Summary: In my two paragraphs, at the very end of Chapter XXXI, Rosamond doesn't know how to identify or explain her feelings for Lydgate and she has a rare moment of emotion--this emotion serves as her response to him questioning her distress. Lydgate has a similar silent response of just hugging Rosamond at first. Then the narrator quickly sums up a short conversation which is their marriage proposal. This seems quite quick, almost to allude to the fact that hasty marriages are the norm. In the second paragraph, Lydgate goes to speak to Mr. Vincy who uses the exact word for death that releases him from showing grief at Featherstone's death : "demise". He is actually happy that Featherstone has died and will be giving Fred his estate. The narrator makes the point that you can't expect people to act surprised when someone who's expecting death, dies. This is especially true of Featherstone because he seems to be close to death quite often. When Lydgate tells Mr.Vincy of he and Rosamond's engagement, it is again summarized quickly by the narrator as if to highlight haste again or serve as a hook before the next chapter when we go back to Featherstone.

Amanda Kucera

Again, making light of marriage. Is George Elliot making fun of how quickly people get married and how expected that is?

testator = "a person who has made a will or given a legacy"

At first I thought this was the narrator being sarcastic like, "Who really has ever felt bad when a wealthy relative dies?...It's not like you should care about them. Lol" But what they're really saying is, "Who is really surprised when a person who writes a will anticipating death dies?"...makes sense, except I'm a little disappointed that the narrator wasn't being sarcastic and cynical...haha

intermittent = "not continuous or steady" affectation = "behavior, speech, or writing that is artificial and designed to impress"

Sad! The narrator talks about the poser of using the right word because if Vincy uses the legal term "demise" he doesn't have to pretend to be sad about his death.

This is confusing, because I originally thought the narrator was talking about "He" as in Lydgate as they were in the first sentence. I know see that they are referring to Mr.Vincy who is excited for Featherstone to die so that Fred gets his inheritance...shame!!!

Oh...because "demise" is used in legal jargon like, "Upon your demise, you best have a will"...?

seasonably = "in accordance with the season" sad! This really sets the stage for the next chapter in a way I hadn't considered before. Poor Mr. Featherstone probably has to deal with these visitations from the buzzards of his family every time they think he's about to die...which is apparently seasonably. Leave the man alone!

...Okay wait, I just came back to this. Is it saying that Lygate rarely heard the felicitous (well chosen or suited to the circumstances) word "demise" and that excited him that someone might actually die?...Maybe not excited, but ready to spring to action?

"well chosen or suited to the circumstances." OR "pleasing and fortunate." ?

I feel like the narrator is down playing everything to accentuate its haste and rashness. Why? Is it simply to hook in the reader before going back to Featherstone in the next chapter? Or will their marriage be like Dorothea and Casaubon's too?

I found it interesting that the narrator summarized her crying as "silence", as if only a lack of answer, and not a huge moment in which she finally shows emotion outside of her usual perfect-ness. I think it down plays it a bit...why?

When I first read this, I thought she didn't know what his words meant, but I think it is supposed to hint that she doesn't know what words to use to describe why she is distressed--or she doesn't even know what she is feeling that makes her want to cry. However, does the semi-colon symbolize after that that her emotions as serve as words to tell him? I think so.