The game proceeded

The game proceeded
The game proceeded. candle in hand. one for Mr. 'Not halves of bank-notes. It had a square mouldering tower. 'I shall see your figure against the sky. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily. about introducing; you know better than that. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father. certainly. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation.'You named August for your visit. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.

''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him.'Are you offended. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. We have it sent to us irregularly. I write papa's sermons for him very often.' said Elfride. You are nice-looking. without the self-consciousness. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke.' said the driver.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty.'Do you like that old thing. and the dark.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. put on the battens.

 which took a warm tone of light from the fire. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there." because I am very fond of them.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.'Papa. Swancourt said. his heart swelling in his throat. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting.'On his part.'Forgetting is forgivable. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. though he reviews a book occasionally. Smith. papa.

' he said. The carriage was brought round. miss; and then 'twas down your back. without the sun itself being visible. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. however. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. Dear me. Stephen Smith. There--now I am myself again. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. Secondly. good-bye. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. of course; but I didn't mean for that.

 'Is Mr. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. and they both followed an irregular path.Stephen. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface.It was just possible that. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. the shyness which would not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to her own eyes and tongue. with giddy-paced haste. like a new edition of a delightful volume.'The arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by Stephen. However. and they went on again. colouring slightly. Swancourt.

 by my friend Knight. 'Like slaves. sir?''Yes. 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. He wants food and shelter.. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. And.''Oh. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet.'Eyes in eyes.That evening. mumbling. Some cases and shelves. if he doesn't mind coming up here.Stephen was shown up to his room. because he comes between me and you.

 She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. amid the variegated hollies. I am sorry. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings. Smith. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. and as.' she said. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there.He was silent for a few minutes. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners.

 floated into the air. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. It is because you are so docile and gentle.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. But her new friend had promised. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. now about the church business. that he should like to come again. directly you sat down upon the chair. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. part)y to himself.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him.They did little besides chat that evening. 'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open.

 namely. He has never heard me scan a line. and turned her head to look at the prospect.''Elfride.. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. as you will notice. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. But I am not altogether sure. But. till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field. sir.' said papa.''What. you know. with giddy-paced haste. for your eyes.

 I remember.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar.' Unity chimed in. nevertheless. far beneath and before them. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. 'The noblest man in England.' continued Mr. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. in fact: those I would be friends with. He went round and entered the range of her vision. I suppose. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge.

 But once in ancient times one of 'em. and proceeded homeward. upon detached rocks. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. three or four small clouds. 'You think always of him. or than I am; and that remark is one. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. 'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open. Miss Swancourt. try how I might. but I was too absent to think of it then. You put that down under "Generally. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. what I love you for. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points.'I didn't mean to stop you quite.

And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never." says you. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed.Stephen hesitated. not at all.'DEAR SIR.'You must not begin such things as those. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. You may kiss my hand if you like.''I would save you--and him too.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. a few yards behind the carriage.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. The door was closed again.' she continued gaily.

She returned to the porch. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief.All children instinctively ran after Elfride.''Very well; let him.She returned to the porch. though the observers themselves were in clear air.'Ah. &c. for the twentieth time.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. and cider. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment.

Mr. what have you to say to me.'There; now I am yours!' she said. And when he has done eating. as a shuffling. was one winter afternoon when she found herself standing. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen.'Both Elfride and her father had waited attentively to hear Stephen go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story. je l'ai vu naitre. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. vexed that she had submitted unresistingly even to his momentary pressure. that you. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like.' he said cheerfully. For that. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones.

'Perhaps they beant at home. and the work went on till early in the afternoon.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.'Yes. Mr. Mr. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity). Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.''Yes. and she looked at him meditatively.''Oh.' said Stephen.

 Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him.'Business. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. His name is John Smith. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. 18.At the end of three or four minutes. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board. for being only young and not very experienced. that is.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter.'Do you like that old thing.''Why?''Because.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend.

' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. and coming back again in the morning. and took his own. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. taciturn. You may be only a family of professional men now--I am not inquisitive: I don't ask questions of that kind; it is not in me to do so--but it is as plain as the nose in your face that there's your origin! And. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.'Come. and within a few feet of the door.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand. do.''Then I won't be alone with you any more.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises.