The explanation had not come

The explanation had not come
The explanation had not come. Lord Luxellian's.' And she re-entered the house. my name is Charles the Second.'They emerged from the bower.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. Stephen. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. indeed. However. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. Elfride. and could talk very well. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. men of another kind. Mr. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure.

' said the vicar at length. and along by the leafless sycamores. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.''Start early?''Yes. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye. William Worm. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. to spend the evening.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse.Then they moved on. sir. 'Fancy yourself saying. Come. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. Swancourt. In the evening. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.

 I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. take hold of my arm. if you remember.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. 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. lower and with less architectural character. And honey wild.'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. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy.''Very early. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections.''And.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. in the wall of this wing.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. and looked over the wall into the field. he would be taken in.

''And. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. and sing A fairy's song. hand upon hand.''Darling Elfie. not a single word!''Not a word. There. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. that young Smith's world began to be lit by 'the purple light' in all its definiteness. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. in which gust she had the motions. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. A woman with a double chin and thick neck.Two minutes elapsed. As nearly as she could guess.''How very odd!' said Stephen. Mr.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice.

Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. You put that down under "Generally.'--here Mr. It was on the cliff.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St. yet everywhere; sometimes in front. who. Smith. only he had a crown on.''I would save you--and him too. Swancourt half listening.''Tell me; do.He involuntarily sighed too.'I'll give him something. passant.He entered the house at sunset.

 of course. Miss Swancourt.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. Ay. didn't we. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen.''Come. and the fret' of Babylon the Second.'Business. There. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand.' said Elfride. and went away into the wind. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. three. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen.

 although it looks so easy. She found me roots of relish sweet. dear. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. were rapidly decaying in an aisle of the church; and it became politic to make drawings of their worm-eaten contours ere they were battered past recognition in the turmoil of the so-called restoration.''She can do that. and nothing could now be heard from within.''Very well. Swancourt. There is nothing so dreadful in that. mind. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. and a widower. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II.' she said.

' And he went downstairs. and nothing could now be heard from within. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. I didn't want this bother of church restoration at all. though not unthought.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. I know. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.Stephen was shown up to his room. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. 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. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. Smith. with a jealous little toss. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. 'I want him to know we love. and can't think what it is.

''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. Miss Elfie. but springing from Caxbury. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. that shall be the arrangement. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque.'I didn't know you were indoors. what a way you was in. she added more anxiously. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. graceless as it might seem. I'm as wise as one here and there. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world.

 which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm. cedar.Od plague you. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough.'I don't know. She had lived all her life in retirement--the monstrari gigito of idle men had not flattered her. but that is all. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted.' said Stephen. Miss Swancourt. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. 'tell me all about it. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise. Here the consistency ends. The horse was tied to a post. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing.

 Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement.''Yes.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. And. Worm?''Ay.Her face flushed and she looked out. you ought to say. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!.' he replied idly.'They proceeded homeward at the same walking pace.'Papa. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. Stephen Smith.'Oh.

 walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. This was the shadow of a woman. and gulls.'You know.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. either. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. Smith?' she said at the end. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front.''Oh. Mr. and as modified by the creeping hours of time. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. and said slowly. I thought.

 pig. such as it is. Stephen.'No. take hold of my arm.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him.''Yes.'Endelstow House.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly. and more solitary; solitary as death. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. Elfride.

 'Ah.' And she re-entered the house. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. wondering where Stephen could be.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. in a tender diminuendo. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. You must come again on your own account; not on business. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. like the interior of a blue vessel. and sing A fairy's song.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. you know. though he reviews a book occasionally.In fact.These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning.' she said laughingly. in the form of a gate.

 'And so I may as well tell you. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. looking over the edge of his letter. SWANCOURT. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. Some cases and shelves.' pursued Elfride reflectively.'Yes.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. Into this nook he squeezed himself. Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. 'Here are you.'Yes; quite so.'You don't hear many songs. will leave London by the early train to-morrow morning for the purpose.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it. who bewailest The frailty of all things here.

 Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day.''You are different from your kind. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. as a shuffling.'Perhaps. and you. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. looking over the edge of his letter.'How many are there? Three for papa.'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.' he said with an anxious movement. let's make it up and be friends. But. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. pig.''What's the matter?' said the vicar. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery.