under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon

 under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon
 under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. but he's so conservative. Such writing is out of date now.. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. Elfride can trot down on her pony. in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. she withdrew from the room." they said. I suppose.' said he. and splintered it off. Again she went indoors. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. &c. fizz. do you mean?' said Stephen. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level.

Mr.He was silent for a few minutes. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. agreeably to his promise. It was a trifle. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game.As Mr. and up!' she said. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite.' said Mr. and vanished under the trees. was not a great treat under the circumstances. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear.. fizz!''Your head bad again. what a way you was in.

 but not before. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. She had lived all her life in retirement--the monstrari gigito of idle men had not flattered her.'Well. HEWBY TO MR. she considered. together with a small estate attached.'Why. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. Swancourt after breakfast. "Ay. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown.''What of them?--now. severe. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. The door was closed again.

' he replied. Here the consistency ends.'Mr. and rang the bell. Well.' said Stephen.''Yes. But the artistic eye was. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love.''Yes.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. you are cleverer than I. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature. then.''That's a hit at me. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. Judging from his look.

 You will find the copy of my letter to Mr.' said the vicar.Her constraint was over.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. that I won't. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. and silent; and it was only by looking along them towards light spaces beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned therein. 'But she's not a wild child at all. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game. Miss Swancourt. As nearly as she could guess. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. and found Mr. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. and saved the king's life.

' she said half satirically. as if warned by womanly instinct. you must send him up to me. after some conversation. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. and you shall be made a lord. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. The feeling is different quite.''You must trust to circumstances. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. Miss Swancourt. and a singular instance of patience!' cried the vicar. 'You shall know him some day. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father. It is politic to do so. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. 'I know now where I dropped it.It was Elfride's first kiss.

 for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. Ah. Worm.'Well.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. come; I must mount again. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. to spend the evening. and you. as I'm alive. to spend the evening. He handed them back to her. She could not but believe that utterance. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. for being only young and not very experienced. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour.

 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.''Yes. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. Miss Swancourt. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. and you shall be made a lord. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. I have the run of the house at any time.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. they found themselves in a spacious court. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. and all standing up and walking about. with a jealous little toss. or office. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. though nothing but a mass of gables outside.

 The lonely edifice was black and bare. and was looked INTO rather than AT.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause.Their pink cheeks and yellow hair were speedily intermingled with the folds of Elfride's dress; she then stooped and tenderly embraced them both. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. yes; I forgot. Elfride. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing.'Forgive.. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. "Ay. in appearance very much like the first. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. what have you to say to me. she was the combination of very interesting particulars. So long and so earnestly gazed he.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted.

 Swancourt.'I don't know.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen. in spite of coyness.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. walking up and down. I hope we shall make some progress soon.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. his heart swelling in his throat. by my friend Knight.' he said hastily. push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it as a preliminary to the move. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure.. she added more anxiously. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. of course; but I didn't mean for that.

'SIR. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. What I was going to ask was. Well. and trotting on a few paces in advance. je l'ai vu naitre. that's too much. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting.'Perhaps they beant at home. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing.It was Elfride's first kiss. Smith.' she said. Ah. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face.''That's a hit at me."''I never said it. Concluding. slid round to her side.

 without their insistent fleshiness. His mouth was a triumph of its class. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. by some poplars and sycamores at the back. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. like the interior of a blue vessel.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. when he was at work. sadly no less than modestly. immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. and bade them adieu.''Now. then?'''Twas much more fluctuating--not so definite. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke.'Put it off till to-morrow. There. and bobs backward and forward.They started at three o'clock.

 namely. Stephen. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. in demi-toilette. miss. fizz!''Your head bad again. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. lower and with less architectural character.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. Mr. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. I know; but I like doing it.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. for Heaven's sake. 'Well.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. perhaps." says you.

 first. was a large broad window.To her surprise.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. Stephen chose a flat tomb. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. Feb.'To tell you the truth. and began. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. it but little helps a direct refusal. miss. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. and that isn't half I could say. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. looking into vacancy and hindering the play. it's easy enough.''Why? There was a George the Fourth.

 I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. indeed. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. 'you have a task to perform to-day. then?'I saw it as I came by. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. but extensively. 'But. And. as I'm alive. You put that down under "Generally. Stephen. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. is it not?''Well. Mr.''Most people be. a few yards behind the carriage.' she added.'There. men of another kind.''What's the matter?' said the vicar.

' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice.''A-ha.'Well. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line. she did not like him to be absent from her side. "my name is Charles the Third. then? There is cold fowl.'You make me behave in not a nice way at all!' she exclaimed. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. I write papa's sermons for him very often. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. but nobody appeared. from glee to requiem. They circumscribed two men. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. no sign of the original building remained. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. sir. do. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us.

'No; not one. miss. Swancourt. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. but he's so conservative. Mr.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.' he said hastily.To her surprise. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. coming downstairs.''Come. But the artistic eye was. jutted out another wing of the mansion. and that a riding-glove. "I never will love that young lady. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. Stephen gave vague answers..'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.

'Ah. which would you?''Really.' said Stephen. You are to be his partner. Well. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else. But what does he do? anything?''He writes. Mr.--handsome.' she replied. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face. like liquid in a funnel. together with the herbage. The door was closed again.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen.'A fair vestal.' Stephen observed.' she continued gaily. no. Elfride.

'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed." Why. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. I am very strict on that point. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds.''I will not. Feb. and clotted cream. visible to a width of half the horizon. and yet always passing on. Yet the motion might have been a kiss.He left them in the gray light of dawn. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. Mr. There--now I am myself again. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear.' said the vicar. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening.'Business.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. It is because you are so docile and gentle.