Middlemarch

Brooke Advises Lydgate

After departing Casaubon’s room, Mr. Brooke confides in Lydgate that Casaubon “has been a little narrow,” leaving him “rather at a loss” when forbidden from his particular work—which Brooke believes is “something very deep indeed” in research. He contrasts his own lifelong versatility with Casaubon’s limited focus, though he notes a clergyman is “tied a little tight.” Brooke speculates that if they made Casaubon a bishop, he would have “more movement then, more show; he might get a little flesh.” His final counsel to Lydgate is to speak with Mrs. Casaubon, whom he describes as “clever enough for anything.” Brooke instructs Lydgate to tell Dorothea her husband needs “liveliness, diversion” and to “put her on amusing tactics.” Lydgate had already resolved to speak with Dorothea, finding her evident anxiety about her husband compelling to observe.

Lydgate’s Conversation with Dorothea

Lydgate finds Dorothea returning from a walk with Celia and requests a private conversation. She leads him to the dim library—unopened since Casaubon’s illness—and asks about her husband’s progress. Lydgate reports rapid recovery, nearly back to his usual health. However, when Dorothea detects significance in his tone, he admits the case is difficult to pronounce upon. He emphasizes the need for watchfulness against strain on nervous power. Dorothea implores him to speak plainly, her words emerging “like a cry.” Lydgate explains that Casaubon may possibly live fifteen years or more with careful management, avoiding mental agitation and excessive application. He raises the possibility of foreign travel, but the suggestion hits a barrier: Dorothea recalls Rome and knows such travel would not suit her husband—“that would be worse than anything.” She acknowledges he would be miserable without his work. Lydgate, though touched by her distress, wonders about her marriage, finding women like Dorothea outside his experience.

The Threat of Sudden Death

Lydgate clarifies that while there is no immediate danger with happy concurrence of circumstances, the heart condition makes sudden death possible. He emphasizes that nothing should be neglected which might be affected by such an outcome. Dorothea sits motionless, her mind sweeping rapidly “over an equal range of scenes and motives” while the life within her burns intense. Lydgate observes that anxiety would be “precisely the most unfavorable condition” for her husband. He remains guarded, having often been satirical about gratuitous medical prediction that “life and death easily set at nought.” The weight of the information settles on Dorothea as she processes both the hope of fifteen years and the shadow of sudden mortality.

Dorothea’s Plea for Guidance

Dorothea, transformed by the revelation, asks in a low voice what she can do. When Lydgate suggests foreign travel and she explains it would not work—“nothing will be of any use that he does not enjoy”—her tears roll down with “a more childlike despondency.” Lydgate wishes he could have spared her this pain, yet he has no practical alternatives to offer. Dorothea then makes an impulsive appeal that Lydgate remembers for years afterward—a cry “from soul to soul, without other consciousness than their moving with kindred natures in the same embroiled medium.” She implores him as “a wise man” who “knows all about life and death” to advise her, explaining that her husband has labored all his life looking forward to completing his work, and she herself minds about nothing else. Lydgate can only say he will see Mr. Casaubon again tomorrow.

Will Ladislaw’s Letters

After Lydgate departs, Dorothea’s tears relieve her stifling oppression. Drying her eyes and composing herself before her husband, she surveys the library and notices Will Ladislaw’s letters on Casaubon’s writing-table, still unopened since the morning of the illness. She recalls that her own letter from Will remains unread, and the agitation caused by her anger about these letters may have contributed to Casaubon’s attack. Now she determines to put the letters out of her husband’s sight to prevent annoyance. She scans Will’s letter to Casaubon, which explains that his obligations are too deep for words and that he perceives his defects need correcting through a more strenuous position in life. He is coming to England to try his fortune, bringing the picture “Dispute” as a gift from Naumann, with permission from both Mr. and Mrs. Casaubon. A postscript contains a letter for Dorothea continuing their discussion about art.