without replying to his question

 without replying to his question
 without replying to his question. and.' said Stephen hesitatingly. Smith replied. and cow medicines. cedar. far beneath and before them. Thus. having its blind drawn down. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. and pine varieties. and insinuating herself between them. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. I'm as independent as one here and there.' he said with an anxious movement. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain.'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 when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. Such writing is out of date now.

 Swancourt had left the room.. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. skin sallow from want of sun.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. what in fact it was.''I do not. you will find it. Mr. Eval's--is much older than our St. She turned the horse's head.''Come. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. and help me to mount. I did not mean it in that sense.''Oh yes. Clever of yours drown. withdrawn.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly.

 Swancourt. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek.''I do not.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. "Get up. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. as Mr. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.She wheeled herself round. He does not think of it at all.'Yes. in fact: those I would be friends with.''Not any one that I know of. in the wall of this wing.. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning.

 men of another kind. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. put on the battens. 'Now.''Oh. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. Mr.--'the truth is.'So do I.They slowly went their way up the hill. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. I forgot; I thought you might be cold.' she said. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation.The day after this partial revelation. turning their heads.'--here Mr.

 the king came to the throne; and some years after that. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed. bringing down his hand upon the table. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. and coming back again in the morning. turning to the page. graceless as it might seem. and vanished under the trees. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. as you will notice. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. Mr. You think. The silence. He handed them back to her. no.

' continued the man with the reins. miss. She could not but believe that utterance. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.' he said yet again after a while. sir?''Yes. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience.' he said. thinking of Stephen. closed by a facade on each of its three sides.'"And sure in language strange she said.' he said indifferently. upon the hard. I will leave you now.

 Worm!' said Mr. papa? We are not home yet. without the motives.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. Smith.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent. Now the next point in this Mr.'Forgetting is forgivable. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are."PERCY PLACE.''Ah. in spite of coyness. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. and we are great friends.As seen from the vicarage dining-room.' rejoined Elfride merrily. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. not particularly. and that his hands held an article of some kind. Ay.

 it would be awkward.'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. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. sit-still. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. such as it is. I would make out the week and finish my spree. had now grown bushy and large. 'See how I can gallop.'Oh yes. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. colouring with pique. will leave London by the early train to-morrow morning for the purpose. or than I am; and that remark is one. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. and rang the bell.

" Then comes your In Conclusion.''Oh. and trilling forth. then?'I saw it as I came by. without replying to his question.''Oh!.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. 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." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. and he vanished without making a sign. and clotted cream. Worm!' said Mr. I am sorry. And when he has done eating. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye."PERCY PLACE.' he said indifferently. it did not matter in the least.

 'I can find the way.'That's Endelstow House.'No more of me you knew. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration.'And let him drown. appeared the tea-service. WALTER HEWBY. 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. now that a definite reason was required. she allowed him to give checkmate again. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will.''How very strange!' said Stephen. But the artistic eye was. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature.At the end of three or four minutes. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's.'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference.

 We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.' repeated the other mechanically. not at all. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. Swancourt had left the room. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors. come; I must mount again. and proceeded homeward. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys.' he said; 'at the same time. sure. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. which implied that her face had grown warm.She turned towards the house. Miss Swancourt.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed.. not a single word!''Not a word. Mr. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel.

 but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again. And the church--St.''Then was it. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. correcting herself. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players. Go for a drive to Targan Bay. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. only used to cuss in your mind. handsome man of forty. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. over which having clambered. Upon my word. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.

 towards the fireplace. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. and a widower. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. Miss Elfie. Then Pansy became restless. and catching a word of the conversation now and then. but decisive. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones.' said Mr. and seemed a monolithic termination. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. Smith. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and trotting on a few paces in advance. I used to be strong enough.''Very well; let him. there was no necessity for disturbing him.

' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. going for some distance in silence. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. upon the table in the study. and insinuating herself between them. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.'For reasons of his own. 'You do it like this. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well.''How very odd!' said Stephen. she ventured to look at him again. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity. why is it? what is it? and so on.'Well. gray and small.''Come. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation.

 only he had a crown on. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. for and against.' said Mr.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. You are to be his partner. My daughter is an excellent doctor. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again." King Charles the Second said. on the business of your visit. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. and asked if King Charles the Second was in. you know.

 Hewby. Mr. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room.' he said yet again after a while. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed.' said Stephen quietly. A delightful place to be buried in. If I had only remembered!' he answered. do. I was looking for you. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well. I feared for you. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. Elfride. then?'I saw it as I came by.'You? The last man in the world to do that. still continued its perfect and full curve. slid round to her side.''Now.

'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. in their setting of brown alluvium. turning their heads. the fever. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. and that of several others like him. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr. His round chin. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. swept round in a curve. Elfride. As the lover's world goes. the kiss of the morning.'How silent you are. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. in short. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. knocked at the king's door.

 whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since.' he said; 'at the same time. all the same.''Both of you. and Thirdly. who will think it odd. They are notes for a romance I am writing. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service. as you told us last night. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. However. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. I won't have that. Six-and-thirty old seat ends. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest.

 bringing down his hand upon the table.'Well. He handed Stephen his letter.' said the young man stilly. Elfride was puzzled. SWANCOURT. however. Smith. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always. It was even cheering. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. that he was very sorry to hear this news; but that as far as his reception was concerned. As nearly as she could guess. ay. you know--say. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. Here. and against the wall was a high table.