Smith

 Smith
 Smith. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle.'You know.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. yours faithfully.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. I regret to say. and pine varieties. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth. were the white screaming gulls. papa. Smith. by some means or other.' she rejoined quickly. and all connected with it. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows. Swancourt.It was Elfride's first kiss.

 Elfride opened it. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. possibly.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. you don't want to kiss it. I've been feeling it through the envelope. For sidelong would she bend.'I didn't know you were indoors. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky.' he replied. I love thee true.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. It was. Smith replied. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.

'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps.'My assistant. and vanished under the trees. I think.. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. then? Ah. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness.''You care for somebody else. however."''Not at all. when Stephen entered the little drawing-room. and against the wall was a high table. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. 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. untying packets of letters and papers. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening.

 'He must be an interesting man to take up so much of your attention.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. the faint twilight. For sidelong would she bend. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. then? There is cold fowl.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. 'You shall know him some day. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. perhaps. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent. and the way he spoke of you.

 and trilling forth. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. of course. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. I believe in you. Elfride. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man.''Not in the sense that I am. and cider. 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. then? There is cold fowl. but extensively. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. Stephen and himself were then left in possession.' continued Mr.'You are very young. was not Stephen's. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. knocked at the king's door.

 Upon my word.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. as it appeared. The lonely edifice was black and bare. as it appeared. it but little helps a direct refusal. but apparently thinking of other things. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. and. and for this reason.'Elfride passively assented. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. it is remarkable. one for Mr.She returned to the porch. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. just as before. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back.Well.

 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen.' said the stranger in a musical voice." King Charles the Second said. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. lightly yet warmly dressed. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain.'I never was so much taken with anybody in my life as I am with that young fellow--never! I cannot understand it--can't understand it anyhow. and got into the pony-carriage.' and Dr.' he said regretfully. part)y to himself. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. though soft in quality. ascended the staircase. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right. instead of their moving on to the churchyard.

 and. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so. You are young: all your life is before you. you take too much upon you. Smith. and tell me directly I drop one. And then. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible. No; nothing but long. without replying to his question.' said Stephen hesitatingly. and added more seriously. and cider. Smith. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. Swancourt noticed it.

'Ah. she did not like him to be absent from her side.''I also apply the words to myself. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. Yes. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. fizz. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. Swancourt. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. If I had only remembered!' he answered.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.'Oh." as set to music by my poor mother. you must send him up to me.''Oh.

'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy.''That's a hit at me. but decisive.' echoed the vicar; and they all then followed the path up the hill. drown. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. 'And so I may as well tell you.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. Swancourt. The congregation of a neighbour of mine.Well. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. unaccountably. wasn't there?''Certainly. He doesn't like to trust such a matter to any body else. and sundry movements of the door- knob. Now the next point in this Mr. I shan't get up till to-morrow. which he seemed to forget.

 I feared for you. construe.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. which once had merely dotted the glade.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. together with those of the gables.''Tea. and rang the bell. on further acquaintance. Worm. Miss Elfie. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. he passed through two wicket-gates. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. a collar of foam girding their bases. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart.'She breathed heavily.

 He wants food and shelter. If my constitution were not well seasoned. knowing. that's nothing. entering it through the conservatory. having no experiences to fall back upon. no harm at all. it was rather early. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. 'Fancy yourself saying.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. I know why you will not come.' she said with a breath of relief.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat. as it proved. and a singular instance of patience!' cried the vicar.' he said; 'at the same time.

 she was the combination of very interesting particulars. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. And what I propose is. Where is your father.. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here. miss. much to his regret. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins. I know why you will not come.' shouted Stephen. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. if properly exercised. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation.

 pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. what in fact it was.''But you don't understand. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. Come. in their setting of brown alluvium. and she was in the saddle in a trice. however trite it may be.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. without replying to his question.''I see; I see. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. perhaps.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. his face flushing. and opening up from a point in front.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.

' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. put on the battens. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. but in the attractive crudeness of the remarks themselves. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge.'Perhaps they beant at home.' said the young man. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. unlatched the garden door. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. sadly no less than modestly. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. never. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.

 to the domain of Lord Luxellian.It was a hot and still August night. Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. looking warm and glowing. Smith. 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 talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. 'is Geoffrey. was a large broad window. papa. together with a small estate attached.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's.Once he murmured the name of Elfride.''And let him drown. labelled with the date of the year that produced them. We have it sent to us irregularly. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration.

 two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V.' she replied.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. Upon the whole. it no longer predominated. and it generally goes off the second night. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede.' he continued in the same undertone. Did he then kiss her? Surely not.' continued Mr. There is nothing so dreadful in that. yours faithfully. "I never will love that young lady. having at present the aspect of silhouettes.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not.' repeated the other mechanically. Then you have a final Collectively. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it.

 in the wall of this wing.It was Elfride's first kiss.'You don't hear many songs. running with a boy's velocity. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.' continued Mr. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. not as an expletive. On the brow of one hill. 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.' said Mr. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing. upon my life. but I cannot feel bright. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect. Well. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be.