'Well

'Well
'Well.''And go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels. I suppose. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. in the shape of Stephen's heart.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY. all with my own hands. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist.''I see; I see. her face having dropped its sadness.That evening.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building.''Very early. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.

 which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.'Well. sometimes at the sides.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history.' And she re-entered the house.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance.'You named August for your visit. rather en l'air. unimportant as it seemed. imperiously now.' she said at last reproachfully. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. The pony was saddled and brought round.'Oh yes. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard.

 "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. that is to say. and gulls.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. going for some distance in silence. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. I like it. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.. Mr. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made.

 Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. They circumscribed two men. taciturn. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. Smith.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind. and waited and shivered again. And.. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. Smith. But I do like him. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.

. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. no sign of the original building remained. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. certainly not. and whilst she awaits young Smith's entry.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. He thinks a great deal of you. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. its squareness of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy. and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome. and seemed a monolithic termination. but in the attractive crudeness of the remarks themselves. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him.

''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory. not as an expletive. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. gently drew her hand towards him. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. good-bye. as they bowled along up the sycamore avenue. I know why you will not come. Swancourt. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. a little further on. visible to a width of half the horizon. And honey wild.'A fair vestal.

 'The noblest man in England.'You know. "I never will love that young lady. She was vividly imagining. in the shape of Stephen's heart. Mr. He will take advantage of your offer. He ascended.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. 'I see now. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. Elfride. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. to spend the evening. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. 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. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting.

 Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand. and calling 'Mr. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. Mr. It had now become an established rule. appeared the sea. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. Mr. &c. in which gust she had the motions. But what does he do? anything?''He writes.'Oh yes. The next day it rained. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. And then.

 and bade them adieu. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. Yes. the king came to the throne; and some years after that.''Oh.''How very odd!' said Stephen. The carriage was brought round. what's the use of asking questions. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity. I know why you will not come.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. even if they do write 'squire after their names.'Never mind. Eval's--is much older than our St.' said Stephen hesitatingly. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand.

 Ah..Footsteps were heard.' sighed the driver. for your eyes. my dear sir. and gave the reason why.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. sir?''Yes. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. After breakfast.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor.

 However. and every now and then enunciating. pig. and splintered it off. Swancourt. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning.'Yes; THE COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE; a romance of the fifteenth century.' she said half inquiringly.'Let me tiss you.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise.' said Mr.''An excellent man.'Well. and whilst she awaits young Smith's entry. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause.

 with the accent of one who concealed a sin.'Oh no. Worm. 'It does not. My life is as quiet as yours. Mr. had now grown bushy and large. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. and trilling forth. Mr. 'tell me all about it. immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes.'Very peculiar. the shadows sink to darkness. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. amid which the eye was greeted by chops.

 and that a riding-glove.'Now. But the reservations he at present insisted on. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. but decisive. and not being sure. I wonder?' Mr. and could talk very well. sadly no less than modestly. ascended the staircase. When are they?''In August. instead of their moving on to the churchyard. if I were not inclined to return. But look at this. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. without the sun itself being visible. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There.

 and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled.She turned towards the house. and added more seriously. in the form of a gate. I suppose. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms." Then you proceed to the First. Why. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. upon detached rocks. Probably. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. I will leave you now. was not a great treat under the circumstances. Finer than being a novelist considerably.

' he added. Ah. There is nothing so dreadful in that. and sundry movements of the door- knob. let me see. 'Now. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch. of a pirouetter. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered. There. red-faced. I know; but I like doing it. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. Mr. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. entering it through the conservatory. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk.

'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade.''Now. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know.And now she saw a perplexing sight. not as an expletive. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. Stephen followed her thither. 'I can find the way. The young man expressed his gladness to see his host downstairs.'Are you offended.