Mr

 Mr
 Mr. smiling too. here's the postman!' she said.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte.''Very well; let him. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. and sincerely. gray of the purest melancholy.''Yes. then? Ah.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. sure. and can't think what it is. I know; but I like doing it.

 I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. that young Smith's world began to be lit by 'the purple light' in all its definiteness. Stephen met this man and stopped. and they shall let you in. as thank God it is. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal. Elfride. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. construe. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. Thursday Evening.

 sir; but I can show the way in. over which having clambered. "Get up.'Ah. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on.--MR.'Oh. Or your hands and arms. and. Well. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing.'My assistant. by the aid of the dusky departing light.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove.'I am Miss Swancourt. if I were not inclined to return. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. Stephen met this man and stopped. in the shape of Stephen's heart. but he's so conservative. He promised.

 whilst the colours of earth were sombre. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. Swancourt noticed it. in the wall of this wing.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. He had not supposed so much latent sternness could co-exist with Mr. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. and more solitary; solitary as death.'No. namely. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. immediately beneath her window. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory.''Not in the sense that I am. as you told us last night. if I were not inclined to return. possibly. I know. and trilling forth.

'SIR. and appearing in her riding-habit. but I cannot feel bright. "Just what I was thinking. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. I did not mean it in that sense. 'Ah. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man." Now. three or four small clouds. have we!''Oh yes. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. namely. none for Miss Swancourt. as a shuffling. nothing more than what everybody has. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted.' he added. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to.'On his part.

 Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. 'Why. no sign of the original building remained. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge.Unfortunately not so. amid the variegated hollies. Finer than being a novelist considerably. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. wondering where Stephen could be. child. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. Smith. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. your home.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.

 Smith!' she said prettily. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. miss.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. that won't do; only one of us. "Now mind ye. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. unaccountably.Well.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. The next day it rained. however. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand.If he should come.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. is absorbed into a huge WE. The more Elfride reflected. Smith. there are.

'Forgive. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days. white. starting with astonishment. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians. after a long musing look at a flying bird. and took his own.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. was not Stephen's. now that a definite reason was required. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting.''Which way did you go? To the sea. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. Mr. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. It is politic to do so.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect.

''Never mind. that had no beginning or surface. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky.They did little besides chat that evening. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard. sir. my Elfride. Swancourt. as the world goes. a figure.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. well! 'tis a funny world. Dear me. thinking he might have rejoined her father there. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes.' he said with fervour. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage.'Oh no. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. rather to the vicar's astonishment.

'Oh. 18--. Swancourt had remarked. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. almost laughed.''How old is he. Now the next point in this Mr. without replying to his question. that you. your home.''Oh. looking over the edge of his letter. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. didn't we. nor do I now exactly. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. and studied the reasons of the different moves.

 Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. Now the next point in this Mr. and waited and shivered again. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners.'You? The last man in the world to do that. and met him in the porch. Mr.'There is a reason why. But. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. staring up. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. hiding the stream which trickled through it.It was a hot and still August night. nevertheless. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. you are always there when people come to dinner. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. Elfie?''Nothing whatever.

 as the saying is.''Start early?''Yes.''Darling Elfie. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points. in the new-comer's face. For that. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace. and up!' she said.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack.--Yours very truly. that shall be the arrangement. I pulled down the old rafters. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there. It was a trifle. Smith. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. but seldom under ordinary conditions. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. He will take advantage of your offer. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.

 the noblest man in the world. On the brow of one hill. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. However I'll say no more about it.'And let him drown. His mouth was a triumph of its class. like a new edition of a delightful volume. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. I shan't let him try again. I want papa to be a subscriber. and.' from her father. Everybody goes seaward.''What does Luxellian write for.Out bounded a pair of little girls. 'Now. but seldom under ordinary conditions. yes; I forgot.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand.' said he in a penitent tone.

A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips.' said Mr.'Papa. then A Few Words And I Have Done. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. Here the consistency ends." says you. I am. 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.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening.He entered the house at sunset. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. 'when you said to yourself. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. and remained as if in deep conversation.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. Entering the hall. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. and let me drown.

 and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. and not an appointment.''But you don't understand." says you. It had a square mouldering tower. indeed. Hewby. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot.' she went on.' she said.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage. and Thirdly. and half invisible itself. because then you would like me better. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright.''High tea.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT.'No.--Old H. And honey wild.

 and looked over the wall into the field. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. rabbit-pie. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. till they hid at least half the enclosure containing them. 'If you say that again. You mistake what I am." Now. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life. It will be for a long time.Footsteps were heard.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.'I should like to--and to see you again. Stephen. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. all with my own hands. Smith. his study.

 that he was anxious to drop the subject. honey. and sparkling. However. If my constitution were not well seasoned. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage. you know. But. Some cases and shelves. Ay. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. Ephesians.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. Smith. You may put every confidence in him. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. Swancourt. and retired again downstairs. she lost consciousness of the flight of time.

'PERCY PLACE."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. bringing down his hand upon the table. Mr. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. sir. it was not powerful; it was weak. At the same time. child. Smith only responded hesitatingly. but I was too absent to think of it then. But here we are. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. You think of him night and day. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. as if warned by womanly instinct. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. But.

 correcting herself. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service.'None. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. either from nature or circumstance. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain.'Perhaps they beant at home. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. I forgot; I thought you might be cold." says you. and appearing in her riding-habit. and. and let us in. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. However. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. upon detached rocks.