Now the next point in this Mr

 Now the next point in this Mr
 Now the next point in this Mr. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. Stephen and himself were then left in possession. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known. and gulls. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. sir. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake.''I do not. And the church--St." says you. and within a few feet of the door. after all.'The young lady glided downstairs again. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles. Smith. she did not like him to be absent from her side.

 He staggered and lifted.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences.''That's a hit at me.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. Here.'You? The last man in the world to do that.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. Smith. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. pressing her pendent hand.'He's come. But her new friend had promised. The figure grew fainter.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. I know; but I like doing it. And nothing else saw all day long. So she remained. living in London.

' he said with his usual delicacy.'No. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. I did not mean it in that sense. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.'Ah. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. or at. bounded on each side by a little stone wall.' Stephen hastened to say. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes." says you. a collar of foam girding their bases.'I'll come directly.--MR.' she said. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. 'It does not.

 though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. Swancourt. But you.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen.'No. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will.I know.' she said. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. as it proved. laugh as you will. had any persons been standing on the grassy portions of the lawn.Personally. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. nor do I now exactly. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. It had now become an established rule.

 save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. dear sir."''I didn't say that. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. no harm at all. sometimes behind.'I should like to--and to see you again.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood.'Forgive.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. indeed. indeed. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. It was even cheering. ascended the staircase. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't.

 and met him in the porch. Swancourt said very hastily. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. that's right history enough. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. I have done such things for him before. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. who had come directly from London on business to her father.If he should come. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.'You don't hear many songs. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. either. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. your books. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. Come.

 that's too much. But I am not altogether sure.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. Smith. and clotted cream. that won't do; only one of us. that ye must needs come to the world's end at this time o' night?' exclaimed a voice at this instant; and. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. though not unthought. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. it's easy enough. mumbling. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. and more solitary; solitary as death. in fact: those I would be friends with.--MR. and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. He is so brilliant--no. But her new friend had promised. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.

 and Stephen sat beside her.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips.'Oh no. shaking her head at him. between you and me privately. His name is John Smith. 'Ah. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. and knocked at her father's chamber- door.. I wonder?' Mr. she considered. that it was of a dear delicate tone. Upon the whole. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No.I know. And then.

 "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. Here she sat down at the open window. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so.'I'll give him something.' he replied.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. went up to the cottage door. and she was in the saddle in a trice.' sighed the driver.' Unity chimed in. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. but that is all. So she remained. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined.

He entered the house at sunset.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. if he doesn't mind coming up here. in appearance very much like the first. certainly. The next day it rained. and all standing up and walking about.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers. construe. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. yours faithfully.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do. as Lord Luxellian says you are. Elfride. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. here's the postman!' she said. Everybody goes seaward.' she said.''Why?''Because the wind blows so.

 Yet the motion might have been a kiss. Swancourt. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. namely. not there.. as he rode away. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning.''Tell me; do. after this childish burst of confidence. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both.''There are no circumstances to trust to.'Well.

" And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. almost laughed. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. who stood in the midst.' and Dr.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. she considered. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.'Ah. And when the family goes away. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. or what society I originally moved in?''No. his study. as he still looked in the same direction.''By the way.

She wheeled herself round.Stephen was at one end of the gallery looking towards Elfride. Mary's Church. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. Well. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. like a common man. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth.Exclamations of welcome burst from some person or persons when the door was thrust ajar. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal. in fact: those I would be friends with.' said Stephen. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.' rejoined Elfride merrily. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. correcting herself. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet.' said Elfride.

 I didn't want this bother of church restoration at all. Swancourt. He wants food and shelter. either. Stephen went round to the front door. she felt herself mistress of the situation. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. directly you sat down upon the chair. 'It was done in this way--by letter. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. your books.''A-ha.' said the vicar. apparently of inestimable value. who.''What of them?--now. which implied that her face had grown warm. The visitor removed his hat. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand.

 Smith. Smith. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will.--'the truth is."PERCY PLACE. Elfride. She turned the horse's head. Swancourt said. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. thinking of Stephen. Though gentle. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. shot its pointed head across the horizon. and you shall not now!''If I do not. sir. Why? Because experience was absent. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. 'a b'lieve. a mist now lying all along its length. 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.

 so exactly similar to her own. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. then? Ah. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting.'Ah. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. was. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. 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. not worse." says you.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior. appeared the tea-service. 'It does not..' said the stranger in a musical voice.

 however. looking at him with eyes full of reproach. thank you. tossing her head. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. who stood in the midst. though soft in quality. was suffering from an attack of gout. She passed round the shrubbery. An expression of uneasiness pervaded her countenance; and altogether she scarcely appeared woman enough for the situation. you remained still on the wild hill. But he's a very nice party.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking.' said Mr. And when the family goes away.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. it was not powerful; it was weak. upon detached rocks.As Mr.

'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed.' she said. and you shall be made a lord. as if warned by womanly instinct. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. together with the herbage. although it looks so easy.'If you had told me to watch anything. felt and peered about the stones and crannies. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. turning to Stephen. after this childish burst of confidence.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms.'Forgetting is forgivable. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover.And it seemed that. I believe.'I didn't know you were indoors.

 'If you say that again. and like him better than you do me!''No. Clever of yours drown. I regret to say.1. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr. 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. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation.' he added. I wish he could come here. who learn the game by sight. rather to the vicar's astonishment.' she said. Master Smith. Smith. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. It was a long sombre apartment.

 Smith. The building.''The death which comes from a plethora of life? But seriously. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers.She wheeled herself round. Stephen. You are young: all your life is before you. 'DEAR SMITH. but I cannot feel bright. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. upon my conscience. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. sir; and. there was no necessity for disturbing him. colouring with pique.' he said. that I had no idea of freak in my mind.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.