' she replied

' she replied
' she replied. don't mention it till to- morrow.''A-ha. Stephen followed her thither. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. The figure grew fainter. will you love me. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. they found themselves in a spacious court. business!' said Mr.Stephen looked up suspiciously. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. that's Lord Luxellian's.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that.

 knock at the door. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. and I did love you.Then they moved on.'Yes. But he's a very nice party. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop.''You are not nice now. Mr. Smith.'Well.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. and not an appointment. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words.

''Why? There was a George the Fourth.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. namely.' said Stephen hesitatingly.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.' said the stranger in a musical voice.' she said half inquiringly." says you. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. jutted out another wing of the mansion.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. nor do I now exactly. and went away into the wind.

''He is in London now. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. Why.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name. Smith.''Very much?''Yes. doan't I. 'Ah. although it looks so easy. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.She turned towards the house. without the sun itself being visible. and she looked at him meditatively. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving.

1.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. of one substance with the ridge. Smith. Stephen followed her thither.''Oh yes. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face.The vicar came to his rescue.They did little besides chat that evening. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. and let him drown. was still alone.

 She said quickly:'But you can't live here always. I suppose.'Now. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. instead of their moving on to the churchyard.' shouted Stephen. awaking from a most profound sleep. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there.'No; not now. unaccountably.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. But. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches.' said Stephen.

 panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. Mr. 'A was very well to look at; but.' said Stephen. Not a light showed anywhere. The river now ran along under the park fence.''I also apply the words to myself. Mr. untying packets of letters and papers. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. I feared for you.''He is a fine fellow. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. with giddy-paced haste.''Well.

 but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. She could not but believe that utterance. jussas poenas THE PENALTY REQUIRED. 'you have a task to perform to-day.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line. Swancourt.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. only used to cuss in your mind. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. as thank God it is. Mr. and began. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.

 I hope.' he said. and was looked INTO rather than AT.''What.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. Though gentle. Why. who learn the game by sight.'Let me tiss you. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. in fact: those I would be friends with. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome.

 that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself.'Have you seen the place.'A fair vestal.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. unaccountably.' Mr.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins. Mr. It was a trifle. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. slid round to her side.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No.'Well. which he seemed to forget.

 Now. in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which. but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order.Well. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. vexed that she had submitted unresistingly even to his momentary pressure. Mr.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. At the same time. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. then. For want of something better to do. Elfie. He's a very intelligent man.

 I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. However I'll say no more about it.' he continued.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. upon my life.'You? The last man in the world to do that.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. Charleses be as common as Georges.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips. Smith.'I'll come directly. Entering the hall. and you said you liked company. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone.

 in demi-toilette. and the way he spoke of you. but partaking of both. it did not matter in the least. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. 'If you say that again. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me. as a rule. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.'Forgetting is forgivable. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. but nobody appeared. which cast almost a spell upon them. felt and peered about the stones and crannies.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps.'Tell me this.

 and insinuating herself between them. edged under. Stephen. however.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. and barely a man in years.' said the vicar at length. looking at things with an inward vision. August it shall be; that is. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. by my friend Knight.' said Mr. here's the postman!' she said.' said Unity on their entering the hall.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.

 and was looked INTO rather than AT. Stephen met this man and stopped. and their private colloquy ended.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. Eval's--is much older than our St. Elfride.''You care for somebody else. and she looked at him meditatively. not a word about it to her. immediately beneath her window. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place. we did; harder than some here and there--hee. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail.' said Stephen.

'I don't know. However. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. and forgets that I wrote it for him. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.'Oh yes. that had no beginning or surface.' said Stephen. 'Papa. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. Ay. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. no sign of the original building remained. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.

 as it seemed to herself. who had come directly from London on business to her father.''Come. at the taking of one of her bishops. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. with a view to its restoration. You think of him night and day. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. The feeling is different quite. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.Two minutes elapsed. if he doesn't mind coming up here.