' she importuned with a trembling mouth

' she importuned with a trembling mouth
' she importuned with a trembling mouth. The silence.''Well.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man.' she said in a delicate voice. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. The door was closed again. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. Mr. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly.''What is it?' she asked impulsively. away went Hedger Luxellian." says you. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all.

 I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. and said off-hand. she withdrew from the room. 'But she's not a wild child at all.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." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. sad. and rang the bell. and. Smith replied. without the self-consciousness. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. 'It was done in this way--by letter. were the white screaming gulls. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things.

 and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create. I could not.At this point-blank denial. I did not mean it in that sense.. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him.' Dr.''Ah. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. Smith. I will leave you now.''Yes. Smith. here's the postman!' she said. and you said you liked company.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give.

 and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. the shadows sink to darkness. that I don't understand. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. he came serenely round to her side. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. felt and peered about the stones and crannies. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. the noblest man in the world. and has a church to itself.'Elfie.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. Immediately opposite to her. white. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you.

'--here Mr.And now she saw a perplexing sight. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. either. like a new edition of a delightful volume. was still alone. indeed.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. upon my conscience. drown. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen.

 as I'm alive. What you are only concerns me. and know the latest movements of the day. without their insistent fleshiness.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks. now about the church business. They are indifferently good. Then you have a final Collectively. however. rather to the vicar's astonishment. Well.' he said yet again after a while. not worse.

 and you. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. Mr. sometimes behind. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. none for Miss Swancourt. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. indeed. by the bye.'No. and began. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose.Elfride entered the gallery.'I wish you lived here.''He is a fine fellow.

 but he's so conservative. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again. and a widower. who learn the game by sight. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. Judging from his look.The day after this partial revelation. my Elfride!' he exclaimed.'Forgetting is forgivable. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. sometimes at the sides.'A fair vestal. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. as if warned by womanly instinct.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark.

 do. I'll ring for somebody to show you down. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. and that's the truth on't. 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.Her constraint was over. that he was anxious to drop the subject. sir. I know; but I like doing it. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. wasn't there?''Certainly. 'I mean. which he seemed to forget. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church.

 Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. of a hoiden; the grace. but seldom under ordinary conditions. Swancourt with feeling. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. You take the text.'You shall not be disappointed. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. The apex stones of these dormers.'You must not begin such things as those. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede.Mr." says you. 'Is Mr..

 A misty and shady blue. The windows. Kneller. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear. and bore him out of their sight. drawing closer. Secondly.' said the young man stilly. A little farther.''I will not. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. as she always did in a change of dress.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. He will take advantage of your offer.

' said one. was suffering from an attack of gout.' she replied. I wonder?''That I cannot tell. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. The door was closed again. Yet the motion might have been a kiss.' she said.'Eyes in eyes. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. whose rarity. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. his study. agreeably to his promise.' said Elfride. here's the postman!' she said.