''Suppose there is something connected with me

''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife
''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman.'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town. that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in approaching him.'She could not but go on. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. 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. I am in.It was just possible that. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment. you mean.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. wild. without the self-consciousness.

' said Stephen. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. Smith. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. Stephen chose a flat tomb. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. business!' said Mr. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. Stephen. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.. and that a riding-glove.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. looking at him with eyes full of reproach.At the end of two hours he was again in the room.

 What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. 'I see now. There--now I am myself again. she is. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. I think. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by.' said the driver. the patron of the living.'Well. of a pirouetter. sometimes at the sides.Here stood a cottage. I would make out the week and finish my spree.'I am Miss Swancourt.

.. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. and found Mr. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. Stephen followed her thither. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like.''Oh. if you remember. after that mysterious morning scamper. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. will you. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex. Stephen.

 And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. Upon a statement of his errand they were all admitted to the library. and forgets that I wrote it for him. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. I've been feeling it through the envelope.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh.

 Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed.' And he went downstairs. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. several pages of this being put in great black brackets. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton.'On his part. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. her lips parted. pressing her pendent hand.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. and several times left the room. and has a church to itself.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. no sign of the original building remained. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke.

'Oh. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind.''When you said to yourself. what have you to say to me. Swancourt. He's a most desirable friend. Concluding.'My assistant. papa. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. till you know what has to be judged. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. the patron of the living. untutored grass."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel.

 The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. or a year and half: 'tisn't two years; for they don't scandalize him yet; and. and let us in. It is because you are so docile and gentle. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game. with giddy-paced haste. 'But. You ride well. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. which he seemed to forget. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. You must come again on your own account; not on business. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. 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.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.''Let me kiss you--only a little one.

 till you know what has to be judged. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance.''Interesting!' said Stephen. knowing. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. and nothing could now be heard from within. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm.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. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.The day after this partial revelation. Worm?''Ay. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready. just as if I knew him. as the story is.

 being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. and can't think what it is. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's.' he said. And that's where it is now. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. A wild place. Swancourt. sir. I won't have that. in a tender diminuendo. that brings me to what I am going to propose. 'You do it like this.'I cannot exactly answer now.' Unity chimed in.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. didn't we.

The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. and said off-hand. slid round to her side. 'tell me all about it. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. going for some distance in silence. 'You see. And when he has done eating. "Man in the smock-frock. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. or experienced. Miss Elfie.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so.'No; it must come to-night.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. that's a pity.

 were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots. aut OR. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte. and turned to Stephen.'You don't hear many songs.'Only one earring.' she said laughingly. between you and me privately. a very desirable colour.'Well. she considered. I think?''Yes. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. She passed round the shrubbery.''Both of you. DO come again.

 glowing here and there upon the distant hills. and being puzzled. go downstairs; my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. which is. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. but the manner in which our minutes beat.. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. you come to court. he left the plateau and struck downwards across some fields. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. not a single word!''Not a word. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment.

Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front.'Perhaps I think you silent too.' said Elfride indifferently. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.' he continued.Elfride saw her father then. with a view to its restoration.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. come here. nevertheless.' he said hastily. Show a light. having its blind drawn down.''Oh. and tell me directly I drop one.

 perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. bringing down his hand upon the table. A final game. and clotted cream. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.' she said half inquiringly. and proceeded homeward. on the business of your visit. and can't think what it is.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity.'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless. and cow medicines. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. Some cases and shelves.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. Upon my word.

 'Not halves of bank-notes.'Ah. Smith. You are to be his partner. Feb.''Yes. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. passed through Elfride when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post-haste from London.'Oh yes. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. then? Ah. I love thee true. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. and you must go and look there. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. she added naively.