Middlemarch

CHAPITRE LXII.

This chapter opens with a fragment of an old romance verse and follows Will Ladislaw’s urgent determination to revisit Dorothea before quitting Middlemarch. After writing to request an interview, Will must wait while Dorothea carries news of her uncle’s return to Freshitt, where Sir James Chettam plots to circulate gossip about Will’s lingering in the neighborhood through Mrs. Cadwallader. Dorothea hotly defends Will against the rumors and departs in distress for the Grange, only to encounter him unexpectedly there when he has come to retrieve a portfolio of sketches. The chapter culminates in a tense, painful farewell in which Will, now aware of Dorothea’s private fortune, insists he must leave permanently to preserve his own honor, while both struggle with unspoken love and unspoken constraints.

Prefatory Old Romance Excerpt

The chapter opens with a brief excerpt from an “Old Romance”: “He was a squyer of lowe degre, / That loved the king’s daughter of Hungrie.” This verse sets a thematic note of a low-born suitor loving a high-born beloved, foreshadowing Will Ladislaw’s situation with Dorothea.

Will Requests an Interview with Dorothea

Determined to see Dorothea before leaving Middlemarch, Will Ladislaw writes a brief letter to Lowick Manor explaining that various causes have detained him and asking permission to call again at a time of her choosing. He leaves the letter at the office with orders for the messenger to await a reply.

Will’s Motivations to Revisit Dorothea

Will reflects on the awkwardness of requesting a second farewell after his first had been made publicly in Sir James’s hearing. He weighs the risk of appearing ridiculous against the more important consideration of being direct with Dorothea, now that he knows facts he previously lacked. Crucially, he has learned of Dorothea’s private fortune, which means marriage to him would mean accepting poverty for her, and he has also been wounded by disclosures about his mother’s family. The once dreamy hope of returning in some years as her equal now seems impossible, and he believes this change fully justifies one more meeting.

Dorothea Delivers News at Freshitt

Dorothea is not at Lowick to receive Will’s note that morning because she has driven first to Freshitt to deliver news that her uncle intends to return home within the week. She plans to continue afterward to the Grange to execute some errands her uncle has entrusted to her, who thinks a little mental occupation of this sort is good for a widow.

Sir James Plots to Spread Gossip About Will

If Will could overhear the talk at Freshitt, he would find his fears confirmed. Sir James Chettam, much relieved about Dorothea, has monitored Will’s movements through Mr. Standish and is embittered by Will’s having stayed nearly two months after declaring he would leave immediately. Sir James paints Will to himself as slight, volatile, and unanchored by family or profession. He has just learned something from Standish that justifies his suspicions and offers a way to neutralize any danger to Dorothea.

Mrs. Cadwallader Relays Rumors to Dorothea

Forced out of his usual reticence by a subject he cannot raise through Celia, Sir James sends a groom across the park with a pencilled note to Mrs. Cadwallader summoning her to deliver gossip about Will to Dorothea. Mrs. Cadwallader accepts with mock reluctance, agreeing to repeat the gossip while Sir James preserves the appearance of innocence.

Dorothea Defends Will Against Gossip

When Dorothea joins them on the gravel, Mrs. Cadwallader introduces the gossip through pretended concern about Mr. Brooke’s paper, then asserts that Will is lingering and making a scandal by warbling continually with Mrs. Lydgate at her home. Dorothea responds with indignant energy, insisting the report is a misrepresentation, declaring she will hear no evil of Mr. Ladislaw who has already suffered too much injustice. Her face flushes and her lip trembles as she speaks.

Dorothea Travels to the Grange Distressed

Leaving Freshitt haughtily after Mrs. Cadwallader deflects the conversation to Lydgate’s choice of wife, Dorothea drives on to Tipton unseeing and unhearing. Tears roll down her cheeks without her noticing; the world feels ugly and there seems to be no place for her trustfulness. Though an inner voice insists the rumor is not true, the remembrance of finding Will with Mrs. Lydgate returns uneasily. She wavers between anger with Will and passionate defence of him, then composes herself as the carriage enters the Grange.