I Meant to Do It
Eliot stops the plot to describe scratches on a pier-glass. Hold a candle and the scratches arrange themselves around the light as if they had always meant to. Rosamond's mind works that way: whatever happens, the pattern must keep her at the centre. Lydgate, watching her, still believes he is the observer, not another scratch being organised.
Key Insight
You can be intelligent and still be the candle. Self-deception is not stupidity. It is the talent for making every fact orbit the story you already need. If your explanations keep returning you to innocence, you are holding the light, not reading the glass.
