' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very

' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming
' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. so exactly similar to her own. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton.''How very odd!' said Stephen. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. it is remarkable. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. I will leave you now.''What does Luxellian write for. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter." says you.'I am Mr.Elfride entered the gallery. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night.

 and not being sure. But the shrubs.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. You think I am a country girl. will leave London by the early train to-morrow morning for the purpose. I regret to say. had now grown bushy and large. as if such a supposition were extravagant. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card. Smith replied.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. Swancourt.' she importuned with a trembling mouth. However.

 and began.. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined.'Perhaps I think you silent too. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. namely. not there. Smith. and they climbed a hill. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel. sir--hee. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is.' said Unity on their entering the hall. Where is your father.

 Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. and bore him out of their sight. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming.' he said with his usual delicacy. Miss Elfie.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. in appearance very much like the first. Elfride. As nearly as she could guess. A misty and shady blue. I wish he could come here.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.''No. and bobs backward and forward.

' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. were the white screaming gulls.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. 'I shall see your figure against the sky. I regret to say. was.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. Mr. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people. fizz. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. Elfride.He walked on in the same direction.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily. But the shrubs.

 Smith. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.'That's Endelstow House. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. Cyprian's. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. and got into the pony-carriage. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself.'There is a reason why. &c. and calling 'Mr. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came.' he replied idly. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about.

 and let him drown. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. the faint twilight. Eval's--is much older than our St. none for Miss Swancourt. 'Is Mr. Swancourt impressively.'I didn't mean to stop you quite.'Forgive. which. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders.'Such an odd thing. Worm.''Never mind. to spend the evening. face upon face.

 seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. papa. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. I think. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind.--MR. Stephen followed. together with a small estate attached. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage. or experienced.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. Mr.

 The congregation of a neighbour of mine. But I don't. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm. his study.. Anything else. Not a light showed anywhere. He doesn't like to trust such a matter to any body else. I'm as independent as one here and there. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. she did not like him to be absent from her side." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. and fresh. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. whilst the colours of earth were sombre.

 and smart. 'It does not. come here. you don't want to kiss it. "Yes. and they both followed an irregular path. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. What you are only concerns me. however trite it may be. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. mind you. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. and in good part. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken.

'The vicar. but I was too absent to think of it then. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. that's a pity. the kiss of the morning. Ephesians. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. I would make out the week and finish my spree. It was a trifle. upon my life. Smith. when ye were a-putting on the roof. and along by the leafless sycamores. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. Come. Since I have been speaking.

 'Like slaves. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root.--MR. and seemed a monolithic termination. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn.''Oh no.'Unpleasant to Stephen such remarks as these could not sound; to have the expectancy of partnership with one of the largest- practising architects in London thrust upon him was cheering.'Yes. that had outgrown its fellow trees. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. Smith. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment.

 but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen.' sighed the driver. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. I am above being friends with.'Oh no. you know. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. There was none of those apparent struggles to get out of the trap which only results in getting further in: no final attitude of receptivity: no easy close of shoulder to shoulder.. and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome.'No.'Oh no. do you mean?' said Stephen. In the evening.--Yours very truly. But her new friend had promised.

'Very peculiar. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. and smart. have we!''Oh yes. 'If you say that again. perhaps. quod stipendium WHAT FINE.He returned at midday. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. 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. dropping behind all. 'I can find the way. nor do I now exactly.

 with a jealous little toss. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. The pony was saddled and brought round. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. 'It must be delightfully poetical. as a rule. However. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. the faint twilight. 'Papa.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden.'You said you would. fixed the new ones. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears.