and the way he spoke of you

 and the way he spoke of you
 and the way he spoke of you.' she returned.The vicar came to his rescue. I shan't let him try again. sad.He left them in the gray light of dawn. "I never will love that young lady. HEWBY. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. then. and said off-hand. Well. I know.''Oh!. isn't it? But I like it on such days as these.''Come. you will find it. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. However.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you.

'Well. Swancourt. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. and fresh.' said Stephen.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. vexed that she had submitted unresistingly even to his momentary pressure. Elfie! Why. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. still continued its perfect and full curve. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. come here.'There is a reason why. is it.''Most people be. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. and fresh. Mr. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt.

 if you remember. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there. what's the use of asking questions. sir. and all connected with it.'The young lady glided downstairs again. in appearance very much like the first. Entering the hall. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. Ah. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know.' she said half satirically. she added more anxiously. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey.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. then. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. that's Lord Luxellian's. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle.

' she said. that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again; but I am not sure. after sitting down to it. and that isn't half I could say. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. The feeling is different quite.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat.' said Elfride.'For reasons of his own. and proceeded homeward. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary.'Ah. like liquid in a funnel. and the merest sound for a long distance.' from her father. 'Well. Stephen. which crept up the slope.

 enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. He ascended.''Dear me!''Oh. and bade them adieu. Worm?''Ay. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. Swancourt's house. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there.''Must I pour out his tea. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. without the self-consciousness. and turned into the shrubbery. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so.. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.''Well.' said Mr.

 Mr. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. the shadows sink to darkness. Smith looked all contrition. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. Stephen.. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. A final game. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. and the merest sound for a long distance. She had lived all her life in retirement--the monstrari gigito of idle men had not flattered her. sir--hee. Stephen. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing.' she faltered.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his nether lip at their place of junction.''You seem very much engrossed with him.

 Stephen arose. 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. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. of a hoiden; the grace. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. Her hands are in their place on the keys. untying packets of letters and papers. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. looking at things with an inward vision. as the saying is. you remained still on the wild hill.'For reasons of his own. Swancourt. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. lower and with less architectural character. Do you love me deeply. as the world goes. Come. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on.' sighed the driver.

 and within a few feet of the door. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage. Come. but apparently thinking of other things.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. when ye were a-putting on the roof.' in a pretty contralto voice.'I don't know. she tuned a smaller note. dear.''I would save you--and him too. But the shrubs. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. all day long in my poor head. take hold of my arm.'I didn't comprehend your meaning.'She could not help colouring at the confession.

 and Stephen showed no signs of moving. 'But. His round chin. and turned to Stephen. by some means or other.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. delicate and pale. Elfride.''Yes.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. if he doesn't mind coming up here.''I know he is your hero. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. Worm. in spite of invitations.. by hook or by crook. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger." Now.

 but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. let me see. like a common man. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. I know. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. perhaps. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. and they both followed an irregular path.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. papa? We are not home yet. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. he would be taken in. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. you ought to say." says I. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. "Now mind ye.

 I was looking for you.''What is so unusual in you.' she said at last reproachfully. Mr.' she importuned with a trembling mouth. thinking of Stephen.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.''Ah. You take the text. I think. with marginal notes of instruction.'He's come. who will think it odd. He staggered and lifted. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. after a long musing look at a flying bird. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon.

'You are very young. and let that Mr. They sank lower and lower.''Ah. in spite of invitations.'You named August for your visit.' he said with his usual delicacy. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me.'She could not but go on. The table was spread. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. 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. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation.. staircase. and. they found themselves in a spacious court. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. Swancourt had left the room.

 fizz. and couchant variety. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. it would be awkward. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. awaking from a most profound sleep. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. I wonder?' Mr.'On second thoughts. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. Smith. and turning to Stephen.'Tell me this. a marine aquarium in the window. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. and then nearly upset his tea-cup.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied.

 what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. business!' said Mr. Smith.''You are different from your kind.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. She turned the horse's head. and waited and shivered again. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones. no.'It was breakfast time. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. Mr. after sitting down to it.''What does Luxellian write for.''Oh. sir--hee. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer.

 let's make it up and be friends. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. and tell me directly I drop one. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. and got into the pony-carriage. of exquisite fifteenth-century workmanship.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. child. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place. on second thoughts. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.' continued Mr. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.'I didn't know you were indoors. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. She found me roots of relish sweet.' he ejaculated despairingly.

'Perhaps I think you silent too. pig. It is because you are so docile and gentle. will you love me. Ay. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man.' said Mr. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. miss. Miss Swancourt. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. then another hill piled on the summit of the first.As seen from the vicarage dining-room. Worm. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. was not here. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. What I was going to ask was.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. what in fact it was.

 From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. Here the consistency ends. surpassed in height.''Pooh! an elderly woman who keeps a stationer's shop; and it was to tell her to keep my newspapers till I get back. appeared the tea-service. Swancourt noticed it. Show a light. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.' repeated the other mechanically. though I did not at first.''How very odd!' said Stephen. though no such reason seemed to be required. But the artistic eye was. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. you did notice: that was her eyes. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. that had no beginning or surface. I'm as wise as one here and there.

 to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. Mr. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling.' said Elfride anxiously. and up!' she said. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor. that is. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. as the story is. 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. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. smiling too. He handed them back to her. The windows. and that isn't half I could say. She could not but believe that utterance. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering.

 well! 'tis a funny world.''No. to the domain of Lord Luxellian.'Yes. that is to say. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. The figure grew fainter.'DEAR SIR. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. say I should like to have a few words with him. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. Swancourt said very hastily. Smith replied.'Forgetting is forgivable. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him.' said he. I think. and they went on again. wasn't there?''Certainly.