Of ambition he had at that time not one particle; greatness, or
indeed superiority of any kind, seemed so far off and incomprehensible
to him that the idea of connecting it with himself never crossed his
mind. If he could escape the notice of all those with whom he did
not feel himself en rapport, he conceived that he had triumphed
sufficiently. He did not care about taking a good degree, except
that it must be good enough to keep his father and mother quiet. He
did not dream of being able to get a fellowship; if he had, he would
have tried hard to do so, for he became so fond of Cambridge that he
could not bear the thought of having to leave it; the briefness indeed
of the season during which his present happiness was to last was
almost the only thing that now seriously troubled him.
Having less to attend to in the matter of growing, and having got
his head more free, he took to reading fairly well- not because he
liked it, but because he was told he ought to do so, and his natural
instinct, like that of all very young men who are good for anything,
was to do as those in authority told him. The intention at Battersby
was (for Dr. Skinner had said that Ernest could never get a
fellowship) that he should take a sufficiently good degree to be
able to get a tutorship or mastership in some school preparatory to
taking orders.
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