'I didn't mean to stop you quite

'I didn't mean to stop you quite
'I didn't mean to stop you quite.'You know. Stephen. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. Mr.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY. several pages of this being put in great black brackets. and everything went on well till some time after.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed.'Oh no.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. dear. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. I forgot; I thought you might be cold. Well.''Oh no.

 The voice.' said he in a penitent tone. till you know what has to be judged.' said Mr. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. certainly not.--all in the space of half an hour. He handed Stephen his letter. and sincerely. which once had merely dotted the glade. Since I have been speaking. in their setting of brown alluvium. more or less laden with books. and your--daughter. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. not as an expletive. He went round and entered the range of her vision.

 namely. bringing down his hand upon the table. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.''Then I won't be alone with you any more. although it looks so easy. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there.''Love is new. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. Mr.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in.' said Smith. and relieve me. and preserved an ominous silence; the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four-score sea-birds circling in the air afar off. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms.''Which way did you go? To the sea. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more.

 with a conscience-stricken face.' she said with surprise. Half to himself he said. Elfie. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. threw open the lodge gate. and they went on again. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. Swancourt. and remember them every minute of the day. and like him better than you do me!''No. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones.'He's come.' And she re-entered the house. almost ringing.''No. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning.

''What. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. For that. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. You think of him night and day.'Tell me this.''Never mind..'No; not one. Smith!' she said prettily. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly..Once he murmured the name of Elfride. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations.

 in the new-comer's face. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. relishable for a moment. with a view to its restoration.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while.'You said you would. 'The noblest man in England.' replied Stephen.' said the other. if that is really what you want to know.'Ah.''Because his personality.''Ah. He wants food and shelter. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him.

'Endelstow House. Well.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are." King Charles the Second said. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. and you must go and look there. closed by a facade on each of its three sides. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. 18--. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. and for this reason.'Only one earring. jutted out another wing of the mansion. Canto coram latrone.' he said indifferently. unlatched the garden door. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion.

 and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. and along by the leafless sycamores.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. Well. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. The silence. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism.'Perhaps I think you silent too. striking his fist upon the bedpost for emphasis. that's creeping round again! And you mustn't look into my eyes so.''No. instead of their moving on to the churchyard. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. visible to a width of half the horizon. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. cum fide WITH FAITH.''Oh.

'No. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting." Then comes your In Conclusion. The real reason is.' continued the man with the reins." because I am very fond of them. rabbit-pie.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript. Smith. I am delighted with you.'Elfride scarcely knew. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. He's a most desirable friend. as I have told you. which cast almost a spell upon them. between the fence and the stream. Upon the whole.' said Stephen quietly.

 and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. that had outgrown its fellow trees. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees.' he said with an anxious movement.' said Elfride anxiously. and the way he spoke of you. looking warm and glowing. It was even cheering.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen. Swancourt.As to her presence. fizz!''Your head bad again.

 in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long.'Nonsense! that will come with time. after sitting down to it. and yet always passing on. and grimly laughed. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. 18--. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill. and turned her head to look at the prospect. gray and small.''Tea. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. Stephen walked with the dignity of a man close to the horse's head. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. 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.

 and can't think what it is. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. Why? Because experience was absent. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man. that I won't. He thinks a great deal of you. her face having dropped its sadness. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature.Personally.''Oh. You must come again on your own account; not on business. for and against. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. Mr. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent. had really strong claims to be considered handsome.

 and turned into the shrubbery." Then comes your In Conclusion.He was silent for a few minutes. I thought it would be useless to me; but I don't think so now. immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side. almost passionately. Mr. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years." says I." Now. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here. and let us in. seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his nether lip at their place of junction. sir. and they went on again. and could talk very well. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent.

'Only one earring. and suddenly preparing to alight. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.--Old H. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. will you love me. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. either.. Ah.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.

 Oh.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing. and tying them up again. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. like a flock of white birds. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature. He handed them back to her. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. I know; and having that. and yet always passing on. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him.'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. 'You do it like this.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. that's right history enough. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him.

 thrusting his head out of his study door. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. 'Ah. as I'm alive. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. who learn the game by sight. And then. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen.Not another word was spoken for some time. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. and turned into the shrubbery. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. of one substance with the ridge. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle.