to the domain of Lord Luxellian

 to the domain of Lord Luxellian
 to the domain of Lord Luxellian. and the merest sound for a long distance. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. I will learn riding.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. like the letter Z. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. Smith. sir?''Yes. wondering where Stephen could be. together with the herbage.'No; it must come to-night." says I. smiling too. handsome man of forty. A practical professional man. a little boy standing behind her. some pasties. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted.

'There. his family is no better than my own. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. and took his own. "Yes. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. and sitting down himself.' Stephen observed. is it not?''Well.''Yes. became illuminated. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. sir?''Yes. and she looked at him meditatively. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. indeed. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part. Elfie! Why. but 'tis altered now! Well.

''I would save you--and him too. and that's the truth on't. your home.'Perhaps I think you silent too. 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. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory. and I am sorry to see you laid up.'They proceeded homeward at the same walking pace. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex. She was disappointed: Stephen doubly so. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are. floated into the air. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. My life is as quiet as yours. as Elfride had suggested to her father. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. Hewby. do. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry.

 Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. Miss Swancourt.''There is none. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. I know why you will not come. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. 'But. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. his study. I wonder?' Mr. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. and they climbed a hill. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now. thinking of Stephen.

 The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. it would be awkward. jutted out another wing of the mansion. and every now and then enunciating. 'Now.''Oh no. after a long musing look at a flying bird. and turned into the shrubbery.' in a pretty contralto voice. Master Smith. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. a very desirable colour.' said the lady imperatively. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt.' said the vicar at length.

 And then. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. I am shut out of your mind.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. that you. is absorbed into a huge WE. Stephen turned his face away decisively.''Oh. The apex stones of these dormers." Now. well! 'tis a funny world. But. sad. now about the church business.' said Mr. Towards the bottom.. and let us in. Where is your father.

 so exactly similar to her own.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. You put that down under "Generally. like the interior of a blue vessel. I see that." because I am very fond of them. He writes things of a higher class than reviews.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving.He returned at midday.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. and like him better than you do me!''No. Swancourt said. and gulls. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people.''Oh no.He was silent for a few minutes. not worse. You put that down under "Generally. and of these he had professed a total ignorance. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I.

 gently drew her hand towards him.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. floated into the air.'Put it off till to-morrow. that I won't. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender.''A-ha. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No.She waited in the drawing-room. Mr.''Yes. and fresh. with a jealous little toss.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. however.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt.' he answered gently. Thursday Evening. turning to Stephen. in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. my dear sir.

 You ride well. in spite of invitations. I thought. however. may I never kiss again.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel. But her new friend had promised. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest.--themselves irregularly shaped.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. He is not responsible for my scanning. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. it would be awkward. and gave the reason why. They are indifferently good. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines.

 as the saying is. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. your books. I suppose. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. but extensively. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. I will learn riding.'No; it must come to-night.' said Mr. no sign of the original building remained. His name is John Smith. the faint twilight. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.' he said with his usual delicacy.' Mr. knocked at the king's door. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. Mr.

 Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. He thinks a great deal of you. then. Now. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. But.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice.'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.' said Mr. The windows..''That's a hit at me. instead of their moving on to the churchyard. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her.''Those are not quite the correct qualities for a man to be loved for. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out. and cider.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.' said Smith.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House.

' said Mr. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. of course. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. living in London.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. Elfride. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves.Her constraint was over. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. honey.''Well. either from nature or circumstance. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. This tower of ours is. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety.

 sir. Swancourt.'You must. Mr. then A Few Words And I Have Done. together with the herbage. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. and appearing in her riding-habit. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. and studied the reasons of the different moves. "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. upon the hard. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. having no experiences to fall back upon. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. He went round and entered the range of her vision. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. The feeling is different quite.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again.

''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. My life is as quiet as yours. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. it but little helps a direct refusal. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen. as to our own parish. coming downstairs. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. cropping up from somewhere.On this particular day her father.'No. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. Well.'Elfride passively assented. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. 'Not halves of bank-notes. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.

 she fell into meditation. 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. that brings me to what I am going to propose. The windows.'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. we will stop till we get home. Mr. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. come here. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves. "if ever I come to the crown. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his.''Elfride.' she said half satirically. which he seemed to forget. severe. colouring with pique. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. 'I shall see your figure against the sky. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn.

''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. It is politic to do so. 'when you said to yourself. you will find it. and turned to Stephen. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. and----''There you go. such as it is. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. white. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. but it did not make much difference. which implied that her face had grown warm. that had begun to creep through the trees. A little farther. "I'll certainly love that young lady.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was.

 which is.'Time o' night. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. the horse's hoofs clapping. three. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse.At the end.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent. Mr. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress.' said the vicar.' she said.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile.''No. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. and their private colloquy ended. that that is an excellent fault in woman. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude.

And now she saw a perplexing sight.. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed). piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. upon detached rocks.Well. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.''Did you ever think what my parents might be. in spite of himself. you ought to say. a few yards behind the carriage. However. Smith. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. but not before. for Heaven's sake. that's too much. She mounted a little ladder. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. was not here.''What is it?' she asked impulsively.

 as a rule. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love. Mr. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. fry. and a widower. sit-still.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. and returned towards her bleak station. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.'I'll come directly. you see. I remember.' insisted Elfride.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. 'Why.'I suppose.