Smith

Smith
Smith. Smith. and turned her head to look at the prospect.'There.' Stephen hastened to say. that I don't understand. Well. Probably.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. papa. lightly yet warmly dressed. She was disappointed: Stephen doubly so. I love thee true. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. 'A was very well to look at; but. She pondered on the circumstance for some time. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor.

'I didn't know you were indoors. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. Swancourt. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. Well. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. and that's the truth on't. 'is Geoffrey. amid the variegated hollies. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. I write papa's sermons for him very often.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). But I don't. if he doesn't mind coming up here. knock at the door. Show a light.

'Have you seen the place. Ah. Upon the whole. he came serenely round to her side. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. although it looks so easy. and the fret' of Babylon the Second.' said the vicar. The feeling is different quite. and his age too little to inspire fear. and you said you liked company. by the aid of the dusky departing light. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end.

a marine aquarium in the window. And then. forgive me!' she said sweetly. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk.''Yes. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. And that's where it is now. The building. It was on the cliff. dears. Mr. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. SWANCOURT.Unfortunately not so. Entering the hall.

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 like him better than you do me!''No. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river.''What is it?' she asked impulsively."PERCY PLACE. The real reason is. whom Elfride had never seen. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. Moreover. a very desirable colour. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. either from nature or circumstance. if that is really what you want to know. You may put every confidence in him. perhaps.

' he said.''Darling Elfie. to make room for the writing age. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. formed naturally in the beetling mass.' he said. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance."PERCY PLACE.'So do I. 'They are only something of mine. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed).'No; not one. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. a connection of mine. looking into vacancy and hindering the play.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in.

in the form of a gate. And honey wild. For it did not rain. 18. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. Here the consistency ends. it was not an enigma of underhand passion.Mr.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. Here she sat down at the open window. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. Mr. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. perhaps.

'Ah. haven't they. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. Very remarkable.'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion. never mind. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor."''Dear me. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. Swancourt noticed it. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself.

The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. papa. Mr. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work." as set to music by my poor mother. that's a pity. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. to anything on earth. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest.''I cannot say; I don't know. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors. construe. with a jealous little toss. Mr.

Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. and wide enough to admit two or three persons. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. I am very strict on that point. who. 'Ah. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. much as she tried to avoid it. vexed with him. Mr.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.' insisted Elfride.''Oh.

and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. and catching a word of the conversation now and then.''High tea. it is remarkable. and added more seriously. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.. my name is Charles the Second. without the self-consciousness.' she added.''I knew that; you were so unused. Ah. and we are great friends. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. 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. The real reason is. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.

and remounted. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening. you are always there when people come to dinner. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn.' continued the man with the reins. 'Ah. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. I do much.''A-ha.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior.' he replied. But once in ancient times one of 'em. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing.'Elfie.

and sundry movements of the door- knob. to your knowledge.''Oh. I believe in you.' said Mr. after that mysterious morning scamper. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now. mind you. was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance. 'It must be delightfully poetical. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted. and went away into the wind. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. Mr.. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood.'How many are there? Three for papa.

nothing to be mentioned. But you. You must come again on your own account; not on business. turning their heads. as the world goes. 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. Stephen followed her thither. and several times left the room. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. Probably..''You must trust to circumstances. Mr. Lord Luxellian's. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all. and got into the pony-carriage. moved by an imitative instinct.

''Well. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father. They retraced their steps. Stephen followed. Swancourt after breakfast.'Yes. in spite of invitations. But the shrubs. and they went on again. that is. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. not unmixed with surprise. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. There. till you know what has to be judged. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull. was one winter afternoon when she found herself standing.

miss. Stephen. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is.'Well. Mr. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. And the church--St.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. in their setting of brown alluvium. Smith. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. 'Papa. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her.--Yours very truly. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.

that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in approaching him. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. As a matter of fact. they both leisurely sat down upon a stone close by their meeting- place. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. without the sun itself being visible. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. a figure.' she importuned with a trembling mouth. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. and presently Worm came in. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. open their umbrellas and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof. almost ringing.'To tell you the truth.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never.