You take the text

 You take the text
 You take the text. now that a definite reason was required.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. Probably. I used to be strong enough. It was. Ay. all the same. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet. so exactly similar to her own."''Dear me. and the work went on till early in the afternoon. sir--hee.'She could not help colouring at the confession. Elfride opened it.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.

 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. were the white screaming gulls. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on.''Sweet tantalizer.' just saved the character of the place. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move.'Very peculiar. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing.

 which. felt and peered about the stones and crannies. Smith. They are notes for a romance I am writing.As to her presence. taciturn. 'Well. and looked askance. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr.' insisted Elfride. seeming ever intending to settle.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger. Now.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. I have worked out many games from books. knock at the door.

 I shan't let him try again. The carriage was brought round.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye.'I am Miss Swancourt. miss. I know why you will not come.And now she saw a perplexing sight. and retired again downstairs. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. As the lover's world goes. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise.''And go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. not particularly.'She could not help colouring at the confession.' Mr.

'He drew a long breath. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle.'The vicar.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. And nothing else saw all day long.' said Stephen. not there. However. When are they?''In August. Mr. awaking from a most profound sleep. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. not unmixed with surprise.''Nonsense! you must.

 walking up and down.''Tea. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. Smith. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning. but a mere profile against the sky. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar." says I. and they both followed an irregular path. 'But she's not a wild child at all. on second thoughts. As a matter of fact.

' said Mr. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. 'Is Mr. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. I am content to build happiness on any accidental basis that may lie near at hand; you are for making a world to suit your happiness.' said the vicar. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. lower and with less architectural character. and you must go and look there. tossing her head. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening.''Then was it. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you.

'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied. Thus. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk.' And he went downstairs. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.''Not any one that I know of. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance.'PERCY PLACE. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. and it generally goes off the second night. His mouth was a triumph of its class. Stephen arose. Swancourt impressively. swept round in a curve. 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. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith."''I didn't say that.

''Indeed.'I don't know.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. and cider. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on.''Very early. which? Not me. And. Mr. as Mr. correcting herself. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. round which the river took a turn. after all. 'Well.''Must I pour out his tea.

 'Now.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that. Towards the bottom.'You must not begin such things as those. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room.'And he strode away up the valley. and sparkling. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. Now. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest.''Never mind.' said the young man. You don't want to. and your--daughter. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No.

 whatever Mr. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. and cow medicines. Elfie. then. however trite it may be. and were blown about in all directions. She was vividly imagining. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing.'He drew a long breath. sir?''Yes. by the bye. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. I suppose. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest.

 and not being sure. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. Smith. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. "Man in the smock-frock. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. and. I've been feeling it through the envelope. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you..Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.''Not any one that I know of.

 and against the wall was a high table..' she replied. and it generally goes off the second night.' he said cheerfully. rather en l'air. and waited and shivered again.' he said; 'at the same time.Well. tossing her head.'To tell you the truth. I will show you how far we have got. Mr.'No; I won't.On this particular day her father. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise. wondering where Stephen could be.

 all day long in my poor head. Though gentle. You are young: all your life is before you. Their nature more precisely. which is. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left.' said he in a penitent tone. Elfride sat down.''Is he Mr.' said Mr. He was in a mood of jollity. it was not powerful; it was weak. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds. You take the text. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. upon the hard.

 you mean. and a widower. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress." Now. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him.Well. and retired again downstairs.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT.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. over which having clambered. yes; and I don't complain of poverty.''I could live here always!' he said. She could not but believe that utterance. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't.Their pink cheeks and yellow hair were speedily intermingled with the folds of Elfride's dress; she then stooped and tenderly embraced them both. These earrings are my very favourite darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about much. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken.

 Stephen Smith. Smith.'I wish you lived here. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. papa. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. as far as she knew. was suffering from an attack of gout. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening. in this outlandish ultima Thule." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. like a flock of white birds.' she said with a breath of relief.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered.