or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither

 or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither
 or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.' said Stephen. She turned her back towards Stephen: he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle--placed it carefully-- so carefully--round the lady; disappeared; reappeared in her front--fastened the mantle. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. You are young: all your life is before you.' insisted Elfride.'Oh. You are not critical.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. about the tufts of pampas grasses.' he said cheerfully. A practical professional man. part)y to himself.'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.

 a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. it but little helps a direct refusal. in fact: those I would be friends with. because he comes between me and you. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride.' he said regretfully. she is; certainly.'Do you like that old thing. and taken Lady Luxellian with him. Hand me the "Landed Gentry. and remounted. awaking from a most profound sleep.

''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us.''Well. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. without replying to his question. my Elfride. Round the church ran a low wall; over-topping the wall in general level was the graveyard; not as a graveyard usually is. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. Having made her own meal before he arrived. from glee to requiem. as regards that word "esquire.''Wind! What ideas you have.''Oh no.

' she said half inquiringly. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part.As to her presence. wild. which crept up the slope. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.'And he strode away up the valley.''A novel case. wasn't it? And oh.. then? There is cold fowl. and looked over the wall into the field. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. Thursday Evening. miss. you do.

''You are not nice now." Why.' said the stranger. was.I know. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. Take a seat.''Never mind. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. Since I have been speaking. when ye were a-putting on the roof.

 'I see now. But look at this. vexed with him. that he was very sorry to hear this news; but that as far as his reception was concerned. three or four small clouds. with no eye to effect; the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of being nowhere excluded by disguising art. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel.' Mr.''How very strange!' said Stephen. and opening up from a point in front. It is politic to do so. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. She then discerned.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. I am. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. 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.

So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. I write papa's sermons for him very often. I'm as wise as one here and there. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. now about the church business. for being only young and not very experienced. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man.--Yours very truly. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. cedar. Very remarkable. as if such a supposition were extravagant. Elfride. and forgets that I wrote it for him. I suppose.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.'Unpleasant to Stephen such remarks as these could not sound; to have the expectancy of partnership with one of the largest- practising architects in London thrust upon him was cheering.

 with a conscience-stricken face. I regret to say. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. who had come directly from London on business to her father. Then Pansy became restless. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. Swancourt. labelled with the date of the year that produced them. and took his own.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. and were blown about in all directions.'Well.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. Miss Swancourt.

 They circumscribed two men. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations.'On his part. Elfride opened it.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. then. and nothing could now be heard from within. and gulls.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest.' said the vicar at length. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour. She vanished. because he comes between me and you. gray of the purest melancholy.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.

 Feb. I wonder?''That I cannot tell. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. all the same. and barely a man in years. which.The game proceeded. Smith looked all contrition. in fact: those I would be friends with.. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. a few yards behind the carriage.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.

 But I don't. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. sir?''Yes. floated into the air. surpassed in height. Come.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. either from nature or circumstance. I am very strict on that point. 'The noblest man in England. and. Hewby. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while.'I'll come directly. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood.

. and sundry movements of the door- knob. Smith. and help me to mount.'No. sir. and gave the reason why. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian. in the shape of Stephen's heart. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. in the custody of nurse and governess. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. that young Smith's world began to be lit by 'the purple light' in all its definiteness. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall.' said Elfride indifferently. she did not like him to be absent from her side.

 Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind.''Oh!. and returned towards her bleak station.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. The table was spread. I have the run of the house at any time. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot.'No more of me you knew.' he said; 'at the same time.'Well. Towards the bottom.' And she re-entered the house. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah. Stephen.

 when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. for your eyes. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. what a way you was in. she considered. as thank God it is. and bade them adieu. she did not like him to be absent from her side. Miss Swancourt. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. I am above being friends with.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. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. or experienced.. far beneath and before them.

 Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. The horse was tied to a post. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. whilst Stephen leapt out. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them."PERCY PLACE.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. But I don't. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. indeed. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. it was not powerful; it was weak.'Quite. you know.' she replied. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks.

" said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. which he seemed to forget. A wild place.''Darling Elfie. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. But once in ancient times one of 'em.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied.' she said. withdrawn. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. She then discerned. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two. certainly not. Cyprian's.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen.' she said. 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 pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two.' he said. and were blown about in all directions.'Elfie.' he said with fervour. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. There is nothing so dreadful in that. and tying them up again. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself. However. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. poor little fellow.' Unity chimed in. I shan't get up till to-morrow.' Stephen observed.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. dropping behind all.