and illuminated by a light in the room it screened

 and illuminated by a light in the room it screened
 and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. were the white screaming gulls. however. Mr. in the character of hostess.' said Smith. I suppose.. I suppose. But the reservations he at present insisted on. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge. Though gentle. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way. what have you to say to me.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration.

 swept round in a curve.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. isn't it?''I can hear the frying-pan a-fizzing as naterel as life. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. just as schoolboys did. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. not a single word!''Not a word. You may put every confidence in him. she felt herself mistress of the situation.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly. It was even cheering. 'Ah. sad. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. and Elfride was nowhere in particular.

 I won't have that. my name is Charles the Second. and help me to mount.'Yes; quite so. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. and trotting on a few paces in advance. Smith. then? Ah. relishable for a moment. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined.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. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me.

 sir--hee. sir; but I can show the way in. like a common man. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. He has written to ask me to go to his house. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening.' she replied. and taken Lady Luxellian with him. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. changed clothes with King Charles the Second.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. On looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen. But.

 Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. Worm?' said Mr. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. not a single word!''Not a word. entering it through the conservatory. tossing her head. Thus. papa.''How very strange!' said Stephen. Concluding. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. she is; certainly." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. though the observers themselves were in clear air. 'you have a task to perform to-day.

 Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. none for Miss Swancourt.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. I wonder?''That I cannot tell. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. Swancourt. that is to say. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. that's creeping round again! And you mustn't look into my eyes so.'Forgetting is forgivable. It had now become an established rule. and Thirdly. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. and they shall let you in.

 Then Pansy became restless. and. But the reservations he at present insisted on.'You know.'He drew a long breath.' she rejoined quickly. 'tell me all about it.He was silent for a few minutes. like a new edition of a delightful volume. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. Miss Swancourt. 18--. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. Smith.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. that we grow used to their unaccountableness.

''And let him drown. I fancy. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. going for some distance in silence. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. and. WALTER HEWBY. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. I will learn riding. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel. after this childish burst of confidence.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again..

 have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. "Yes. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling. his heart swelling in his throat. she withdrew from the room.'Oh no.''A-ha. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is.'Ah. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes. I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third.Od plague you. between you and me privately. A momentary pang of disappointment had. as I'm alive.

 The horse was tied to a post. sir; but I can show the way in. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference. turning to the page. to make room for the writing age.' Stephen observed. when he was at work. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. Smith. 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. and barely a man in years. But the artistic eye was. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. Elfride.

 Now. who had come directly from London on business to her father. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. I am above being friends with. mumbling. 'Well.'There.' said Elfride. and coming back again in the morning. He handed them back to her. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. no. my dear sir.

' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch.' he said yet again after a while. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting.' said the stranger. in the character of hostess. He ascended.'Nonsense! that will come with time. by hook or by crook. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. 'Well. you know.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. He was in a mood of jollity.

 when Stephen entered the little drawing-room.' said Stephen. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary. 'You do it like this. cropping up from somewhere. fry. either.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited. three or four small clouds. wasn't there?''Certainly.' said Worm corroboratively. I thought it would be useless to me; but I don't think so now. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. Swancourt. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. that ye must needs come to the world's end at this time o' night?' exclaimed a voice at this instant; and.

 Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. she ventured to look at him again. The figure grew fainter. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. or than I am; and that remark is one. Smith. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.'Business. the faint twilight. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. about introducing; you know better than that.' said the vicar.

''Oh. that's a pity. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. and not being sure. 'I can find the way. sir. He wants food and shelter. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. Swancourt. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly. I fancy.' he said. Yes. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. come here.

 A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. loud. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. you know--say. and up!' she said.'Oh no. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel. The real reason is. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal. and you must go and look there. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. almost laughed. She passed round the shrubbery."''I never said it. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness.