Summary:

In chapter eight, we follow Sir James Chettam. Following on from his last appearance, Chettam has kept up appearances by visiting the Brookes and has begun to develop a genuine friendship with Dorothea now that courtship is off the table. However, we learn that Chettam has concerns about Dorothea marrying Casaubon. He visits the Rector Cadwallader and asks him to intervene with Mr. Brooke, at least to convince them to delay the wedding. Mrs. Cadwallader enters into the conversation, saying she has already mentioned all of this to her husband. Mr. Cadwallader refuses to intervene because he thinks Casaubon is a good match for Dorothea and a decent fellow.

In chapter nine, Dorothea, Celia and Mr. Brooke visit Casaubon's house before the wedding, so that Dorothea can make suggestions for alterations to her new home. The house is quite old fashioned, with furniture that is outdated, but Dorothea loves it. They stumble upon a potential boudoir for Dorothea. It turns out that this room once belonged to Casaubon's mother. Many of her belongings remain in it, including her and her sister's portraits. Celia and Dorothea discuss the portraits and the women depicted. Casaubon mentions that he barely knew his aunt because she became estranged from the family after a bad marriage. They go outside to see the village and the church. Dorothea is impressed. It seems that the poorer people in the area have decent accommodation and the place is well kept. They end the trip by walking through Casaubon's gardens, where they meet a young man named Will Ladislaw. Will is Casaubon's cousin, from his maternal aunt's line. Hel has an interest in the arts and was in the process of sketching when the group came upon him. Mr. Brooke is impressed by this and starts discussing art. Dorothea claims that she never understood the arts and that she sees other intellectual pursuits as more important.

Casaubon and the Brookes head back to the house. Will starts laughing, believing that Dorothea perhaps meant her commentary as a slight. Casaubon informs the Brookes that he has promised to pay for Will's education and help set him up in a respectable career. We learn that Will wants to travel instead of starting a career right away. Casaubon is not impressed by this, but Mr. Brooke suggests that Will may be on the path to becoming an explorer or a writer.

References:

In chapter eight: Xisuthrus is an analogue of Noah in the Sumerian Flood myth . Mr. Cadwallader uses this reference when talking about Casaubon – he doesn’t care ‘about his Xisuthrus’ or his other scholarly interests. He sees Casaubon as an okay person.

In chapter nine: During the conversation over art, Mr. Brooke comments that Will’s sketch has brio (liveliness) to it. When Dorothea is dismissive of art, Mr. Brooke says that she lacks morbidezza (delicacy). Later on, while discussing Will’s future, Mr. Brooke’s names some well known people in the fields he suggests Will might go into: exploration (James Bruce and Mungo Park, were famous explorers of Africa) or writing (Thomas Chatterton was a precursor of the Romantics and Charles Churchill (a satirist)).