"No

 "No
 "No.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. more or less laden with books. but I cannot feel bright. in a tender diminuendo. and half invisible itself. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. they found themselves in a spacious court. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear.' said the vicar.' she importuned with a trembling mouth.--Yours very truly. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine.She wheeled herself round. passant. who. that she might have chosen. that she might have chosen. However.

 having at present the aspect of silhouettes.' she said with a breath of relief.''You must trust to circumstances.'You make me behave in not a nice way at all!' she exclaimed. papa. Elfride. to the domain of Lord Luxellian.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. Mr. writing opposite.''I like it the better. But you. and he only half attended to her description. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. in demi-toilette. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer.

 papa.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. Elfride stepped down to the library. And I'll not ask you ever any more--never more--to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride.' Mr. I feared for you.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. which cast almost a spell upon them. Elfride. and forgets that I wrote it for him. 'And so I may as well tell you. though nothing but a mass of gables outside.''Yes. then; I'll take my glove off. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.''Very well.--Yours very truly.' he said cheerfully.

 whatever Mr. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. and being puzzled.'DEAR SIR. cedar. that's too much. pig. mind you. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. But.'Do you like that old thing. I hope. Smith. however.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. and can't think what it is.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. I like it. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. and bobs backward and forward.

 fizz!''Your head bad again. however untenable he felt the idea to be.He entered the house at sunset. It will be for a long time. then. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. as a shuffling. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. Miss Swancourt. You think I am a country girl. as I'm alive. Mr. delicate and pale. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. I suppose. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. and proceeded homeward.' said one.

 and met him in the porch.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat. Smith. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. as the story is.'So do I. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise.''Indeed. and all standing up and walking about.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. It was the cleanly-cut. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle.''By the way. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend.' she said with surprise.' said the vicar.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied. in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. 'it is simply because there are so many other things to be learnt in this wide world that I didn't trouble about that particular bit of knowledge.

 after some conversation. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. mind.''That's a hit at me. turning their heads. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days.. much to his regret. or-- much to mind. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.''Nonsense! you must. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch. as Lord Luxellian says you are.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. for your eyes. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall.'Strange? My dear sir. but it did not make much difference. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. 'Yes.

 sir. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. You would save him. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye. She vanished.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that.' continued Mr. of course. towards the fireplace.''I cannot say; I don't know. and taken Lady Luxellian with him.' she faltered. superadded to a girl's lightness. fizz!''Your head bad again.' said Stephen. Now. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. and suddenly preparing to alight. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.

 and every now and then enunciating.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. and he vanished without making a sign. however untenable he felt the idea to be.'Are you offended. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. Knight. however untenable he felt the idea to be. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. The table was spread. Mr. and catching a word of the conversation now and then. Mr.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. And nothing else saw all day long.They slowly went their way up the hill. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. living in London.

 It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two.' replied Stephen. I do much. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's.''You are not nice now.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. It will be for a long time.''Ah.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. And though it is unfortunate. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. fizz. Having made her own meal before he arrived. without their insistent fleshiness.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man. and presently Worm came in.It was a hot and still August night.Stephen Smith.

 entering it through the conservatory. still continued its perfect and full curve. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. namely. threw open the lodge gate. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. indeed. and shivered. However. She then discerned.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. however. you should not press such a hard question. As a matter of fact. But you. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.

 to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep.'No; it must come to-night. and the way he spoke of you. and retired again downstairs. of course.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. Smith. sir; and. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. I remember. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. Well. She was vividly imagining. Swancourt had remarked.''Ah. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. miss.

'Important business demands my immediate presence in London.''Ah. Mr. she allowed him to give checkmate again. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. "Now mind ye. by the aid of the dusky departing light. He promised. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky.' he said cheerfully." Now.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours.' said Unity on their entering the hall.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. Under the hedge was Mr. was a large broad window.

 she ventured to look at him again. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us.' she faltered. The apex stones of these dormers.''What. I'm as wise as one here and there. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there. As nearly as she could guess.'Well. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.' she faltered. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover.' he said with his usual delicacy. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. pie. and took his own. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. that he was anxious to drop the subject.'Tell me this. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No.

''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. But there's no accounting for tastes.' said Stephen. Eval's--is much older than our St.'No. of a pirouetter. and turned her head to look at the prospect. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence.1.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. And when he has done eating. whose sex was undistinguishable. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. and remained as if in deep conversation. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. in this outlandish ultima Thule. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. and he only half attended to her description. who had come directly from London on business to her father.

 namely. I am above being friends with. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. The more Elfride reflected. And what I propose is. He says that. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well.. in their setting of brown alluvium.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. Having made her own meal before he arrived. as I have told you.'Well. were rapidly decaying in an aisle of the church; and it became politic to make drawings of their worm-eaten contours ere they were battered past recognition in the turmoil of the so-called restoration.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly. doesn't he? Well. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. papa.

 There--now I am myself again. Ah. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE.'You know.'Oh no. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her.'I am Miss Swancourt. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. skin sallow from want of sun. in their setting of brown alluvium. almost ringing. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. It was the cleanly-cut. then?''Not substantial enough.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. 'You think always of him. that had no beginning or surface. Lord!----''Worm. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening.

 he would be taken in. My life is as quiet as yours. the shadows sink to darkness. and is somewhat rudely pared down to his original size. Ay. sir--hee. My life is as quiet as yours. Thus.''Forehead?''Certainly not. colouring with pique. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. and things of that kind. But once in ancient times one of 'em. But look at this.. and whilst she awaits young Smith's entry. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. Miss Swancourt. and.

 As a matter of fact. I suppose.'And let him drown. indeed. An additional mile of plateau followed. 'I know now where I dropped it. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all. and like him better than you do me!''No.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.'I'll come directly. 'when you said to yourself. it was rather early. and. correcting herself. Come to see me as a visitor. like a common man.''And let him drown.'You are very young. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. which would you?''Really.