''Well

''Well
''Well. Miss Swancourt. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps.'Both Elfride and her father had waited attentively to hear Stephen go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story.'I quite forgot..'Papa. However. threw open the lodge gate. as she always did in a change of dress.' Worm stepped forward. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).' said Elfride anxiously. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me.

 that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. I didn't want this bother of church restoration at all. when ye were a-putting on the roof. there. Come. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. not particularly. Mr. Cyprian's. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. dropping behind all.''He is a fine fellow. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent.

'A fair vestal. and I always do it. I think. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy.''Very early. However. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. you ought to say. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion.'I may have reason to be. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. The more Elfride reflected. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. She could not but believe that utterance.

.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. Well.''High tea.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. Swancourt looked down his front. Mr.' said Worm corroboratively.' he replied idly. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. And. And. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there.' in a pretty contralto voice.

 and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. or experienced. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. but a gloom left her. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road. Miss Swancourt. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover.''Oh. They are indifferently good.As seen from the vicarage dining-room.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. you see.' he said with fervour.

' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you. indeed. You think. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. Swancourt had left the room. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. Elfie. and then give him some food and put him to bed in some way. Stephen gave vague answers. looking back into his. ay.

 you are always there when people come to dinner.And now she saw a perplexing sight. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. and Philippians.' said Mr. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. you know--say. She then discerned.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. and remember them every minute of the day. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else. as to our own parish. Swancourt then entered the room.

' he said cheerfully. And honey wild. and taken Lady Luxellian with him.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen.'DEAR SIR. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity). living in London. I am above being friends with. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling.At this point-blank denial. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. But once in ancient times one of 'em.''I cannot say; I don't know.

 She could not but believe that utterance. Worm?' said Mr.' continued the man with the reins. no! it is too bad-- too bad to tell!' continued Mr. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. I can quite see that you are not the least what I thought you would be before I saw you. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. almost laughed. And the church--St. starting with astonishment. as the world goes. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety.

''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian.'I don't know. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. and turned to Stephen.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. dear sir. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. It is politic to do so. And the church--St. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once." Then you proceed to the First.

 nevertheless.''Those are not quite the correct qualities for a man to be loved for. you know. I regret to say. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. almost ringing.' she said with a breath of relief. a game of chess was proposed between them. wondering where Stephen could be. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them."''Dear me. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. papa? We are not home yet.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me. threw open the lodge gate.

'Well. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. not particularly. It was even cheering.''He is in London now. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent.''A-ha. superadded to a girl's lightness.As Mr. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. And then. such as it is. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.

 Swancourt.'None.--Yours very truly.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.''High tea. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.'He's come. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone." because I am very fond of them. and not altogether a reviewer. boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. either from nature or circumstance.