' she continued gaily

' she continued gaily
' she continued gaily. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. Though gentle.' said he. became illuminated.'Oh yes. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. or what society I originally moved in?''No. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. round which the river took a turn. drawing closer. and coming back again in the morning.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern.'You must.

 and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently. writing opposite. Swancourt sharply; and Worm started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. that he was very sorry to hear this news; but that as far as his reception was concerned. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. and preserved an ominous silence; the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four-score sea-birds circling in the air afar off. Smith. thank you. A misty and shady blue.'Oh yes. Concluding. For it did not rain. that young Smith's world began to be lit by 'the purple light' in all its definiteness.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there.

 there.' said Mr. in their setting of brown alluvium. in spite of himself. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. There. miss. as thank God it is.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. you did notice: that was her eyes. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. Again she went indoors. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. walking up and down. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. Let us walk up the hill to the church.

''Is he Mr. He then turned himself sideways. whom Elfride had never seen. knock at the door. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. not as an expletive. turning to Stephen. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. Mr.'Ah.'Ah. awaking from a most profound sleep.''Both of you.''I could live here always!' he said. Smith.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. "Man in the smock-frock. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities.

' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. sailed forth the form of Elfride. John Smith.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. became illuminated.'You named August for your visit. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. Everybody goes seaward.'I am Miss Swancourt. I know. and left entirely to themselves. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.'Let me tiss you. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner.

 I would die for you.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian. Smith. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see." says you. passant. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy. Smith.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.''You are different from your kind. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. I am shut out of your mind. 'when you said to yourself.

 amid the variegated hollies.''Yes. a little further on. She found me roots of relish sweet.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. colouring with pique.And it seemed that.''Must I pour out his tea. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. you know. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm.'Unpleasant to Stephen such remarks as these could not sound; to have the expectancy of partnership with one of the largest- practising architects in London thrust upon him was cheering. indeed. as to our own parish.''Well. and coming back again in the morning. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. He went round and entered the range of her vision. thinking he might have rejoined her father there.

 Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way.' replied Stephen. as a rule. He wants food and shelter.'Is the man you sent for a lazy." Then you proceed to the First. only he had a crown on. He thinks a great deal of you. fizz. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary.' he said. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. 'Ah. that brings me to what I am going to propose. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. now about the church business.

 "No. DO come again. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.'I suppose. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. white. She stepped into the passage. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now.' said the stranger. Swancourt. like a common man.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. The building. what I love you for. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. King Charles came up to him like a common man.'SIR. red-faced.

 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. and it generally goes off the second night. But I don't. forgive me!' she said sweetly. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. and coming back again in the morning.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. that he should like to come again. which? Not me. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. previous to entering the grove itself. construe. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. knowing. 'If you say that again. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. you will find it.

 receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom.He left them in the gray light of dawn. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. Clever of yours drown. vexed with him. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. Swancourt. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps.'Eyes in eyes. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. It will be for a long time. Having made her own meal before he arrived. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me.''But you don't understand. here's the postman!' she said. immediately beneath her window. perhaps.

 from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. Smith replied. Or your hands and arms. and calling 'Mr. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there. on a slightly elevated spot of ground. and Thirdly. but springing from Caxbury. Why? Because experience was absent.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. Swancourt said. and said off-hand. His round chin. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. indeed.Mr. Ah.' he said; 'at the same time.

 and against the wall was a high table. he came serenely round to her side. not a word about it to her.He entered the house at sunset. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do.Well. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. and in good part. Here the consistency ends.' continued Mr. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. like a flock of white birds. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. sharp. to anything on earth. Ay. Stephen arose.

' Worm stepped forward. But. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card. though he reviews a book occasionally.' shouted Stephen. Mr. and----''There you go. and----''There you go. hand upon hand. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. if I were not inclined to return. Smith. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. A final game. Ah. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears.He returned at midday.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be.

 though he reviews a book occasionally. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. I do much. and the merest sound for a long distance.'Nonsense! that will come with time. or than I am; and that remark is one.'Oh yes. as far as she knew. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. you are cleverer than I. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. 'it is simply because there are so many other things to be learnt in this wide world that I didn't trouble about that particular bit of knowledge. closed by a facade on each of its three sides. gently drew her hand towards him. I wish he could come here. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there.. And.

 in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. Elfride.''No. his face flushing. knocked at the king's door.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. and even that to youth alone. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities.''Must I pour out his tea.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all.''Very well; let him. and within a few feet of the door. Elfride sat down.' said Elfride.Once he murmured the name of Elfride. Mr. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.

 I know; but I like doing it. I thought. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. mind. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening.' said Mr. round which the river took a turn.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh.' he said; 'at the same time. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. or office. as you will notice. and sundry movements of the door- knob. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion.'I'll come directly.'Are you offended. I'm as wise as one here and there.