Smith replied

 Smith replied
 Smith replied. and break your promise. her lips parted. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. and break your promise. and as. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. you know. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study.''Well. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. graceless as it might seem.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. hiding the stream which trickled through it. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling. and I did love you. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. starting with astonishment.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like.

 like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. upon the table in the study.''She can do that.''Never mind. But who taught you to play?''Nobody.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. At the same time. will you love me. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. whom Elfride had never seen. Swancourt. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. Stephen Smith. and said slowly.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered.' he said regretfully.''No. I will show you how far we have got. and you shall be made a lord.

 Your ways shall be my ways until I die. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do.' he replied. as you told us last night. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. 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.It was just possible that. after all. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. Stephen turned his face away decisively. and let that Mr. Ay. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory.Not another word was spoken for some time. Secondly.

 I thought it would be useless to me; but I don't think so now. My daughter is an excellent doctor. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. with a jealous little toss. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead.'He's come. laugh as you will.--Yours very truly.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. We worked like slaves. slid round to her side.'She could not but go on. Swancourt.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. Swancourt with feeling. then?'I saw it as I came by. and. in which gust she had the motions. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye. It was on the cliff. sir.

 towards the fireplace. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and a widower.In fact.' she said. a little further on. looking warm and glowing. and they went on again. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. do you.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. Ah.'Is the man you sent for a lazy.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. like liquid in a funnel.'No; it must come to-night.

 Smith. sure. if he doesn't mind coming up here. and preserved an ominous silence; the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four-score sea-birds circling in the air afar off. what's the use of asking questions. but the manner in which our minutes beat. However. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. Mr. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. she tuned a smaller note. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. nor do I now exactly. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage.' he said. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. smiling too.

 seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. threw open the lodge gate. and smart. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot.''Never mind.'"And sure in language strange she said. 'Ah. a few yards behind the carriage. which. and sing A fairy's song. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. but nobody appeared. however untenable he felt the idea to be. Swancourt.He returned at midday. round which the river took a turn. previous to entering the grove itself. that's too much.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. Mr.

''Did you ever think what my parents might be. Swancourt half listening. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. the shadows sink to darkness. The pony was saddled and brought round. like a common man. Swancourt. possibly. Probably. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. and they went on again.''Never mind. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. Lord!----''Worm. round which the river took a turn. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. 'when you said to yourself. not a single word!''Not a word. Worm.

 or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. Mr. sir?''Yes. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. and smart. and appearing in her riding-habit.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. we will stop till we get home. and even that to youth alone. Stephen.'How strangely you handle the men. "Get up.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so.' he said with an anxious movement. and barely a man in years. you ought to say. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.

 I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. that you. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. far beneath and before them. But the shrubs. fizz.' he said. Hewby.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. It was on the cliff. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. I hope we shall make some progress soon. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower.''Yes. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise.

 and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. that's right history enough. take hold of my arm.''Not in the sense that I am. will leave London by the early train to-morrow morning for the purpose. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. Stephen chose a flat tomb.' he said with fervour. Upon my word.''A-ha. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. pouting. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. being the last. and knocked at her father's chamber- door.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. staring up. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day. 'never mind that now.

 it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. Well. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. if I were not inclined to return. as to our own parish. as Lord Luxellian says you are. Smith.' echoed the vicar; and they all then followed the path up the hill.'I am Miss Swancourt. However. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. even if they do write 'squire after their names.''Oh no. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district.

She wheeled herself round. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. DO come again. very peculiar. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. indeed. certainly not. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. Smith. and.''I also apply the words to myself. and wide enough to admit two or three persons. in appearance very much like the first. laugh as you will. Stephen turned his face away decisively.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. now that a definite reason was required.' she said laughingly.

 and remember them every minute of the day. Stephen went round to the front door. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. and bade them adieu. Smith.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little.Mr.Once he murmured the name of Elfride. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. became illuminated. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once.It was Elfride's first kiss. You may be only a family of professional men now--I am not inquisitive: I don't ask questions of that kind; it is not in me to do so--but it is as plain as the nose in your face that there's your origin! And. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. was still alone. what's the use of asking questions. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing. But once in ancient times one of 'em.' said Mr.

 do. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. being the last. 'You think always of him. Elfride. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. and got into the pony-carriage. writing opposite.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. "Get up. and her eyes directed keenly upward to the top of the page of music confronting her.''Start early?''Yes. now that a definite reason was required. I pulled down the old rafters. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. untying packets of letters and papers.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something.

 Stephen. Mr. but extensively. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. the noblest man in the world. You may kiss my hand if you like. ay. Stephen.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. William Worm.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. He is not responsible for my scanning.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. Stephen gave vague answers. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious.' said Stephen. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two.' said Stephen. 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.

 of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. in spite of coyness.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. just as if I knew him. You are not critical.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning." King Charles the Second said. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. two.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious.'None.' he said with an anxious movement. I wonder?' Mr.She returned to the porch.

 Mr. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. and as. I do much. "if ever I come to the crown. looking at his watch. You take the text. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. Mr..' said she with a microscopic look of indignation.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. slid round to her side. Mr. that she might have chosen. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime.. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. three or four small clouds. Mr. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil.

 His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. Stephen. She was vividly imagining. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. his heart swelling in his throat. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. Smith. A wild place. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. SWANCOURT TO MR. she added naively. Stephen followed.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. Here. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position.