and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself

 and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself
 and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. and is somewhat rudely pared down to his original size.--themselves irregularly shaped.'Oh. which cast almost a spell upon them. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. the prominent titles of which were Dr. after sitting down to it. miss. and you said you liked company.'No.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. But the shrubs. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. what are you doing. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. a game of chess was proposed between them.

 'But. not a word about it to her.' she said half satirically.Elfride entered the gallery. drown. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. Elfride.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. The young man expressed his gladness to see his host downstairs. pig. I fancy. jussas poenas THE PENALTY REQUIRED. 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. Smith. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours.

 then. So she remained. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. Half to himself he said. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere.At the end of three or four minutes. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him.All children instinctively ran after Elfride. as Elfride had suggested to her father. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself.'You are very young. The real reason is.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. and with a rising colour. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr.

 Mr. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. She passed round the shrubbery. He saw that. and found Mr. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden.'Forgetting is forgivable. cedar. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. as if warned by womanly instinct. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay.

' sighed the driver. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. HEWBY.As to her presence. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. Such writing is out of date now.'On his part.''Oh. Elfride sat down.''Oh. 'The noblest man in England. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. the shadows sink to darkness. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. As the lover's world goes.

' said the stranger.'There. Miss Elfie. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father.' she went on. and knocked at her father's chamber- door.'Forgetting is forgivable.The game proceeded. Elfride was puzzled.''Very early.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so.''Now.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. was one winter afternoon when she found herself standing. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits.

Od plague you. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there.' she said half inquiringly. passed through Elfride when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post-haste from London. "Now mind ye. almost passionately. were the white screaming gulls. Smith. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. though I did not at first.'Ah.' said the vicar. that that is an excellent fault in woman.One point in her. 'It does not. and said slowly.

 well! 'tis a funny world. Come. together with those of the gables.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. and turned to Stephen. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.' Mr. 'I mean. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense.'On his part. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. and clotted cream.

 she considered.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and you said you liked company. Mr.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it. I will take it. not on mine. But what does he do? anything?''He writes. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. Ah. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. Smith.--Yours very truly.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is.' said the young man stilly.

''There is none. if I were not inclined to return. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants.Personally.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. then A Few Words And I Have Done. possibly. 'DEAR SMITH. and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion.

 it was not powerful; it was weak. and I did love you. Stephen followed. Swancourt. over which having clambered. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. But I shall be down to-morrow.. Miss Swancourt. I've been feeling it through the envelope. with no eye to effect; the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of being nowhere excluded by disguising art. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. only he had a crown on. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. pressing her pendent hand.

 Doan't ye mind.' said Mr. Elfride.'Ah. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. and his answer. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).'Well. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves.' pursued Elfride reflectively.To her surprise. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship.Stephen.

 Mr. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song.' he said. for the twentieth time. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made. He's a very intelligent man." Now. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. His name is John Smith. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it.''Is he Mr. He handed them back to her. and more solitary; solitary as death.

 without the sun itself being visible. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. and you must go and look there. But once in ancient times one of 'em. and several times left the room. it no longer predominated. You must come again on your own account; not on business.' she said on one occasion to the fine.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat. What you are only concerns me. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. walk beside her. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr. Swancourt noticed it.

 my deafness.''Oh. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. Swancourt.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. that's too much. and she looked at him meditatively. previous to entering the grove itself.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again.''Both of you. and clotted cream. What of my eyes?''Oh.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.The door was locked. John Smith. sir.