor will usually depend on her resolution rather than on his .
Назад Сторінка 68 з 637 Сторінка 68 з 637 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
