Page 532 - middlemarch

all this as what ought to be done seemed to Dorothea like
a sudden letting in of daylight, waking her from her previ-
ous stupidity and incurious self-absorbed ignorance about
her husband’s relation to others. Will Ladislaw had refused
Mr. Casaubon’s future aid on a ground that no longer ap-
peared right to her; and Mr. Casaubon had never himself
seen fully what was the claim upon him. ‘But he will!’ said
Dorothea. ‘The great strength of his character lies here. And
what are we doing with our money? We make no use of half
of our income. My own money buys me nothing but an un-
easy conscience.’
There was a peculiar fascination for Dorothea in this di-
vision of property intended for herself, and always regarded
by her as excessive. She was blind, you see, to many things
obvious to others— likely to tread in the wrong places, as
Celia had warned her; yet her blindness to whatever did not
lie in her own pure purpose carried her safely by the side of
precipices where vision would have been perilous with fear.
The thoughts which had gathered vividness in the soli-
tude of her boudoir occupied her incessantly through the
day on which Mr. Casaubon had sent his letter to Will. Ev-
erything seemed hindrance to her till she could find an
opportunity of opening her heart to her husband. To his
preoccupied mind all subjects were to be approached gently,
and she had never since his illness lost from her conscious-
ness the dread of agitating him. Bat when young ardor is
set brooding over the conception of a prompt deed, the
deed itself seems to start forth with independent life, mas-
tering ideal obstacles. The day passed in a sombre fashion,

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