Middlemarch Book 3, Chapter 30 Summary

  • Mr. Casaubon doesn't have a second attack, so everyone thinks he's on the mend.
  • Lydgate knows better, though, and warns Casaubon to take it easy – relax, no hard studying, etc.
  • Casaubon's not happy about this. He's too serious to play cards or anything in the evening, and he'd rather read Greek manuscripts than a novel.
  • He doesn't know how to relax and have fun.
  • In private, Dorothea asks Lydgate what the real story is.
  • Lydgate takes her seriously enough to give her the real scoop: Casaubon shouldn't be agitated for any reason, or he might have another, more serious, heart attack. And she should try to keep him from working too hard.
  • Dorothea knows how hard that will be.
  • Meanwhile, though, someone needs to write to Will to tell him that Casaubon's bad health will prevent him from having any visitors.
  • Dorothea asks her uncle, Mr. Brooke, to write to him.
  • Mr. Brooke has his own scatter-brained ideas, though, and decides later to invite Will to his own house for a visit (kind of weird since they only met once, and briefly, at Lowick).
  • He doesn't tell either Dorothea or Casaubon that Will Ladislaw will be visiting at Tipton Grange.