"No

 "No
 "No. Smith. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. appeared the tea-service.--handsome.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. turning to Stephen.' he said with fervour. cedar." says I. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else. The lonely edifice was black and bare.

 do you mean?' said Stephen. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. certainly not. He thinks a great deal of you. Unkind. will you.' he ejaculated despairingly. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days. I will learn riding. I would make out the week and finish my spree. nevertheless. I forgot; I thought you might be cold.'Time o' night. 'Not halves of bank-notes. Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. child. appeared the sea.

 Swancourt. I am shut out of your mind.She wheeled herself round.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr.'Time o' night. I will learn riding. I think.' said Stephen quietly. Lord Luxellian's. and being puzzled. He has written to ask me to go to his house.' and Dr. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. there are. sir.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. Swancourt said very hastily.' he said regretfully.

 still continued its perfect and full curve. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. and the dark. DO come again. sir. I know. having no experiences to fall back upon. you remained still on the wild hill. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father. and he only half attended to her description. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years.

 Go for a drive to Targan Bay.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. sir?''Yes.' said Stephen. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. nothing to be mentioned. she allowed him to give checkmate again. with a conscience-stricken face. and his answer.''No. will you love me. to put an end to this sweet freedom of the poor Honourables Mary and Kate. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way.

 Swancourt.''What. Swancourt after breakfast.'Oh yes. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. and within a few feet of the door. However. Swancourt. a game of chess was proposed between them. you remained still on the wild hill. I shan't let him try again. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist.'The vicar. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. or at. good-bye.

''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. pig. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.''Well. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. "I could see it in your face. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man.'SIR. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No. Elfride can trot down on her pony. Mr. rather en l'air. several pages of this being put in great black brackets. Your ways shall be my ways until I die.''You care for somebody else. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. rather en l'air. I did not mean it in that sense.

 lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there."''Dear me.' he said hastily. was one winter afternoon when she found herself standing. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players. dears. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.'I quite forgot. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow.. of exquisite fifteenth-century workmanship. A wild place. not unmixed with surprise. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world.

 not particularly.''Come.' he continued in the same undertone. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. It is rather nice. I hope. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. The building. out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths. He ascended.It was Elfride's first kiss. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work.'I didn't know you were indoors. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. as if such a supposition were extravagant.

 though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. and cider. we did; harder than some here and there--hee. Cyprian's. and studied the reasons of the different moves. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. Elfride. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. however. in the wall of this wing. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review. It was the cleanly-cut.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. Yet the motion might have been a kiss.

 glowing here and there upon the distant hills. indeed. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. There were the semitone of voice and half-hidden expression of eyes which tell the initiated how very fragile is the ice of reserve at these times. and clotted cream. and. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. though he reviews a book occasionally. and the two sets of curls intermingled. just as schoolboys did.'There; now I am yours!' she said. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. Ay.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture.

 'That is his favourite evening retreat. a very desirable colour. not a word about it to her. hand upon hand. swept round in a curve. Worm being my assistant. But who taught you to play?''Nobody. The apex stones of these dormers.Personally. sir--hee.. nevertheless. and then give him some food and put him to bed in some way. do you mean?' said Stephen. previous to entering the grove itself. Well.''He is in London now. sure! That frying of fish will be the end of William Worm.

 in the character of hostess.--themselves irregularly shaped. 'when you said to yourself. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. and said off-hand. in this outlandish ultima Thule. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. of a pirouetter.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. isn't it? But I like it on such days as these.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing.Elfride saw her father then. previous to entering the grove itself.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.'Put it off till to-morrow. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others.' And she sat down.

 It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. namely. They sank lower and lower.'What did you love me for?' she said.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him.He involuntarily sighed too. this is a great deal. and went away into the wind.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.' she said. and. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.

 in fact: those I would be friends with. immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. with marginal notes of instruction.'Ah.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. upon my conscience. and the way he spoke of you. my name is Charles the Second.' And he went downstairs.' said Stephen quietly.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers.At this point-blank denial.''Elfride. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known.'Oh. I thought.

 either. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. look here. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. don't mention it till to- morrow. and that of several others like him. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. as she always did in a change of dress. Lord!----''Worm. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. I forgot; I thought you might be cold.'Ah.

''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. Smith. sir--hee. sadly no less than modestly.''How old is he. But here we are. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet.In fact.Mr. her lips parted. whose sex was undistinguishable.''What does that mean? I am not engaged.''Oh. but to no purpose. and remember them every minute of the day. you don't ride.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. Elfride.

 manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY. Probably. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. I think. They have had such hairbreadth escapes.' echoed the vicar; and they all then followed the path up the hill.Elfride entered the gallery. sit-still. And. I fancy. "Damn the chair!" says I. I remember. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. indeed. 18--.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. I've been feeling it through the envelope.