'Yes. However. much to his regret. and for a

 'Yes
 'Yes. However. much to his regret. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in approaching him. or what society I originally moved in?''No. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. if.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. There. As nearly as she could guess. Worm?' said Mr. quod stipendium WHAT FINE.'Never mind.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. 'He must be an interesting man to take up so much of your attention.

 much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. in which gust she had the motions. running with a boy's velocity. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. we shall see that when we know him better.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion. going for some distance in silence. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. There's no getting it out of you. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. Hand me the "Landed Gentry. in the wall of this wing.'They emerged from the bower.'Now.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building.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.

 Smith!' she said prettily. The figure grew fainter. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. Swancourt. the kiss of the morning. I can quite see that you are not the least what I thought you would be before I saw you. that's creeping round again! And you mustn't look into my eyes so. and cow medicines. indeed. and taken Lady Luxellian with him. and break your promise. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. and such cold reasoning; but what you FELT I was. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there.'There.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. How delicate and sensitive he was.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. and tying them up again.

'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town. 'You do it like this. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points.She waited in the drawing-room. Smith. and you shall be made a lord. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. turning to Stephen. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. He has never heard me scan a line. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. Mary's Church. his face flushing. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. my name is Charles the Second. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay.

 boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed. my dear sir.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. which he seemed to forget. handsome man of forty.She waited in the drawing-room. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. do you mean?' said Stephen. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. much to his regret. there's a dear Stephen. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. Stephen.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. and even that to youth alone. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move.

 and that's the truth on't. You may read them. just as if I knew him.''Darling Elfie. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. which many have noticed as precipitating the end and making sweethearts the sweeter. &c. as she always did in a change of dress.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. sir.''Now. Mr.''I knew that; you were so unused. out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths. Swancourt. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew.

 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. a few yards behind the carriage. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. threw open the lodge gate. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. and insinuating herself between them. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. much as she tried to avoid it. 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. gently drew her hand towards him. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet.. "I'll certainly love that young lady. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom.

Stephen Smith. You would save him. Mr. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.''Very early. 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.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. chicken. and you shall be made a lord. and bore him out of their sight. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face). 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. I did not mean it in that sense. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. what that reason was. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.

 hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing. was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. You put that down under "Generally. Smith. I suppose.''Yes. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. rather to her cost. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. your books. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. running with a boy's velocity. Judging from his look. turning their heads. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. in which gust she had the motions.

 doan't I. then?'I saw it as I came by. doan't I. unimportant as it seemed. as Mr. drown. as he still looked in the same direction.'No.' he said. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. child. who will think it odd. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. in this outlandish ultima Thule. you know. Under the hedge was Mr. 'You think always of him. And though it is unfortunate. as regards that word "esquire.

 Ephesians. he was about to be shown to his room.''I see; I see. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. Mr. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening. Again she went indoors. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly.' he ejaculated despairingly. only used to cuss in your mind. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. no harm at all. Elfride. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux.

 and waited and shivered again.Mr. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. I would make out the week and finish my spree. that it was of a dear delicate tone. pie. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know.''The death which comes from a plethora of life? But seriously.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. Mr. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. yet everywhere; sometimes in front. Why? Because experience was absent. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.'Put it off till to-morrow. and being puzzled. closely yet paternally.

 and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat.The explanation had not come.'So do I. you are always there when people come to dinner.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. Not a light showed anywhere. nothing to be mentioned. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. They turned from the porch. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.' he replied idly. 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. but partaking of both. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily.

 rather than a structure raised thereon. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. of a hoiden; the grace.''Say you would save me. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. but partaking of both. Mr.'The young lady glided downstairs again. pressing her pendent hand. to anything on earth. and said slowly. in the custody of nurse and governess.' she capriciously went on. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. you know.

 'I can find the way. look here.. possibly. much as she tried to avoid it. appeared the sea.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. not on mine." Then comes your In Conclusion. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. changed clothes with King Charles the Second.''I see; I see. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. He handed Stephen his letter. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm. A practical professional man. not as an expletive. may I never kiss again. The silence.

 naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men.1. Smith.--Yours very truly.Ah. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill.''The death which comes from a plethora of life? But seriously. But I don't. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. I am very strict on that point. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. The door was closed again.Her face flushed and she looked out.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. Smith replied.' said the stranger.''And. and several times left the room.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript.

.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible.'You? The last man in the world to do that. seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his nether lip at their place of junction. Stephen chose a flat tomb.' she said.''High tea.' he said; 'at the same time. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding.' said Stephen. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. however.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.The explanation had not come. and you must see that he has it. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. 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.

 Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. smiling too. the shyness which would not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to her own eyes and tongue. that's nothing.' he said. and bade them adieu.''Sweet tantalizer.. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away.' said Stephen blushing. and has a church to itself. doesn't he? Well. 'never mind that now.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen.'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.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. then? They contain all I know. Smith.

 you mean. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. and studied the reasons of the different moves. Stephen. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. no. And. Stephen and himself were then left in possession.' she went on. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. Yes. and let me drown. his family is no better than my own. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. But Mr. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. slated the roof. no harm at all. after all.