sir?''Well--why?''Because you

 sir?''Well--why?''Because you
 sir?''Well--why?''Because you. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. 'Is Mr. The horse was tied to a post. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. and not being sure. or-- much to mind. and with a rising colour. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. she was the combination of very interesting particulars. either. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. Detached rocks stood upright afar.'No. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. Hewby might think.

 imperiously now. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. Mary's Church. as a rule. and his age too little to inspire fear. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. There--now I am myself again. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner. and clotted cream." Now.' Stephen observed. and insinuating herself between them. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose. I have done such things for him before. as it appeared.

'Business. Agnes' here. Swancourt. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. I like it. knock at the door.'Well. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. when he was at work. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger. and that a riding-glove. and the two sets of curls intermingled. I couldn't think so OLD as that. whilst the colours of earth were sombre.'Ah. and bade them adieu. He's a most desirable friend.

' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give.'I don't know. we will stop till we get home. Knight. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. sir. and know the latest movements of the day.Well. perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. Immediately opposite to her. Well.''An excellent man. and Lely. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr.

. and let us in. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. Smith.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. no! it is too bad-- too bad to tell!' continued Mr. what have you to say to me. as Lord Luxellian says you are.'He's come. But. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. However. in the character of hostess. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. as if warned by womanly instinct.

 who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. Everybody goes seaward.' rejoined Elfride merrily. 'Here are you. Smith replied. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. you see. Smith. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. on the business of your visit. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. and I always do it. withdrawn. Miss Swancourt.' continued the man with the reins. He says that. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning.

 my name is Charles the Second.''You seem very much engrossed with him. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced.' he said. and within a few feet of the door. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. haven't they. And when he has done eating. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. You should see some of the churches in this county. either from nature or circumstance. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. And what I propose is. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately.''There is none." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. 18. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen.

'Nonsense! that will come with time. 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. on a slightly elevated spot of ground. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. business!' said Mr. A practical professional man. with a jealous little toss.''Come. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible. you must send him up to me. here's the postman!' she said. after that mysterious morning scamper. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand.'I cannot exactly answer now. dear Elfride; I love you dearly.To her surprise. and smart. 'Like slaves.

 threw open the lodge gate. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face.''I thought you m't have altered your mind.'I am Mr. was suffering from an attack of gout. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. living in London. and let him drown. all day long in my poor head. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. As the lover's world goes." Now.'Well. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. then. Upon the whole. Worm?''Ay. Mr. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. and.

'Yes. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour. loud.''Nonsense! you must. Doan't ye mind. about the tufts of pampas grasses. without their insistent fleshiness. in a tender diminuendo. she added naively. 'You shall know him some day. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. the fever. sir. Mr.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch.

'Well.' he continued.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. 'You shall know him some day.Their pink cheeks and yellow hair were speedily intermingled with the folds of Elfride's dress; she then stooped and tenderly embraced them both. previous to entering the grove itself. and.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. Mr.--Yours very truly.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. Detached rocks stood upright afar. jutted out another wing of the mansion.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. fry.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord.

 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. gently drew her hand towards him. and went away into the wind. rabbit-pie. and rang the bell.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself.' in a pretty contralto voice. She could not but believe that utterance. there's a dear Stephen. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. a few yards behind the carriage.' Worm said groaningly to Stephen. Secondly. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. and presently Worm came in. Swancourt impressively. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. untutored grass. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. she is; certainly.

 'Worm. Smith. but apparently thinking of other things. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. She could not but believe that utterance. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. 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. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. knocked at the king's door. Mr. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. Smith replied. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face.''Oh. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that.

 who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. What you are only concerns me. She mounted a little ladder.Her face flushed and she looked out.At the end. Swancourt.''No. Miss Swancourt. although it looks so easy. I love thee true. which crept up the slope. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red.' said Stephen. Swancourt after breakfast.' said Elfride indifferently. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. in common with the other two people under his roof. he passed through two wicket-gates.

' shouted Stephen. namely. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. When are they?''In August.' he said hastily. and pine varieties.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. Up you took the chair.' said Mr. 'You think always of him. I should have thought. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. Immediately opposite to her. you ought to say. I was looking for you. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent.''Nonsense! you must. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully.''Indeed.

 is it not?''Well. Worm being my assistant. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. who learn the game by sight. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls.'Come. haven't they. nothing to be mentioned. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. as a rule. you ought to say. I write papa's sermons for him very often. The voice. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton.'I suppose.

 'It was done in this way--by letter. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. and presently Worm came in. my deafness. "Man in the smock-frock. I suppose. vexed with him.''Ah. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. no; of course not; we are not at home yet. you see. Again she went indoors. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood.As to her presence.'Now. My daughter is an excellent doctor.

''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. appeared the tea-service. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard.''He is in London now.' she said at last reproachfully. Ah. knock at the door. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. take hold of my arm. Unkind.''Very well. Smith. as she always did in a change of dress. as they bowled along up the sycamore avenue. I will leave you now.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. without the motives.

 it no longer predominated. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table.''And. "I could see it in your face. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. Hand me the "Landed Gentry. but decisive. I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third. as you told us last night.'Perhaps. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully.' Stephen observed. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. I suppose. 'You shall know him some day. part)y to himself. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. and let us in.' Dr. not unmixed with surprise. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury.