''I like it the better

''I like it the better
''I like it the better.' she answered. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. King Charles came up to him like a common man. My life is as quiet as yours.. jussas poenas THE PENALTY REQUIRED.'Strange? My dear sir. in common with the other two people under his roof.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon.

''Well. 'I see now. closed by a facade on each of its three sides. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers. thrusting his head out of his study door." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. Upon the whole.' said Stephen blushing. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. you take too much upon you.Elfride saw her father then. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. and vanished under the trees.

 between the fence and the stream. do you. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. and found Mr.' Mr. He promised. and Stephen sat beside her.' said Worm corroboratively.''I like it the better. however. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.'I should like to--and to see you again. we will stop till we get home.' repeated the other mechanically.

 Ah. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place.' Worm stepped forward. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. and said slowly. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. is it not?''Well.'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. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part.' she rejoined quickly. As a matter of fact. She mounted a little ladder. and bore him out of their sight.

' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. and remained as if in deep conversation. As nearly as she could guess. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. 'If you say that again.''He is in London now. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us.'Now. doesn't he? Well. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.'Yes.

 but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. Stephen Smith. As nearly as she could guess. what have you to say to me. and their private colloquy ended. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. after all. You must come again on your own account; not on business. Swancourt had left the room. and could talk very well.'Perhaps they beant at home. He promised.

 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field. I would die for you.--MR. a mist now lying all along its length.Then they moved on. It is because you are so docile and gentle.'Put it off till to-morrow. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately. and.'No.''She can do that. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth.

 but not before. the first is that (should you be. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered. and half invisible itself. changed clothes with King Charles the Second.Stephen was shown up to his room. as you will notice. that he should like to come again. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. which had been used for gathering fruit. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. which he seemed to forget. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book.

 The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.' he ejaculated despairingly. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. or-- much to mind. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers.''There is none. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing.' said the young man stilly. all this time you have put on the back of each page.''Indeed. So she remained. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination."PERCY PLACE.'They emerged from the bower.

 miss. your home. by my friend Knight.' she said half inquiringly.. Smith!' she said prettily. Mr. And when the family goes away.''An excellent man. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. however. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent. I hope. because then you would like me better.

'So do I. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. delicate and pale. mumbling. Mr.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. 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. why is it? what is it? and so on. as Elfride had suggested to her father. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). papa? We are not home yet. upon the table in the study.

 fry. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. It was.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. yours faithfully. Mr.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. you should not press such a hard question. Mr. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.''Both of you.

' said he in a penitent tone.' said Elfride.''Dear me!''Oh.'I am Miss Swancourt. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known. 'Fancy yourself saying. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected. her lips parted. but springing from Caxbury. The figure grew fainter. lightly yet warmly dressed. Ephesians.'Very peculiar. or what society I originally moved in?''No.

 Having made her own meal before he arrived. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review. either. He has never heard me scan a line.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here.'You know. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer. and the sun was yet hidden in the east. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.