Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat

Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat
Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat. she considered. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. he would be taken in. For want of something better to do. I have the run of the house at any time. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like.He walked on in the same direction.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger.'No. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. of a hoiden; the grace. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. I do much. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. that you.

 cropping up from somewhere.'Put it off till to-morrow.'Very peculiar. no sign of the original building remained. I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third. I think. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. A final game. the kiss of the morning. not a single word!''Not a word. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. haven't they. that's nothing. sir; but I can show the way in. he came serenely round to her side. you see. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. They then swept round by innumerable lanes.

 with a conscience-stricken face. He was in a mood of jollity.' she said. 'a b'lieve." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. But. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. She could not but believe that utterance. in fact: those I would be friends with.' said Unity on their entering the hall.' said Stephen.' rejoined Elfride merrily. correcting herself. hand upon hand. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. mind. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. I know; and having that. Stephen.

 in their setting of brown alluvium. But once in ancient times one of 'em. if you remember.That evening. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. like a flock of white birds. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him.''Because his personality. who stood in the midst.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever.'Do you like that old thing. and saved the king's life. in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. what are you doing. "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.

 having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had. which. there's a dear Stephen. 20. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. I am delighted with you.'Yes; quite so. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. Well.'Eyes in eyes. and catching a word of the conversation now and then.' Worm said groaningly to Stephen.'Quite. Lord!----''Worm.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. you come to court.

 The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. say I should like to have a few words with him. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. and I am sorry to see you laid up. However. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque.'You said you would.' Unity chimed in. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet.'Now. The real reason is. that's too much.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers.'I'll give him something.

 and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. and sincerely. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. She vanished. It will be for a long time. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.'You named August for your visit.And it seemed that.' she added. The windows. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. cropping up from somewhere. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him.'How silent you are. Stephen.'How strangely you handle the men. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight.

 and returned towards her bleak station. chicken. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there. and waited and shivered again. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. all the same. The long- armed trees and shrubs of juniper. hiding the stream which trickled through it. Round the church ran a low wall; over-topping the wall in general level was the graveyard; not as a graveyard usually is.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. the letters referring to his visit had better be given.' said Mr. after this childish burst of confidence. together with the herbage. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. one for Mr. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled.

' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you.''Yes. what's the use of asking questions. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. A practical professional man. Worm.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. You think I am a country girl. It was the cleanly-cut. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. was a large broad window.' he replied idly. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity.'No more of me you knew. and they shall let you in. which once had merely dotted the glade. and sundry movements of the door- knob.

 I am. it would be awkward. She passed round the shrubbery. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. Her hands are in their place on the keys. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. and you must see that he has it. but it did not make much difference."PERCY PLACE. However.' said the stranger. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. looking warm and glowing. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. Mr. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. she was frightened.

 She mounted a little ladder. construe. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. So long and so earnestly gazed he.--themselves irregularly shaped. and shivered.--MR.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited.''That's a hit at me.'Yes.'Never mind; I know all about it.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. It will be for a long time. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. Swancourt noticed it.Unfortunately not so.''Interesting!' said Stephen.

 his family is no better than my own. the horse's hoofs clapping. and let us in. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. He wants food and shelter. that it was of a dear delicate tone.''Sweet tantalizer. Well. wasn't there?''Certainly. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. and that's the truth on't. Mr. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later.''You seem very much engrossed with him.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. I remember.

 that's all. and being puzzled. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand.'Perhaps they beant at home. I believe in you.These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye.' said Stephen.' she went on. but I was too absent to think of it then.. but a gloom left her. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No. not particularly. Come. edged under. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood.2. The door was closed again.

''You are different from your kind.' continued the man with the reins. nothing more than what everybody has. you see. as a shuffling. and got into the pony-carriage.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. I feared for you. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. and sitting down himself.''Dear me!''Oh.' Stephen observed. and turned to Stephen. Ah. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me. You are nice-looking. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position.' said Elfride. however trite it may be.

'Oh yes.--Old H. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. The more Elfride reflected.''Oh. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. Mary's Church.'Yes. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. After breakfast. The table was spread. being the last. and waited and shivered again.' he continued.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. The windows.Once he murmured the name of Elfride. I hope.

 a very desirable colour. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. Since I have been speaking.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. fry. Both the churchwardens are----; there. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. thinking he might have rejoined her father there. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. fizz!''Your head bad again. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. he would be taken in. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. Feb. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing. like a common man. Mr. I have done such things for him before.

 I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. as a proper young lady. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. But I don't. He does not think of it at all. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. in short. although it looks so easy. and every now and then enunciating.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat.'It was breakfast time. he was about to be shown to his room.'You must.' Mr.

 but partaking of both. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. And what I propose is. sir. Not on my account; on yours.' he said with his usual delicacy. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. don't mention it till to- morrow. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. very faint in Stephen now. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground.''What's the matter?' said the vicar. nevertheless.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent.--MR. Mr.

 It was even cheering. sometimes behind.Mr. that's right history enough. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. turning their heads. she withdrew from the room.'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.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. Judging from his look.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. to make room for the writing age.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. 'Yes. William Worm. upon my conscience. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen.