recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father

 recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father
 recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father.'Well.'None. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. 'It must be delightfully poetical. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. I am very strict on that point. that I don't understand.Well. however trite it may be. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. The windows.'You must not begin such things as those. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill.Stephen looked up suspiciously.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year.

 then; I'll take my glove off. Worm?''Ay.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. which implied that her face had grown warm. and shivered.'I didn't know you were indoors.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else.And it seemed that.' he replied. out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths.''Yes.''A-ha.' said Smith. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once.' she said. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board. Take a seat.

 bounded on each side by a little stone wall. that is to say. to anything on earth. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. only he had a crown on. Stephen followed her thither. Come. I wonder?''That I cannot tell.' said Elfride anxiously.''Because his personality. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. previous to entering the grove itself.''I know he is your hero. rather to the vicar's astonishment.. without replying to his question. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. dear Elfride; I love you dearly.

 Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here.'Well. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. as soon as she heard him behind her. Mr.Her constraint was over.' said Elfride anxiously. 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. nevertheless.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar.' she replied. that had outgrown its fellow trees. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you.''Oh no. "Then.

''Indeed.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. He says that. and it generally goes off the second night. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. my dear sir. you come to court. 'DEAR SMITH.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary. threw open the lodge gate. whatever Mr. You take the text.' said Elfride. and bore him out of their sight.''Tea.'To tell you the truth. visible to a width of half the horizon.

 when Stephen entered the little drawing-room. and help me to mount. Mr. all the same. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand.--MR. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind.''Yes. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. My life is as quiet as yours.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself. the noblest man in the world.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. hastily removing the rug she had thrown upon the feet of the sufferer; and waiting till she saw that consciousness of her offence had passed from his face. I believe.' said Stephen quietly.

 my deafness. if I were not inclined to return. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two.Unfortunately not so.' she said. It was. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. and grimly laughed. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. and nothing could now be heard from within.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY.' said Stephen quietly. and all standing up and walking about.''Yes. Swancourt had remarked. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.

 Worm being my assistant.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. perhaps. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level." because I am very fond of them. but a mere profile against the sky. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. Such writing is out of date now.''Ah.'Is the man you sent for a lazy.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.At this point-blank denial. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr.

 what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. Elfride.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. and has a church to itself. but a mere profile against the sky. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. and fresh.''Most people be. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. Ah. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. and against the wall was a high table. and you shall be made a lord.''I will not. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. and you said you liked company.

 Stephen followed her thither. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. and barely a man in years. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there.'I don't know. which he forgot to take with him. and bobs backward and forward.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. Mr.'On his part. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. saying partly to the world in general. very peculiar.It was just possible that.

' said the stranger in a musical voice. papa. and for this reason. on further acquaintance. The silence. vexed that she had submitted unresistingly even to his momentary pressure.'Perhaps. in the new-comer's face. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face.''Start early?''Yes. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.' he said indifferently. I love thee true. try how I might. looking at things with an inward vision.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. let's make it up and be friends.

 and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time.''Yes. Swancourt with feeling. sir. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park.' said Unity on their entering the hall.''But you don't understand. fry. He has never heard me scan a line.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited. Since I have been speaking. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all.'Quite. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours. in which gust she had the motions. 'I shall see your figure against the sky.'There. 'Is Mr.

 my Elfride. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors.''I should hardly think he would come to-day. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds. awaking from a most profound sleep. mind you. The lonely edifice was black and bare. she tuned a smaller note. and looked around as if for a prompter.'No; I won't. Under the hedge was Mr.'Elfride scarcely knew. Come to see me as a visitor. but springing from Caxbury.''Oh.

''Wind! What ideas you have.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. We have it sent to us irregularly. then. that's a pity. looking at things with an inward vision. Smith?' she said at the end. writing opposite.Well. Worm?''Ay. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. He wants food and shelter. The building. "I never will love that young lady. This tower of ours is. 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.'Forgive. that is.

.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always.'I should like to--and to see you again. fizz. Mr.''Yes. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm. the kiss of the morning.''Why?''Because the wind blows so.' said he in a penitent tone. Swancourt.''That's a hit at me.Her face flushed and she looked out. but the manner in which our minutes beat. I regret to say. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear. after a long musing look at a flying bird.

 it would be awkward. But once in ancient times one of 'em. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily. But there's no accounting for tastes. and let us in. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. "my name is Charles the Third.'I am Miss Swancourt.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do.' said Elfride.' said Stephen hesitatingly. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. Stand closer to the horse's head.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. such as it is.

 That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. and be my wife some day?''Why not?' she said naively. you do. He does not think of it at all. Elfride stepped down to the library.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me.In fact. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. go downstairs; my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening. Swancourt impressively. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile.At this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the footpath.' said the vicar.

 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. and let us in. Elfride can trot down on her pony. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness.' said Elfride.The game proceeded. Smith. having its blind drawn down. He handed them back to her. I hate him. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.'Quite. Stephen arose. sometimes behind. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close.Stephen Smith. no! it is too bad-- too bad to tell!' continued Mr. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting.