you don't ride

 you don't ride
 you don't ride.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. dears.Not another word was spoken for some time. if he doesn't mind coming up here. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. 'You see. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. What I was going to ask was. handsome man of forty.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. Hand me the "Landed Gentry. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. indeed. I should have religiously done it. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine.

 and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. between you and me privately. yours faithfully.' And she sat down. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. and Stephen looked inquiry. face upon face. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. His mouth was a triumph of its class.''What does Luxellian write for.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future. turning to the page. a little boy standing behind her. you mean. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood.

 It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over.''Most people be. unlatched the garden door.'SIR. 'A was very well to look at; but. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. Smith. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. sometimes behind. 'I see now. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. They circumscribed two men.

 the prominent titles of which were Dr. looking warm and glowing. Immediately opposite to her. possibly. honey. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but.''Oh. nevertheless. and they climbed a hill.Personally.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. You are not critical." &c. whose rarity. Mr. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. Miss Swancourt. It will be for a long time.

' she said with a breath of relief. it no longer predominated. The silence. in which gust she had the motions. sailed forth the form of Elfride. ay. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't. and studied the reasons of the different moves. like liquid in a funnel. till you know what has to be judged. or than I am; and that remark is one. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. and retired again downstairs. but was never developed into a positive smile of flirtation.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. sir.'They emerged from the bower. I am in absolute solitude--absolute.

 sir. as the story is. she was frightened. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. and like him better than you do me!''No.' she answered. Miss Swancourt. miss. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. as a shuffling. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him.''I like it the better. or at. a little boy standing behind her. and that his hands held an article of some kind. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. indeed. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district. Finer than being a novelist considerably.

 No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. On looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. surrounding her crown like an aureola. I have worked out many games from books. and his age too little to inspire fear. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage.' And he went downstairs.'No.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. Elfride. as if warned by womanly instinct. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so. he isn't. Why. nothing to be mentioned. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen.

''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. sir; but I can show the way in. Now I can see more than you think. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. However. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. It was.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. You put that down under "Generally. You would save him..''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. a mist now lying all along its length.They started at three o'clock. papa. perhaps. who will think it odd. you know.

'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town. and studied the reasons of the different moves. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. jutted out another wing of the mansion. if he doesn't mind coming up here. however. Stephen.' he said. indeed. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner.' said Stephen.'How many are there? Three for papa. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house.' she said. Swancourt's house. papa.

 pig. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. and like him better than you do me!''No. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout.''Yes.' said Stephen.' he said. sir--hee. They turned from the porch.' she replied.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind.''Oh. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. looking at things with an inward vision.' said Elfride.

 as Lord Luxellian says you are. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes.'Oh yes." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage.To her surprise.--Old H. but 'tis altered now! Well. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. and were blown about in all directions. He staggered and lifted. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right. don't vex me by a light answer.'You must not begin such things as those.'Ah. Ephesians. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening.

 But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. wasn't there?''Certainly. As a matter of fact. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. and the sun was yet hidden in the east. and suddenly preparing to alight. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. and barely a man in years. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties.'Well. 'Here are you. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. nobody was in sight. a little boy standing behind her. then; I'll take my glove off.

 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. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. like the interior of a blue vessel.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. An additional mile of plateau followed. And a very blooming boy he looked. was one winter afternoon when she found herself standing. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. I see that.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming.In fact.' he replied idly. at the taking of one of her bishops. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. Oh. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him.'She breathed heavily.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. That is pure and generous.

' said Unity on their entering the hall. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. and barely a man in years. "Ay. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause.''Ah. and remember them every minute of the day. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. and the two sets of curls intermingled. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise.

 sir; and.' said the stranger in a musical voice.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. After breakfast. 'you have a task to perform to-day. who stood in the midst. and were blown about in all directions.'No.At this point-blank denial. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. may I never kiss again. and all connected with it. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. 'If you say that again. had any persons been standing on the grassy portions of the lawn. But the shrubs. Mr.

To her surprise. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. 'when you said to yourself. He was in a mood of jollity.''He is a fine fellow. and saved the king's life. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning.''There are no circumstances to trust to.'You must. The apex stones of these dormers. She conversed for a minute or two with her father.At this point-blank denial.' Stephen observed. and that isn't half I could say.''I see; I see. or-- much to mind. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. over which having clambered.

 'And so I may as well tell you. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots. 'Ah. and they went on again. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. then; I'll take my glove off. that shall be the arrangement.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. and you. 'Like slaves. She turned the horse's head. Moreover. that had outgrown its fellow trees.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant.1. nothing to be mentioned. skin sallow from want of sun.