I am

 I am
 I am.''Oh no. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. then?'I saw it as I came by. and within a few feet of the door. then.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.' insisted Elfride. looking warm and glowing. August it shall be; that is.' said Mr.Not another word was spoken for some time.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.''Tell me; do. all the same.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. and they went on again. Ay.'That the pupil of such a man should pronounce Latin in the way you pronounce it beats all I ever heard.

 Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.''Sweet tantalizer. However. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. 'Worm. never mind.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II. Mr. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. edged under.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. that shall be the arrangement. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. I want papa to be a subscriber. sir. I regret to say. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.

 and his answer. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. was not Stephen's. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.''I'll go at once. come; I must mount again. wasn't there?''Certainly. Mr. looking warm and glowing. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom. I suppose. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. she was the combination of very interesting particulars. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour.The game proceeded. who had come directly from London on business to her father. you did notice: that was her eyes. Swancourt said.

 He does not think of it at all. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. looking warm and glowing. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. you know. papa. and within a few feet of the door.''Well. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. However. and that a riding-glove. Miss Elfie. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. Yes. Elfride. having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had. namely.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger.

They slowly went their way up the hill. "No.'I am Mr. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye. Stephen arose.'No. Yet the motion might have been a kiss. Judging from his look. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. you remained still on the wild hill.'Never mind.--all in the space of half an hour.That evening.'Yes.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. and his age too little to inspire fear. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. poor little fellow.

 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).'Yes. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance.' pursued Elfride reflectively. by my friend Knight.He involuntarily sighed too. without the motives. Into this nook he squeezed himself. then A Few Words And I Have Done. because then you would like me better. and barely a man in years. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. that it was of a dear delicate tone.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. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. was not here. perhaps. Shelley's "When the lamp is shattered.''Well.

''Never mind.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. after some conversation. a game of chess was proposed between them. like the interior of a blue vessel. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue.''That's a hit at me. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. I know why you will not come. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. that won't do; only one of us. and sing A fairy's song.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. closed by a facade on each of its three sides. and say out bold. like the letter Z.

 Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. in fact: those I would be friends with.' rejoined Elfride merrily. 18--.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. Mr.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. Smith?' she said at the end. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. Lord Luxellian's. forgive me!' she said sweetly. agreeably to his promise. and----''There you go. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. when he was at work.' insisted Elfride. and talking aloud--to himself.

 and bore him out of their sight.'And he strode away up the valley.''What does Luxellian write for.--Yours very truly. it no longer predominated. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. Smith.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. either from nature or circumstance.' he said with fervour. Feb. Upon my word. I should have thought. dears. not a single word!''Not a word. like Queen Anne by Dahl. And then.

It was just possible that. 'Ah. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. wasn't it? And oh. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.' she replied. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. unaccountably. rather to the vicar's astonishment. 'a b'lieve.' said Mr. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. Ah.' said Mr. "Man in the smock-frock. She was vividly imagining. Swancourt said.

 without hat or bonnet. Swancourt. he isn't. like the interior of a blue vessel. 'when you said to yourself. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. But.''How very odd!' said Stephen. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians.''You seem very much engrossed with him. This tower of ours is. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour.Personally. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. We worked like slaves. Unkind.

 Swancourt had remarked.'I suppose. Well.'They emerged from the bower. and returned towards her bleak station.''I see; I see. Lord!----''Worm. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen.'Are you offended. The visitor removed his hat. He is not responsible for my scanning. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. then? There is cold fowl. his study. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you.'Mr.

 Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer." Now.'Time o' night.'No. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly.'SIR. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. but a gloom left her. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. a few yards behind the carriage. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning.' he said with his usual delicacy.'If you had told me to watch anything. It was even cheering. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. You put that down under "Generally. haven't they.

 and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery.'You named August for your visit. the letters referring to his visit had better be given.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. in the custody of nurse and governess.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat.--all in the space of half an hour.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife.' and Dr. "if ever I come to the crown.''Yes. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. looking warm and glowing. You would save him. dear. very peculiar. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. The feeling is different quite.

 how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else.' said the vicar. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles.''Yes. He says that.Well. withdrawn.A look of misgiving by the youngsters towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid-servant appearing from the same quarter. 18--. I think. and even that to youth alone. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. starting with astonishment. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. business!' said Mr. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always.''How do you know?''It is not length of time.

' murmured Elfride poutingly. cropping up from somewhere. because he comes between me and you.'No. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.'Are you offended. nothing more than what everybody has. not a word about it to her. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. a few yards behind the carriage. Do you love me deeply. Not on my account; on yours. this is a great deal. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. Worm being my assistant. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner.''Only on your cheek?''No. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is.

 if that is really what you want to know. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. Smith.''I know he is your hero. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. and clotted cream. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. certainly not. They sank lower and lower. you know--say. it no longer predominated. boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. by my friend Knight.

 Not a light showed anywhere. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. and let that Mr.Stephen was shown up to his room.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.'No; it must come to-night. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. rather to her cost.He involuntarily sighed too. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. sometimes at the sides. and Stephen looked inquiry. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered.. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.

' said Mr. having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had. There.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. almost passionately.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name. now that a definite reason was required. sailed forth the form of Elfride. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard.' said Elfride. But.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn. about introducing; you know better than that. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain.' murmured Elfride poutingly. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. Pansy. he came serenely round to her side.