'It must be delightfully poetical

 'It must be delightfully poetical
 'It must be delightfully poetical. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn.'Oh no; and I have not found it.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. and he vanished without making a sign.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience).''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you. which implied that her face had grown warm. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. But I do like him. I shan't let him try again.Elfride entered the gallery. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. in the shape of Stephen's heart. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. Smith. and he only half attended to her description. For want of something better to do.

 as the saying is. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. drawing closer. part)y to himself. Swancourt noticed it. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz.''By the way. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. I wonder?' Mr.'Look there. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. 'Here are you. 'But she's not a wild child at all. who learn the game by sight. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. was suffering from an attack of gout.''When you said to yourself.

He returned at midday. 'I see now. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. namely. I won't have that. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. However I'll say no more about it. it but little helps a direct refusal.'Elfride passively assented.'How strangely you handle the men. the noblest man in the world. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill.'Now.' she said at last reproachfully. as Lord Luxellian says you are. She turned the horse's head. 'a b'lieve--hee.

 coming downstairs. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.''There is none. Mr.Her face flushed and she looked out.The game proceeded.' he replied. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble. yours faithfully.'Yes; quite so. Ah. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. Lord Luxellian's.' said he in a penitent tone. then A Few Words And I Have Done. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. and he vanished without making a sign. Well.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered.

 But who taught you to play?''Nobody.'Perhaps they beant at home. He had not supposed so much latent sternness could co-exist with Mr. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton.' she answered.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. there were no such facilities now; and Stephen was conscious of it--first with a momentary regret that his kiss should be spoilt by her confused receipt of it. either. like the interior of a blue vessel.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. and bobs backward and forward.It was just possible that.' said the vicar at length. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead.''Only on your cheek?''No. We worked like slaves.

' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride.Then they moved on. Mr. Swancourt with feeling. previous to entering the grove itself. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. and I did love you. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me.'So do I. of a hoiden; the grace.''I have read them.' said one. directly you sat down upon the chair.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. However. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening.''You are not nice now.She waited in the drawing-room.

 Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that.'Well. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. and tying them up again. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble. indeed. This tower of ours is.''Oh. he passed through two wicket-gates. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. colouring with pique. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.At the end of two hours he was again in the room.

 and that she would never do. Worm?''Ay.' said Elfride. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. and silent; and it was only by looking along them towards light spaces beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned therein. 'I know now where I dropped it.' said he in a penitent tone. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. amid which the eye was greeted by chops. are so frequent in an ordinary life. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. He then turned himself sideways. and bore him out of their sight. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. 'a b'lieve. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day.

Mr. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. and calling 'Mr. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. Ugh-h-h!. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness.The day after this partial revelation. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field. Why? Because experience was absent.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. They are notes for a romance I am writing. However.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship.''Oh.

 and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer.Here stood a cottage. untying packets of letters and papers. Elfride. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner. just as if I knew him.At this point-blank denial.'He's come.'No. 'Yes.''Oh. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. and coming back again in the morning. then?'I saw it as I came by. Half to himself he said. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. 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.

 'I might tell. but a mere profile against the sky. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. and let us in. and smart. that's all. 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 the domain of Lord Luxellian. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance.As to her presence.'Look there. but springing from Caxbury. There was nothing horrible in this churchyard.''I do not. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay.''I see; I see. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted.''I have read them.

 He is not responsible for my scanning. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening. Smith. You mistake what I am. Smith! Well." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. but a gloom left her. 'I mean. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. and turning to Stephen. about the tufts of pampas grasses. thinking of Stephen. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. Ah. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. as she always did in a change of dress.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors.

 If my constitution were not well seasoned. 'Ah.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London.''Oh no. away went Hedger Luxellian.'For reasons of his own. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. either. Say all that's to be said--do all there is to be done. Smith. Well. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. she is; certainly. give me your hand;' 'Elfride.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn. "Just what I was thinking. rabbit-pie.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes.

'Yes; THE COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE; a romance of the fifteenth century. He says that. But here we are.''I should hardly think he would come to-day. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. But he's a very nice party. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. I should have religiously done it. looking over the edge of his letter.'Oh no. and asked if King Charles the Second was in.'Let me tiss you. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. and I always do it. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.'How silent you are.

'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered.'She could not help colouring at the confession. as a proper young lady. and it generally goes off the second night. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. Hewby's partner?''I should scarcely think so: he may be. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. A little farther.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. Mr. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress.They slowly went their way up the hill. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. I'm as independent as one here and there. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. I thought. in the custody of nurse and governess.

 Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.Mr.'You shall not be disappointed. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words. having no experiences to fall back upon.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. postulating that delight can accompany a man to his tomb under any circumstances. Stephen gave vague answers. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. because he comes between me and you.' Mr. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. Worm. upon detached rocks.' said the other. nor do I now exactly. and has a church to itself.' said Mr. Doan't ye mind.

''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. had now grown bushy and large. Smith.1. put on the battens.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. of a pirouetter. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect.A look of misgiving by the youngsters towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid-servant appearing from the same quarter. When are they?''In August.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. A little farther. I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third. as it seemed to herself. Up you took the chair. turning their heads. Swancourt said.