, though I told him I thought there was
not much chance. I was bound to tell him that. I said, my niece is very young,
and that kind of thing. But I didn't think it necessary to go into everything.
However, the long and the short of it is, that he has asked my permission to
make you an offer of marriage - of marriage, you know,« said Mr. Brooke, with
his explanatory nod. »I thought it better to tell you, my dear.«
    No one could have detected any anxiety in Mr. Brooke's manner, but he did
really wish to know something of his niece's mind, that, if there were any need
for advice, he might give it in time. What feeling he, as a magistrate who had
taken in so many ideas, could make room for, was unmixedly kind. Since Dorothea
did not speak immediately, he repeated, »I thought it better to tell you, my
dear.«
    »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 honour 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
