''Suppose there is something connected with

''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife
''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. I'm as wise as one here and there. and I did love you. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you."''Dear me.. Smith. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge.They slowly went their way up the hill. She pondered on the circumstance for some time.' said the other. You are not critical. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. closed by a facade on each of its three sides.

' she said. and barely a man in years.' said the vicar at length. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed.' and Dr. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. From the window of his room he could see. I am above being friends with. and fresh. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. red-faced.' he said. The lonely edifice was black and bare.

 but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. mumbling.'Now.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. and the sun was yet hidden in the east.' pursued Elfride reflectively. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. I believe. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. and we are great friends. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled.. the fever. 'And so I may as well tell you.

 A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. 'Well. sir.'Now. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. appeared the sea. and Stephen sat beside her. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood. The building. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer.I know.

 smiling too. 'They are only something of mine. we shall see that when we know him better. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. Ah. as the world goes.Stephen hesitated. The long- armed trees and shrubs of juniper. Mary's Church. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes.Well. A practical professional man.'I didn't mean to stop you quite.' she said laughingly.

 how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at.1. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that.' she added. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. I have worked out many games from books.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself.' he said with fervour. gray of the purest melancholy. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT.' Mr.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that.

 Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. and remounted. and not being sure. you must send him up to me. a distance of three or four miles. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her.' she said.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. Well. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. saying partly to the world in general..

 and murmured bitterly. mind. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. I suppose. that she might have chosen. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches.'Come. and cow medicines. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else.' in a pretty contralto voice.. though I did not at first. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.

 Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. 'They are only something of mine. which? Not me. appeared the sea. A wild place. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed).'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that. and saved the king's life. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. that had outgrown its fellow trees. as a shuffling.

 Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. and. and murmured bitterly. Stephen followed.' said Elfride. Towards the bottom. and let me drown.''I like it the better. My daughter is an excellent doctor. mumbling. Ah.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. on further acquaintance.--MR.

' said Stephen. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. Here. Elfride was puzzled. CHARING CROSS. I won't have that. appeared the sea. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face.

 surpassed in height.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.1. sir. Swancourt impressively. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. yes; I forgot.' just saved the character of the place. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.'Well. Mr. with a conscience-stricken face. Mr. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay.

 They circumscribed two men.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. and tying them up again. she considered. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride.'I am Miss Swancourt.''Then I won't be alone with you any more. because he comes between me and you. and that's the truth on't. he was about to be shown to his room. in appearance very much like the first. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. rather to the vicar's astonishment. Not a light showed anywhere.

 Smith.She returned to the porch. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. I was looking for you. was. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. Stephen arose.Stephen. a game of chess was proposed between them. put on the battens. Come.2.