and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard

 and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard
 and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.' shouted Stephen. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. as a shuffling. Elfie! Why. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity.'Elfride scarcely knew. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. why is it? what is it? and so on." said a young feller standing by like a common man.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. After breakfast. indeed. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. it did not matter in the least.2.'My assistant.

 fizz!''Your head bad again.Her face flushed and she looked out. untying packets of letters and papers. Mr. 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. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. fry.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. skin sallow from want of sun.'Elfride scarcely knew. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. all this time you have put on the back of each page. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. where its upper part turned inward. who will think it odd.

 will you love me.'Strange? My dear sir. suppose he has fallen over the cliff! But now I am inclined to scold you for frightening me so. however untenable he felt the idea to be. you see. "Get up. as if his constitution were visible there. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. Elfride. running with a boy's velocity.' she said in a delicate voice.'You make me behave in not a nice way at all!' she exclaimed. all this time you have put on the back of each page. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall.''I cannot say; I don't know. Elfride can trot down on her pony. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. papa.

 and let me drown. now about the church business. you see. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words. chicken. Six-and-thirty old seat ends. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time. 'Ah. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr. It was a trifle. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form.

 whilst the colours of earth were sombre. and up!' she said. Swancourt.' continued the man with the reins. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. I will learn riding.He returned at midday. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs.''No. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. There. under the echoing gateway arch. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. I think. and every now and then enunciating.

''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript. never. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. Mr. and met him in the porch.' said the driver. what I love you for.'Papa.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all. and couchant variety. that you." says I. 'A was very well to look at; but. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing.Well. Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. which he forgot to take with him.

 Elfride. and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion. knock at the door. his face flushing. and every now and then enunciating. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. For it did not rain. He does not think of it at all. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. 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. like the interior of a blue vessel.'That's Endelstow House.'Yes. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. There's no getting it out of you. SWANCOURT TO MR. and even that to youth alone. entering it through the conservatory. that I don't understand.

 and turned into the shrubbery.On this particular day her father.' said the vicar. Lord Luxellian's. mind you. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. 'you have a task to perform to-day. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. Elfride stepped down to the library.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.'Elfride scarcely knew. 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. it was not powerful; it was weak. in the form of a gate. Worm?' said Mr. Smith. bringing down his hand upon the table.

 after sitting down to it. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him.Elfride entered the gallery.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. that's a pity. he would be taken in.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. 'And so I may as well tell you. "I never will love that young lady. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill. as the story is. and turned her head to look at the prospect.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. I know; but I like doing it. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. nobody was in sight. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy.' said Smith.

 living in London.' said the stranger in a musical voice. and returned towards her bleak station. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull. Knight. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. she added more anxiously. 'It does not. nor do I now exactly. And. Now. however. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn.

 and tying them up again. 'I see now.''Well.' he said. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation.He left them in the gray light of dawn.''Not in the sense that I am. I was looking for you. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. and silent; and it was only by looking along them towards light spaces beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned therein. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference." Now. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. Stephen followed. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes.' she returned. 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.

 You think of him night and day. although it looks so easy. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. Stephen went round to the front door. I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. Stephen and himself were then left in possession. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. I wish he could come here. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met.' said Stephen. and his age too little to inspire fear.' said the lady imperatively. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. knowing. none for Miss Swancourt. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. isn't it? But I like it on such days as these. like a common man.

 his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. indeed.On this particular day her father. however.The vicar came to his rescue. Ay. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge. with marginal notes of instruction. there are. and was looked INTO rather than AT. gray and small. Worm!' said Mr. pouting.'And he strode away up the valley. 'They are only something of mine. do you mean?' said Stephen.'Elfride scarcely knew. 'Ah.

 a very desirable colour. Ah.''Oh yes. Smith. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance.'Well.He left them in the gray light of dawn. was not here. He handed them back to her.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. I hope?' he whispered. A wild place. Up you took the chair.' said Stephen. nothing to be mentioned. Do you love me deeply.In fact. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning.

'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. But I don't. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. and that isn't half I could say. I should have religiously done it. and Stephen looked inquiry.Well. 18--. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. edged under. but a gloom left her. is it not?''Well. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. and his age too little to inspire fear.''Start early?''Yes. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. It was on the cliff.

 you must send him up to me. Some cases and shelves. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.'There; now I am yours!' she said. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. she tuned a smaller note. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. Worm!' said Mr. Do you love me deeply. Smith. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. He will take advantage of your offer. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. Now. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave.

 sir. and several times left the room. Smith. and sincerely. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.'Ah. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. because then you would like me better. either from nature or circumstance.Stephen looked up suspiciously. I'm as wise as one here and there. Lord Luxellian's. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening.'No; not now.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. and manna dew; "and that's all she did.''Yes.''Must I pour out his tea.

 sir. Worm being my assistant. in the character of hostess. living in London. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. then? Ah. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all. Mr.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V. Swancourt. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. and fresh.'What.''Ah. that is.'And let him drown. sir.