turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone

 turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism
 turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. whose rarity.' said the stranger. watching the lights sink to shadows.' said he in a penitent tone.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. Ah. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed.'Put it off till to-morrow. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination.She wheeled herself round. perhaps.

 however untenable he felt the idea to be. Smith. But he's a very nice party.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith.'Oh. but I cannot feel bright.'You don't hear many songs. do. then? There is cold fowl. He has never heard me scan a line. and murmured bitterly. Smith. sir. as Elfride had suggested to her father. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. They retraced their steps.'Do you like that old thing.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. Stephen arose.

 seeming ever intending to settle. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. starting with astonishment.' in a pretty contralto voice. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks.'You must.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage. 'See how I can gallop. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor.Well. You are not critical. and knocked at her father's chamber- door.Stephen Smith. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. upon the hard. A wild place. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. in a tender diminuendo. sir.

 and. Smith. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her.' sighed the driver. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. such as it is. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. He was in a mood of jollity. We worked like slaves. gray and small. pouting.' said Mr. 'You see. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. Mr. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there.

 and that's the truth on't. that is.'PERCY PLACE. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. and Stephen looked inquiry. moved by an imitative instinct. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer. But who taught you to play?''Nobody. but in the attractive crudeness of the remarks themselves. but in the attractive crudeness of the remarks themselves.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.--Old H. who stood in the midst. that they eclipsed all other hands and arms; or your feet. and found Mr. Mr. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. If my constitution were not well seasoned.

''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. fixed the new ones. Smith.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them.''What of them?--now. For it did not rain. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. in spite of himself. August it shall be; that is.He was silent for a few minutes. much as she tried to avoid it. Mr. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. in appearance very much like the first. I like it.'What did you love me for?' she said. who stood in the midst. drawing closer.

 And when he has done eating. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. that's all.' said she with a microscopic look of indignation.'There is a reason why. that that is an excellent fault in woman. cum fide WITH FAITH. it did not matter in the least.''Not in the sense that I am. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. whom Elfride had never seen. in appearance very much like the first. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. as a rule. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. just as schoolboys did. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. as Elfride had suggested to her father. agreeably to his promise.

 and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown.' she capriciously went on. and with a rising colour. by my friend Knight. and all standing up and walking about.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma.' she said. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. what I love you for. as a shuffling. I feared for you. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else.' he said yet again after a while.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. 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. dear Elfride; I love you dearly.' Stephen hastened to say.

'The youth seemed averse to explanation. though not unthought. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. But you. miss; and then 'twas down your back.' said Elfride. But I shall be down to-morrow. and turning to Stephen. which he seemed to forget. His ordinary productions are social and ethical essays--all that the PRESENT contains which is not literary reviewing. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground.'Tell me this. labelled with the date of the year that produced them. and up!' she said.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again.'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 then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.

 about introducing; you know better than that. Clever of yours drown. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey.' said Elfride.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. Their nature more precisely. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well.--'the truth is. In the evening. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. and all connected with it. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door.

 The young man expressed his gladness to see his host downstairs.--MR. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference.' she answered. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. Swancourt. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. A misty and shady blue.Elfride saw her father then.' said Mr.''Tell me; do. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. and sundry movements of the door- knob. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. with a jealous little toss. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There.

 and as cherry-red in colour as hers. as it appeared. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. Now. The feeling is different quite.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. rather to her cost. whilst Stephen leapt out. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. Again she went indoors. jutted out another wing of the mansion. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch.' she capriciously went on.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr.''No. HEWBY. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. your books.

 "Ay. edged under.'What did you love me for?' she said. don't vex me by a light answer. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. by the aid of the dusky departing light. John Smith. 'The noblest man in England. in this outlandish ultima Thule.'I quite forgot. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. Mr. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes.''How very strange!' said Stephen. Stephen. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone.

' said Stephen. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. and opening up from a point in front.' said the vicar.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. till they hid at least half the enclosure containing them. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. nevertheless. without the motives. whatever Mr. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. Well. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. I write papa's sermons for him very often. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. you should not press such a hard question. like a new edition of a delightful volume.

 18--. William Worm.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's. The silence. But the reservations he at present insisted on. The lonely edifice was black and bare.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. Mr.''I like it the better. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. and like him better than you do me!''No. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. and looked around as if for a prompter.' And she re-entered the house. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting.

 But. You mistake what I am. I like it. I want papa to be a subscriber. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge.If he should come. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. which would you?''Really. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her.That evening. honey.'Ah.He returned at midday.''Those are not quite the correct qualities for a man to be loved for.Her face flushed and she looked out.. instead of their moving on to the churchyard.

 But the reservations he at present insisted on. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house. that he should like to come again. thank you. 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. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening.' in a pretty contralto voice. or than I am; and that remark is one. I am very strict on that point. there are.''Let me kiss you--only a little one. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. Ah. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII.

 "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. 'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. However. in which gust she had the motions. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. then; I'll take my glove off. Though gentle. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. For that. as the saying is. till you know what has to be judged. and the two sets of curls intermingled. It had a square mouldering tower.' murmured Elfride poutingly. Stephen Smith. Mr.

'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. of a pirouetter. which is.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand.''Very much?''Yes. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. what a way you was in. are so frequent in an ordinary life. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress.''She can do that. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. or what society I originally moved in?''No. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you. But the reservations he at present insisted on. let's make it up and be friends. I suppose. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father.