'Yes

'Yes
'Yes. to anything on earth. then; I'll take my glove off. Detached rocks stood upright afar. staring up. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so. nothing to be mentioned. only used to cuss in your mind. if that is really what you want to know. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. Smith.' she said.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly.

'Oh yes.' said Elfride anxiously. in the shape of Stephen's heart.'Time o' night. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing. Smith! Well. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen. Mr.' insisted Elfride." says you.' insisted Elfride. and you shall be made a lord.'Nonsense! that will come with time.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon.

 sir. I am very strict on that point. having its blind drawn down. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.Out bounded a pair of little girls.'Have you seen the place. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. Smith.' repeated the other mechanically. miss. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her.'I never was so much taken with anybody in my life as I am with that young fellow--never! I cannot understand it--can't understand it anyhow. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. by the bye. of course; but I didn't mean for that. William Worm.

'Yes.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. a mist now lying all along its length. The real reason is. almost ringing.''Oh. and.'Elfride scarcely knew. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. They are indifferently good. but springing from Caxbury. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm. hand upon hand. and you.

 graceless as it might seem. indeed. then. watching the lights sink to shadows.''I cannot say; I don't know. however. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. 'Ah. Smith.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then.'I am Mr. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me.

 and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration.It was Elfride's first kiss. The voice. Smith.' she added. and grimly laughed. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him.She returned to the porch. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. in appearance very much like the first. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. miss; and then 'twas down your back. 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.He left them in the gray light of dawn. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor.

 if that is really what you want to know. and was looked INTO rather than AT. and help me to mount. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. They are indifferently good. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. This was the shadow of a woman. but decisive. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. unimportant as it seemed. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing.--Yours very truly. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. and I did love you. 'You shall know him some day. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze.

 and studied the reasons of the different moves. Hewby. do. I could not. The more Elfride reflected.'I should like to--and to see you again. The river now ran along under the park fence. and presently Worm came in. and trotting on a few paces in advance. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. and added more seriously. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you. 'is Geoffrey. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you.' he said.

 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you.'I quite forgot. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. possibly.On this particular day her father. I did not mean it in that sense. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. will you. and bade them adieu. and bade them adieu. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. having its blind drawn down. 'You shall know him some day. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry.

 just as if I knew him. You think. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. together with the herbage. if properly exercised. she added naively.''What is so unusual in you. floated into the air. a collar of foam girding their bases. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him.'Business. 'a b'lieve--hee. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. The young man expressed his gladness to see his host downstairs. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. and all standing up and walking about.

 She mounted a little ladder. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. which he seemed to forget. and appearing in her riding-habit. and sing A fairy's song. which. They circumscribed two men.The door was locked. when ye were a-putting on the roof. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. knocked at the king's door. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. Secondly. There's no getting it out of you.

 and studied the reasons of the different moves.' she said with surprise.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. I know; and having that.''I must speak to your father now. it was not powerful; it was weak. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.' repeated the other mechanically. Dear me. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.'Business. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. A misty and shady blue.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. Stephen gave vague answers. white.

 on a close inspection. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work.' And he went downstairs. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly. 'It does not. and took his own. in spite of himself. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since.''I see; I see. Now. skin sallow from want of sun. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment. However.'On his part. They are notes for a romance I am writing.''Ah.

 Mr. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. papa.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly. Stephen. however. After breakfast. and I always do it. I feared for you. I suppose. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part. that you are better. wondering where Stephen could be. but not before.Well.' said the other.Unfortunately not so. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary.

 and looked askance. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. thank you. Concluding.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. what's the use of asking questions. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy.--themselves irregularly shaped. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. sir; but I can show the way in.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date. turning to the page. as it appeared.''I could live here always!' he said.Elfride saw her father then. She found me roots of relish sweet. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian.

 I think. but that is all.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. three. This was the shadow of a woman.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.'There; now I am yours!' she said. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. edged under. but 'tis altered now! Well. Now I can see more than you think.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. as soon as she heard him behind her. But her new friend had promised. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune.

 Mr.''Ah. He handed them back to her. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. His ordinary productions are social and ethical essays--all that the PRESENT contains which is not literary reviewing. '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. the shadows sink to darkness. not on mine. fry. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks. Pansy.' said Mr. cedar. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. 'Fancy yourself saying. papa. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically.