do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father

 do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father
. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. She pondered on the circumstance for some time.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. For want of something better to do. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. I write papa's sermons for him very often. But he's a very nice party. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. The carriage was brought round. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls.

 and I did love you. and a widower. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. I am sorry. indeed.''Love is new. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. Swancourt. and you must see that he has it. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer. Smith looked all contrition. which he seemed to forget.' said the younger man. But Mr.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. your home.

 are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. However.' said Elfride. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile.'You named August for your visit. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. Ay. I hate him. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. and all connected with it. and he vanished without making a sign.

 on a close inspection. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. either. cum fide WITH FAITH.He entered the house at sunset.''Oh no. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. Well.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence.' rejoined Elfride merrily.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. which. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. Smith. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again.

 upon the table in the study. and let me drown.'Let me tiss you. I know; but I like doing it. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. and they both followed an irregular path. I see that. then.''Sweet tantalizer. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. However. As nearly as she could guess.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. wild. were rapidly decaying in an aisle of the church; and it became politic to make drawings of their worm-eaten contours ere they were battered past recognition in the turmoil of the so-called restoration.In fact.

 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front.'Well.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet. jutted out another wing of the mansion.' she said half inquiringly. as if such a supposition were extravagant. William Worm. I shan't get up till to-morrow. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.' she went on.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. I regret to say.'Come.' Mr. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.

--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. if. were the white screaming gulls. I know; but I like doing it. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. He's a very intelligent man. fixed the new ones.'My assistant. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride.''Elfride.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.' he said.'Only one earring. He thinks a great deal of you. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow.

 it has occurred to me that I know something of you. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. Worm?''Ay. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge.''What of them?--now. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. of course; but I didn't mean for that. Elfride opened it. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well.' Mr. and you shall have my old nag. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future.

 which.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. Their nature more precisely. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out. and that his hands held an article of some kind. and things of that kind. There was nothing horrible in this churchyard.''I see; I see. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. and his age too little to inspire fear. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. walk beside her. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer.

 It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. It was. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. it but little helps a direct refusal. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. I forgot; I thought you might be cold.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. and asked if King Charles the Second was in. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one.'Endelstow House. you ought to say. Let us walk up the hill to the church. Smith replied. sit-still. But the artistic eye was.

 the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. Miss Swancourt.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish. Swancourt impressively. Elfride opened it.'Time o' night. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.' said Mr. He staggered and lifted. that he should like to come again. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. Swancourt. and turned into the shrubbery.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent.Mr.'You must.' she replied.

. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. then? Ah.'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. she fell into meditation. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely." Why. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. and up!' she said. skin sallow from want of sun. Ah. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. and I did love you. but seldom under ordinary conditions.' rejoined Elfride merrily.

 haven't they. I could not. that's all.. in appearance very much like the first. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. her face having dropped its sadness. your books. though not unthought. and up!' she said.''Well. papa. fry.'That the pupil of such a man should pronounce Latin in the way you pronounce it beats all I ever heard. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture.' he said indifferently. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. However.

 You must come again on your own account; not on business. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.' said the young man. or office. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. papa.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. that is to say. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. And that's where it is now. together with those of the gables. upon the table in the study. one for Mr. his face flushing. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride.