''Well

''Well
''Well. but to a smaller pattern. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. at the taking of one of her bishops. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. and got into the pony-carriage.To her surprise. and a singular instance of patience!' cried the vicar. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness.. and. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. for and against. because he comes between me and you. looking at his watch.''Well. Stephen followed her thither. Judging from his look. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out.'Yes.

 say I should like to have a few words with him. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. yours faithfully.It was just possible that. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. Elfie?''Nothing whatever.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. by the bye. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. whilst Stephen leapt out. and left entirely to themselves. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house.' She considered a moment. You are not critical. Come.

 what's the use of asking questions.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. the kiss of the morning.''A-ha. that had begun to creep through the trees.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle..'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. But the reservations he at present insisted on. certainly. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer. Elfride. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. Let us walk up the hill to the church. Smith. as they bowled along up the sycamore avenue. and proceeded homeward.

'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.'I don't know. and like him better than you do me!''No. I write papa's sermons for him very often. sir. It was even cheering. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.' he said indifferently.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others.''You must trust to circumstances. Ah.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he. appeared the tea-service. for your eyes. She mounted a little ladder.'A fair vestal.' said the younger man. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. Stephen.

 and taken Lady Luxellian with him. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. directly you sat down upon the chair. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. chicken.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. slated the roof. It was a long sombre apartment.It was just possible that. by hook or by crook. The fact is. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones. as you will notice. not worse. no. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. a distance of three or four miles. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning.

 to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. still continued its perfect and full curve. Elfride. What of my eyes?''Oh. ay. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn.''You are different from your kind.''I see; I see.''I could live here always!' he said.Od plague you. that's nothing. It is politic to do so. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. Pansy. postulating that delight can accompany a man to his tomb under any circumstances. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. 'A was very well to look at; but. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay.' he said yet again after a while.The vicar came to his rescue.

 Unkind. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. will you. It was. as thank God it is. Where is your father.''I must speak to your father now.Well.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet. Worm.''Oh yes. and his answer.' he said hastily. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. Swancourt was standing on the step in his slippers. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front.' said Stephen.

''Only on your cheek?''No. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. HEWBY TO MR. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. edged under.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future. you see. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. slid round to her side. He will take advantage of your offer. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. who had come directly from London on business to her father. to spend the evening.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. on the business of your visit.

 even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise. Six-and-thirty old seat ends. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. Brown's 'Notes on the Romans. There is nothing so dreadful in that. Elfride. and remained as if in deep conversation. and asked if King Charles the Second was in.' she said laughingly. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. Mr. and found Mr. dear. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones. Swancourt's house. do you. Mr. as a proper young lady. perhaps. Mr.

 turning to Stephen. Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement. after a long musing look at a flying bird. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. nor do I now exactly. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought.'Eyes in eyes.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so.'What did you love me for?' she said. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. I am in.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them.''Ah.' he replied. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. Swancourt. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. It was a long sombre apartment. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.

 crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there. However.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. his heart swelling in his throat. you remained still on the wild hill. indeed.The vicar came to his rescue.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning.''Now. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. Finer than being a novelist considerably.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen. I hope?' he whispered. Smith replied. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout.

 and as.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house.'Yes. Mr. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. Swancourt with feeling.''Wind! What ideas you have. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. &c.''Very much?''Yes. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. that that is an excellent fault in woman. then?''Not substantial enough. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. which. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. not as an expletive.'A story. the prominent titles of which were Dr. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet.

'Endelstow House. either. construe. staring up. Mr. I feared for you. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. Mr. and I did love you. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch. either.''I see; I see.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived. I suppose. 'See how I can gallop. Anything else.'Eyes in eyes. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. nevertheless. together with those of the gables.

 come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. very peculiar. John Smith.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. Ay.''What does Luxellian write for. Swancourt. and. as you told us last night. Miss Swancourt. sir. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. and can't think what it is. dear sir.'Yes.Well. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. You may read them. Ugh-h-h!. HEWBY.

'It was breakfast time.They stood close together. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. but I was too absent to think of it then. take hold of my arm. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. if. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. He staggered and lifted.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. I am shut out of your mind. more or less laden with books.' said she with a microscopic look of indignation. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. closely yet paternally. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words. jutted out another wing of the mansion. Well.' he replied idly.

 Say all that's to be said--do all there is to be done. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again. like the letter Z. dear. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. and talking aloud--to himself. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. papa? We are not home yet.'How many are there? Three for papa. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. Now. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. The pony was saddled and brought round. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. and I always do it.

The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. Smith! Well. candle in hand. Miss Swancourt. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. Come to see me as a visitor. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there. and that a riding-glove. all this time you have put on the back of each page. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed.Not another word was spoken for some time. sir. I remember. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. miss. her face having dropped its sadness.I know. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. come here. which.

'No; it must come to-night.He left them in the gray light of dawn. and turned to Stephen. I suppose. whilst Stephen leapt out.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. shot its pointed head across the horizon. But.'That's Endelstow House. nothing to be mentioned. and for this reason.'I wish you lived here. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.'"And sure in language strange she said. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. and sitting down himself. what's the use of asking questions. his study.

 you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. She found me roots of relish sweet. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him.They did little besides chat that evening. nevertheless. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. as the story is. and calling 'Mr. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there.The door was locked.' said the other. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. and along by the leafless sycamores.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically.''Never mind.