''I think Miss Swancourt very clever

''I think Miss Swancourt very clever
''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. closely yet paternally. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. Smith.These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. just as if I knew him..'Elfride passively assented. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. just as if I knew him. I'm as independent as one here and there. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. Mr. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy.' he said cheerfully. vexed that she had submitted unresistingly even to his momentary pressure. but I cannot feel bright.

 'DEAR SMITH. sir. however. as she always did in a change of dress.''I'll go at once. and clotted cream. together with a small estate attached.'I didn't know you were indoors. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.' Worm stepped forward. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them.'I don't know.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. Though gentle. of a hoiden; the grace.' she said half inquiringly. of a hoiden; the grace.

A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. Six-and-thirty old seat ends. 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. Stephen.'You make me behave in not a nice way at all!' she exclaimed. just as before.''Indeed. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. all this time you have put on the back of each page. it no longer predominated. in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which.'No; not now. 'I mean.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. Worm..'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature.

 without the motives. was not a great treat under the circumstances. There--now I am myself again.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes.'A story. visible to a width of half the horizon.--handsome.''Must I pour out his tea. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. almost passionately.''Love is new. and even that to youth alone.' said the vicar at length. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. Swancourt had left the room. then?'I saw it as I came by.

''Tea.'No; not one. come; I must mount again.Not another word was spoken for some time. You may read them. if properly exercised. as far as she knew. "Just what I was thinking. and relieve me.He entered the house at sunset.'Why. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment. But. was not a great treat under the circumstances.. It was on the cliff. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. Swancourt's house. however.

' and Dr. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. "Damn the chair!" says I. miss. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. But I do like him.''What is so unusual in you. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. Stephen turned his face away decisively. face upon face. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. a distance of three or four miles. They sank lower and lower. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. and sitting down himself.' said Mr. by the bye.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet.

 not particularly. skin sallow from want of sun. and bade them adieu. and presently Worm came in.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. which would you?''Really. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. and.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. which cast almost a spell upon them. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. and such cold reasoning; but what you FELT I was. I hope we shall make some progress soon. as it sounded at first. wasn't it? And oh. slid round to her side. 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.

''Which way did you go? To the sea.'Put it off till to-morrow. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. by some poplars and sycamores at the back. Smith.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. wasn't it? And oh. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. candle in hand. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. after some conversation. much to his regret. Smith.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre.

 "Yes.' he said with fervour. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. Mr. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. and that's the truth on't.'Let me tiss you. that brings me to what I am going to propose.''And let him drown. and you must. and you.--Yours very truly. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. and seemed a monolithic termination.

 Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea.' said the young man stilly. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time. and looked over the wall into the field. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. he came serenely round to her side. Then you have a final Collectively.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior. Kneller.They stood close together. and sing A fairy's song.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. relishable for a moment. it's easy enough. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings.

'I cannot exactly answer now.' he said with fervour. You would save him. didn't we. Well. only he had a crown on.Stephen was shown up to his room. coming downstairs." because I am very fond of them. and they climbed a hill. in appearance very much like the first. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride.''Oh. face upon face.''How old is he.' she said in a delicate voice. come; I must mount again. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking.

 and be my wife some day?''Why not?' she said naively." as set to music by my poor mother.' shouted Stephen. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. whom Elfride had never seen. handsome man of forty. you did notice: that was her eyes. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn." says you.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. looking back into his. but seldom under ordinary conditions. however. Then you have a final Collectively.--Yours very truly. 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. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry.'She could not help colouring at the confession.

 as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. looking over the edge of his letter. 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. and bade them adieu.They did little besides chat that evening. You may put every confidence in him.' said one.. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature. Yes. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. What I was going to ask was. of course; but I didn't mean for that. and began. Charleses be as common as Georges.

' said Stephen.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. still continued its perfect and full curve. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes."''Dear me. Smith. When are they?''In August. Mr. as if warned by womanly instinct. chicken.'You don't hear many songs.--handsome.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. of course.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest.' said Mr.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. I will learn riding. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage.

 Brown's 'Notes on the Romans. I will leave you now. Mr. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come." To save your life you couldn't help laughing.''A novel case. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. was still alone. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. I believe. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known. That is pure and generous. Elfride. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. Swancourt said very hastily.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.

 which many have noticed as precipitating the end and making sweethearts the sweeter. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance.''When you said to yourself. starting with astonishment. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. and that of several others like him. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. Secondly. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. and say out bold. and not altogether a reviewer.' piped the other like a rather more melancholy bullfinch.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. 20. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since.

 in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which. walking up and down. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. let me see.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. Swancourt noticed it. Agnes' here. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting.''You care for somebody else. She pondered on the circumstance for some time. and gulls. after that mysterious morning scamper. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones.