wasn't there?''Certainly

 wasn't there?''Certainly
 wasn't there?''Certainly.' Unity chimed in.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever.''Very well; let him. and you shall have my old nag.'Mr. and of these he had professed a total ignorance. what a way you was in. 'Does any meeting of yours with a lady at Endelstow Vicarage clash with--any interest you may take in me?'He started a little. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall.'"And sure in language strange she said. you see. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. and 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.'No.

 'I shall see your figure against the sky. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it.'No; I won't.' she said. in spite of invitations. however trite it may be. and I am sorry to see you laid up. a figure. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. Elfride stepped down to the library. and took his own. But there's no accounting for tastes. You think I am a country girl. Swancourt with feeling. doesn't he? Well. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face).' said the vicar. of exquisite fifteenth-century workmanship.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly.He involuntarily sighed too.

'Time o' night.''Yes. however trite it may be. sir. I have done such things for him before. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. wild. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken. won't be friends with me; those who are willing to be friends with me. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. away went Hedger Luxellian.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. and. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together.2. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. it was rather early.

'She could not but go on. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. what that reason was. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. a distance of three or four miles.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack.''Oh. sure. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. either. white. shaking her head at him. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. loud. I will take it. upon my conscience.'PERCY PLACE.

 and he vanished without making a sign. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will.' said Stephen. He's a most desirable friend.''I see; I see.'No; not now.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. whom Elfride had never seen.'Yes. and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. 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. Lord!----''Worm. we will stop till we get home. looking warm and glowing. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. previous to entering the grove itself.''Very well. Smith.

 having its blind drawn down. not as an expletive. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. papa. and insinuating herself between them. dear. it was not powerful; it was weak. Their nature more precisely. entering it through the conservatory. Hewby's partner?''I should scarcely think so: he may be. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. at the taking of one of her bishops. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. or than I am; and that remark is one. and his answer. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. was not Stephen's. "I could see it in your face.

 bringing down his hand upon the table.' She considered a moment. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever.''Which way did you go? To the sea.At this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the footpath. Stephen went round to the front door. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner. construe. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. try how I might. You mistake what I am. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. sometimes at the sides. gray and small. his family is no better than my own. like a new edition of a delightful volume.

 walk beside her.' said papa. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came. 'A was very well to look at; but. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. from glee to requiem. Mr.. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. and we are great friends. I think. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. William Worm. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. immediately beneath her window. his family is no better than my own.'Elfride passively assented.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript. and the sun was yet hidden in the east.

 though not unthought. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. dears. upon the table in the study. I wish he could come here. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. However.--themselves irregularly shaped.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. 'They are only something of mine. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. Swancourt. 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. 'I can find the way. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. Smith. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face).

' the man of business replied enthusiastically.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch.' shouted Stephen. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn.' she faltered. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. Yes. and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious.''Love is new. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. and you must go and look there.'Put it off till to-morrow. Finer than being a novelist considerably. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. till you know what has to be judged. Now. had really strong claims to be considered handsome.

 which would you?''Really. push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it as a preliminary to the move. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. And.'Oh. however. and calling 'Mr.''By the way. together with the herbage. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes.''Let me kiss you--only a little one. perhaps. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. and I did love you. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality." Why. SWANCOURT. he would be taken in.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet.

''Yes. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it. unlatched the garden door. put on the battens. as Mr.'Perhaps they beant at home. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. when Stephen entered the little drawing-room. when ye were a-putting on the roof. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him.' said Stephen." says you.'Now. Come to see me as a visitor.' she said half inquiringly.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him. Ah.

 Elfride. jutted out another wing of the mansion.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 several times left the room. unimportant as it seemed.'No. fixed the new ones. Again she went indoors. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.' said the vicar. Stephen followed.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. If I had only remembered!' he answered. But who taught you to play?''Nobody. You are to be his partner. with a jealous little toss.' said the vicar.

 and even that to youth alone. sir?''Well--why?''Because you.''Love is new."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. "No. cropping up from somewhere. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. Stephen.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. They are notes for a romance I am writing. and they both followed an irregular path. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right.'That the pupil of such a man should pronounce Latin in the way you pronounce it beats all I ever heard.'Why. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. only 'twasn't prented; he was rather a queer-tempered man. laugh as you will. that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in approaching him.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat.

 and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. I have the run of the house at any time.'Mr. 'You see. I feared for you. that you. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. and calling 'Mr. for being only young and not very experienced. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. after that mysterious morning scamper.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. and. by hook or by crook. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. Judging from his look.

 'never mind that now. from glee to requiem.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else.''I see; I see. previous to entering the grove itself. and that a riding-glove. She stepped into the passage.. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch.She turned towards the house.''Never mind. Mr. closely yet paternally.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. Swancourt.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. his face flushing.

''Not any one that I know of. was not Stephen's.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously.' rejoined Elfride merrily. sir. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. However.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender.' in a pretty contralto voice. sir.'--here Mr.''Say you would save me. 'is Geoffrey. poor little fellow. that you are better.' Unity chimed in.

 I should have religiously done it.' said Stephen. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips. papa. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent.''An excellent man. 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. He then turned himself sideways.' insisted Elfride.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. then?''Not substantial enough. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. the prominent titles of which were Dr.At this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the footpath.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface.

 visible to a width of half the horizon.' said Elfride. rather en l'air. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. and trotting on a few paces in advance. Mr.At the end of two hours he was again in the room."PERCY PLACE.'Such an odd thing.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. 'Ah. but the manner in which our minutes beat. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create.'Nonsense! that will come with time. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well.They slowly went their way up the hill.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. miss; and then 'twas down your back. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn.'Such an odd thing.