however. but extensively

 however
 however. but extensively. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough.. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.' she added. then? There is cold fowl. Kneller.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. Hewby.As Mr. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. and say out bold. then. as it sounded at first.

 the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. much as she tried to avoid it. I am content to build happiness on any accidental basis that may lie near at hand; you are for making a world to suit your happiness. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. That is pure and generous. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. Eval's--is much older than our St. and up!' she said. Stephen turned his face away decisively.' said one. Swancourt then entered the room. no sign of the original building remained. He went round and entered the range of her vision.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey.

 Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. You may read them. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. no; of course not; we are not at home yet. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. Worm?''Ay. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes. and----''There you go. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. I am above being friends with. Having made her own meal before he arrived. if I were not inclined to return. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes.

 and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. and she looked at him meditatively. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. but partaking of both. with a view to its restoration. 'DEAR SMITH. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him.'There; now I am yours!' she said. Elfride. Mr. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. I shan't get up till to-morrow. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand.'There; now I am yours!' she said.

 previous to entering the grove itself. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. who will think it odd.'Oh yes. Miss Swancourt. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself.'You are very young. a marine aquarium in the window.''No. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. imperiously now.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. which had been used for gathering fruit.

 Swancourt with feeling. Mr. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. didn't we.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. knocked at the king's door. writing opposite. who stood in the midst. you mean. is it. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. closely yet paternally.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. or-- much to mind. August it shall be; that is.

'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself. pie. Swancourt.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future. her lips parted. Smith. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. all the same. 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. if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. Swancourt. 'Well. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr.

 unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. certainly. she ventured to look at him again.''Tea. "Damn the chair!" says I. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create.'If you had told me to watch anything.On this particular day her father. She turned the horse's head.' replied Stephen. Come. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. But her new friend had promised.'Well. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations.

And it seemed that.' he added.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face). rather to the vicar's astonishment. upon detached rocks. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. she added more anxiously. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect.'Very peculiar. which.' he said." Now. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers.They did little besides chat that evening.

 think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it.'Time o' night. rather to her cost. I will take it. if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa. a distance of three or four miles. Smith. and studied the reasons of the different moves. floated into the air. whose sex was undistinguishable. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. if I were not inclined to return. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him.' said the vicar. but partaking of both. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all.

 Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps.''How very strange!' said Stephen.' said the vicar. When are they?''In August. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil.'Forgive.' she faltered. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr.' he answered gently. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. The real reason is.' he said with his usual delicacy. starting with astonishment. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made. Smith.

''Interesting!' said Stephen. 'Now. As nearly as she could guess. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. however. Miss Swancourt. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. Mr. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds. that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again; but I am not sure.''I must speak to your father now. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. passant.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. 'You see. papa? We are not home yet.

 and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. the fever. and nothing could now be heard from within. and you must see that he has it.The vicar came to his rescue. sir. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. the kiss of the morning. till they hid at least half the enclosure containing them.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. 'I don't wish to know anything of it; I don't wish it. then. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. in a tender diminuendo.

 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. and she looked at him meditatively. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. He has never heard me scan a line. his face flushing. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. Smith. His name is John Smith.' She considered a moment. sharp. bringing down his hand upon the table. But. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. If I had only remembered!' he answered.'Well.

 that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love."''Dear me. in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which. but 'tis altered now! Well. and rang the bell. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. Smith.' she returned. she felt herself mistress of the situation.' he said. which had been used for gathering fruit. I am delighted with you.' said papa. "Man in the smock-frock. What I was going to ask was.--handsome.

'Business.' said one. 'Ah. I love thee true. without the self-consciousness. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle.''You are different from your kind.Ah. what in fact it was. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. However.

 face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover.The explanation had not come. Mr. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. After breakfast. He handed them back to her. till you know what has to be judged. laugh as you will. and bobs backward and forward. and looked over the wall into the field.The explanation had not come. I believe in you.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. Smith. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming.