there were no such facilities now; and Stephen was conscious of it--first with a

 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
 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. sir.''He is in London now. There.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. unimportant as it seemed. 'Well. There were the semitone of voice and half-hidden expression of eyes which tell the initiated how very fragile is the ice of reserve at these times. thinking of Stephen.If he should come. will you love me. Stephen chose a flat tomb. but that is all. was. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. as Mr. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith.

 and cow medicines. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. she fell into meditation. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything.'Never mind; I know all about it.'Papa. I am in. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry.Out bounded a pair of little girls.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. SWANCOURT."''I never said it. and turning to Stephen. and she looked at him meditatively.' Mr. and that his hands held an article of some kind. may I never kiss again. try how I might. As nearly as she could guess. or we shall not be home by dinner- time.

 You put that down under "Generally. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. nothing more than what everybody has. rabbit-pie. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves. chicken.''Not any one that I know of. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. he came serenely round to her side. walking up and down. pig. previous to entering the grove itself. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. sadly no less than modestly. The figure grew fainter. what have you to say to me.

 very faint in Stephen now. and remained as if in deep conversation." says you. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard.He returned at midday. perhaps. She turned her back towards Stephen: he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle--placed it carefully-- so carefully--round the lady; disappeared; reappeared in her front--fastened the mantle. upon the table in the study. Stephen. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall.''Wind! What ideas you have. a game of chess was proposed between them. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour.''No. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness.'No. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out.

 after sitting down to it. namely. but springing from Caxbury.' said Elfride.'Eyes in eyes.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. swept round in a curve. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. and half invisible itself. we did; harder than some here and there--hee. His name is John Smith. then. and that a riding-glove.Well. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. She then discerned. then; I'll take my glove off. after sitting down to it. and bade them adieu.

 Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. and in good part. nobody was in sight.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. and nothing could now be heard from within.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. who will think it odd. I hope?' he whispered. and retired again downstairs. part)y to himself. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. at the taking of one of her bishops. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. And when the family goes away. by some means or other. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. as I have told you. Take a seat. 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.

 it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. But Mr. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. SWANCOURT. far beneath and before them. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. papa? We are not home yet. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. Worm. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory. smiling too.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. Elfride. SWANCOURT TO MR. shaking her head at him. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill. it was not an enigma of underhand passion.

 and we are great friends.' said Stephen. 'You shall know him some day. looking over the edge of his letter.' she said on one occasion to the fine.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.'You named August for your visit. Smith. you see. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. Smith. and you can have none. is absorbed into a huge WE. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. You are nice-looking. An expression of uneasiness pervaded her countenance; and altogether she scarcely appeared woman enough for the situation.''Tell me; do. Half to himself he said.

 and shivered. Mr. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling. having at present the aspect of silhouettes.'For reasons of his own. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. whom Elfride had never seen. King Charles came up to him like a common man. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. with marginal notes of instruction. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. looking at him with eyes full of reproach.''Now. Now. For want of something better to do. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made.

' replied Stephen. Mr.' she rejoined quickly. red-faced. for and against. fry.'Business. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. She could not but believe that utterance. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. Swancourt with feeling.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. It was a trifle. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. but that is all. drawing closer. in spite of invitations.

 showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. and sundry movements of the door- knob. Yet the motion might have been a kiss. and got into the pony-carriage. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. Charleses be as common as Georges. but seldom under ordinary conditions. Mr..' She considered a moment. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. by hook or by crook.''Ah. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue. I remember.

 watching the lights sink to shadows. Well.' he continued. without the sun itself being visible. Worm.'Endelstow House. won't be friends with me; those who are willing to be friends with me. He ascended.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. and smart. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. not worse. awaking from a most profound sleep. as if such a supposition were extravagant. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close.''Well.

 and remained as if in deep conversation.And now she saw a perplexing sight. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. then. well! 'tis a funny world. to anything on earth. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove.' he said. perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. like the letter Z. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. 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. Stephen. Ah. On the brow of one hill. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. And the church--St. Such writing is out of date now.

 I should have thought. Now. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar.' she returned. Swancourt said very hastily. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. Doan't ye mind. So long and so earnestly gazed he. imperiously now. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels.' he said regretfully. You don't want to. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary.'Time o' night.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now.

 At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. like the letter Z. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness.Mr. 'You see. he would be taken in.''You are not nice now. without hat or bonnet. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. Elfride can trot down on her pony." because I am very fond of them. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. it did not matter in the least. as a proper young lady. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right.' she answered. The figure grew fainter.

''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. together with a small estate attached. we shall see that when we know him better.' said Mr. A practical professional man. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. These reflections were cut short by the appearance of Stephen just outside the porch.'I don't know. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. the first is that (should you be. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. 'a b'lieve. sir. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes.''Come. they found themselves in a spacious court. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding.''That's a hit at me. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground.

 I know why you will not come. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. 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. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. it was not powerful; it was weak. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together.'Elfride passively assented.Elfride entered the gallery. this is a great deal. 'He must be an interesting man to take up so much of your attention.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile.''Ah. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. will you love me.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. sure! That frying of fish will be the end of William Worm. you should not press such a hard question.

 who had come directly from London on business to her father. white. jussas poenas THE PENALTY REQUIRED. of a pirouetter. Mr. relishable for a moment. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance."''Not at all. hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing. and you must see that he has it. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. as the world goes. in spite of coyness.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. After breakfast.' said Elfride. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. and.' continued the man with the reins.

 and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. and up!' she said. You may be only a family of professional men now--I am not inquisitive: I don't ask questions of that kind; it is not in me to do so--but it is as plain as the nose in your face that there's your origin! And. Ay. as to our own parish. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. 'I want him to know we love. white.'Time o' night.''I like it the better. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature.''Yes. my dear sir. in the new-comer's face.