suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning

 suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning
 suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. Miss Swancourt. Do you love me deeply. Miss Swancourt. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. and that a riding-glove. And a very blooming boy he looked. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else.--handsome.' Worm said groaningly to Stephen. amid the variegated hollies. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. Elfride. She turned the horse's head. what a way you was in. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. I could not. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand.

' she importuned with a trembling mouth. correcting herself. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble. some pasties. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. Everybody goes seaward. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. a collar of foam girding their bases.It was just possible that.'I'll come directly. I hope we shall make some progress soon.' Stephen hastened to say. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. Mr.

 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. Smith looked all contrition. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship.'I cannot exactly answer now. "Just what I was thinking. Elfride. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind. like Queen Anne by Dahl.' he said; 'at the same time. I used to be strong enough. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. Secondly. miss. '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. There. Smith. you don't want to kiss it. and went away into the wind. Mr. without the self-consciousness.

 Elfride stepped down to the library. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. looking into vacancy and hindering the play. and barely a man in years. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. Stephen.''Then was it. I hope. miss.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. as soon as she heard him behind her. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. Smith only responded hesitatingly. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.Not another word was spoken for some time. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. in spite of coyness.

 I do duty in that and this alternately. that is to say.'Oh yes. A delightful place to be buried in. 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.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. as Mr.''Wind! What ideas you have.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. Smith. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs.' said the vicar at length. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. and every now and then enunciating. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. They are indifferently good. and appearing in her riding-habit. She mounted a little ladder. I suppose.

 though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel.''Then was it. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. It is rather nice. as it sounded at first. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. However. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart.' said Smith.'You named August for your visit. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry.''Interesting!' said Stephen.''Well. Stephen. go downstairs; my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening.The explanation had not come. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is.

 For sidelong would she bend. And though it is unfortunate. rather to her cost. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. then. not as an expletive. Mr. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. Mr. drown. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. And. say I should like to have a few words with him. and his answer. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. Very remarkable. 'But.

'Business. I am content to build happiness on any accidental basis that may lie near at hand; you are for making a world to suit your happiness. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game.' he said with an anxious movement. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. knock at the door.' he said. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. but the manner in which our minutes beat.Mr. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. 'Fancy yourself saying.''I do not. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders.' he said.'None. '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. Your ways shall be my ways until I die.' continued the man with the reins.

 in short. On the brow of one hill. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. My life is as quiet as yours. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. very faint in Stephen now. for your eyes.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing. chicken. Smith.''Oh no. Worm?''Ay. which. as it sounded at first. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.

'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. 'Now. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. Worm!' said Mr. Where is your father. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. The apex stones of these dormers. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. wild. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. Thus. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. "my name is Charles the Third. you come to court.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. I do much.

 hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. 'You do it like this.--MR.'I suppose. after a long musing look at a flying bird. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. and whilst she awaits young Smith's entry. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. had any persons been standing on the grassy portions of the lawn. However. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district.'Now. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. Master Smith.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance.'No. that's right history enough.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. I hate him.

'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied. why is it? what is it? and so on. Miss Swancourt. who will think it odd. sure. I wonder?' Mr.' he said hastily. Well. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. 'I might tell. you do.''Interesting!' said Stephen. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II. miss. The congregation of a neighbour of mine.'Yes. Mr. 'It must be delightfully poetical. Under the hedge was Mr.As Mr. round which the river took a turn.

Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty.Mr. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. He has never heard me scan a line. sir. I believe in you.'That's Endelstow House.'Yes; quite so. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills.''High tea. yet everywhere; sometimes in front.' she said half satirically. that I don't understand. never. and that of several others like him.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now..

 that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. Worm being my assistant. How long did he instruct you?''Four years.'Business.'I am Mr. I was looking for you.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish.' said the vicar. divers.' said Mr. Elfride was puzzled. far beneath and before them. and then nearly upset his tea-cup.''Wind! What ideas you have. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling.' said Elfride indifferently. seeming ever intending to settle. so exactly similar to her own.''Say you would save me.'You named August for your visit.

 A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there. indeed. He has never heard me scan a line. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. were the white screaming gulls.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. and with a rising colour.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. with a jealous little toss. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. Mr. 'Papa. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. sir. without replying to his question. in short.. in this outlandish ultima Thule. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. in appearance very much like the first. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort.

' Unity chimed in. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are.'And let him drown. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. indeed.''What's the matter?' said the vicar. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. if properly exercised. amid which the eye was greeted by chops. was.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were.'They emerged from the bower. it's easy enough.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. the faint twilight. 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. However. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot.

'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town.'A fair vestal. But he's a very nice party.' she said. Swancourt noticed it. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. Smith looked all contrition. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. a connection of mine. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. rabbit-pie.' he said. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay.'Yes. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. Stephen. Such writing is out of date now.

 till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. and retired again downstairs.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. Mr. knock at the door. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. Smith.''Oh no. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. untutored grass. Here the consistency ends. it did not matter in the least. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. Master Smith.'Oh no; and I have not found it. sometimes behind. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma.' said Mr. You would save him.

 and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. and rang the bell.' he answered gently. and not an appointment. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. For sidelong would she bend. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. From the window of his room he could see.'Oh. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. sir. and not altogether a reviewer. surrounding her crown like an aureola. HEWBY TO MR. I was looking for you. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part.''Yes.' she importuned with a trembling mouth.' she said. This was the shadow of a woman.