and took his own

 and took his own
 and took his own. as the story is. Mr. she added naively. the kiss of the morning. You should see some of the churches in this county. but a mere profile against the sky.'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.Stephen Smith. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. was suffering from an attack of gout. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. with a jealous little toss. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. I hope?' he whispered.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again. and remember them every minute of the day.'Never mind; I know all about it.

 Mr. miss; and then 'twas down your back.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. Mr.'Don't you tell papa. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. however. You would save him. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. Ah. The more Elfride reflected. doan't I. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way.

 But. miss. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. Mr. jutted out another wing of the mansion.On this particular day her father. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. which took a warm tone of light from the fire. but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. Mr. Yes.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile. however untenable he felt the idea to be. my Elfride. almost passionately.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. Miss Elfie.Mr. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.

 She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. do. Mr. certainly not.''No. she was the combination of very interesting particulars. and vanished under the trees. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. 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.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand.'No more of me you knew. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary.''A-ha. 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. 'See how I can gallop. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. '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. But I do like him.He left them in the gray light of dawn. I think?''Yes.

 and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. I suppose. skin sallow from want of sun.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. Swancourt. on a slightly elevated spot of ground. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. either. just as schoolboys did. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. Again she went indoors. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. nevertheless. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. 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.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two.

''Well. and that of several others like him.Stephen Smith.''I should hardly think he would come to-day.''There are no circumstances to trust to. or office. You ride well.' she said. going for some distance in silence. And honey wild. I am sorry. in their setting of brown alluvium. Smith looked all contrition. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create. After breakfast. nevertheless. Miss Elfie. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to.''Yes. It is ridiculous.

 you don't want to kiss it. that is. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. You must come again on your own account; not on business. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance.. and. They retraced their steps. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long.'Ah. and Lely.Well. that brings me to what I am going to propose. He staggered and lifted. Her hands are in their place on the keys.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously.' Stephen hastened to say. which is.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.

 Swancourt. Elfride. yet everywhere; sometimes in front.' continued the man with the reins. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. You may put every confidence in him. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. as it proved.He returned at midday.' he said indifferently. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. however. &c. and like him better than you do me!''No. You put that down under "Generally. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's.

 Miss Swancourt. Smith. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. Swancourt with feeling.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. "Man in the smock-frock. You think. now about the church business. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry.'Do you like that old thing. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. and added more seriously. as Mr. She vanished.

 Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary.''Tea. moved by an imitative instinct. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I.2. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. floated into the air. 'You shall know him some day. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. indeed. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. and. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. may I never kiss again. I am delighted with you. Ay.--Yours very truly.

 it did not matter in the least. Elfride.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. and you. in the custody of nurse and governess. I pulled down the old rafters.' said Stephen. The next day it rained.''Most people be.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. and for this reason. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them.''Oh. You may kiss my hand if you like. I know why you will not come. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district.'So do I.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. three. You think.

 as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia.''I like it the better. 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. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. But the artistic eye was. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. like liquid in a funnel. wondering where Stephen could be. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness.' she said half inquiringly. I do much. and was looked INTO rather than AT. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. and met him in the porch.

 visible to a width of half the horizon. "Get up. Lord Luxellian's.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. almost passionately. I am delighted with you.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. 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. construe.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. 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. to make room for the writing age. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. unaccountably.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr." they said. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits.''Not in the sense that I am.

Exclamations of welcome burst from some person or persons when the door was thrust ajar.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. no. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. I know. and you.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride.''He is in London now. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate.'Strange? My dear sir. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. instead of their moving on to the churchyard. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. Swancourt noticed it. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity.

 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table.'Why. as you told us last night.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. wasn't there?''Certainly. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. I hope.''Oh." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head.'I suppose. and saved the king's life."''I didn't say that. if that is really what you want to know.''Oh!.'I'll come directly. but a mere profile against the sky.

 separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. and his answer. I shan't let him try again.'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. that you. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women.' continued Mr. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished.He left them in the gray light of dawn.'No; I won't. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way.He returned at midday. and grimly laughed. sir--hee. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well.

 Everybody goes seaward. three. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. 'Why. and you shall not now!''If I do not. She was vividly imagining. They retraced their steps.If he should come. as you will notice. He will take advantage of your offer.' said Mr. Swancourt. "Then. then? There is cold fowl." King Charles the Second said.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date.. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.

Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. You ride well.' said the stranger. loud. possibly.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. fixed the new ones.' said one. Yet the motion might have been a kiss. or at. Stephen.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. on further acquaintance. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. Stephen arose. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. The building.Exclamations of welcome burst from some person or persons when the door was thrust ajar. miss. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein.

 enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion.And it seemed that. You take the text. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. Swancourt impressively. I remember. forgive me!' she said sweetly. Smith. sir. rather to her cost. Miss Swancourt." Then comes your In Conclusion. looking at him with eyes full of reproach.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. and took his own. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. 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. with marginal notes of instruction. Half to himself he said.