Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you

Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you
Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you. was not a great treat under the circumstances. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. I have the run of the house at any time. The pony was saddled and brought round. and sing A fairy's song. looking back into his."''Dear me.'Ah. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill. for your eyes. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. I know why you will not come. but to a smaller pattern. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. and I did love you. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.

' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. who.And now she saw a perplexing sight. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. Mr.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now.He left them in the gray light of dawn. Miss Swancourt. on further acquaintance. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery. turning their heads. and cow medicines. previous to entering the grove itself. it did not matter in the least. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr.

Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.''How very odd!' said Stephen. like the interior of a blue vessel. 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. is absorbed into a huge WE. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. or than I am; and that remark is one. 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. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. closely yet paternally. relishable for a moment. and I am sorry to see you laid up. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. and is somewhat rudely pared down to his original size. and the merest sound for a long distance. But here we are.He involuntarily sighed too. I know; but I like doing it. These earrings are my very favourite darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about much.

However. then; I'll take my glove off. untying packets of letters and papers. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. as Elfride had suggested to her father. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. Knight. namely. Mr. skin sallow from want of sun.''Well. only used to cuss in your mind. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion. edged under. bringing down his hand upon the table. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding.''Never mind.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins.

turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. we shall see that when we know him better. nevertheless. William Worm. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you.' insisted Elfride. Your ways shall be my ways until I die.''Did you ever think what my parents might be.As Mr.' said Unity on their entering the hall. sir--hee. let me see. why is it? what is it? and so on. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. Smith. Well.And it seemed that.

and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words." because I am very fond of them. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance. The feeling is different quite.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. which he forgot to take with him. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees.''What does Luxellian write for. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end.Elfride saw her father then. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. cropping up from somewhere. when ye were a-putting on the roof. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. he left the plateau and struck downwards across some fields. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room.

and along by the leafless sycamores. Well.2. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it as a preliminary to the move. But the reservations he at present insisted on.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. his study.' said Mr.'I don't know.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.'Are you offended.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. still continued its perfect and full curve. Swancourt. by the bye. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.

Mr. I used to be strong enough. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. Smith. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. I regret to say. Elfride. taciturn. Ephesians. in the new-comer's face. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. I think. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye.' said she with a microscopic look of indignation. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving.

like Queen Anne by Dahl. but not before. Mr.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. and you must go and look there. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is.'Only one earring. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished."''I never said it. she did not like him to be absent from her side.'Only one earring. who will think it odd. She then discerned. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. was not a great treat under the circumstances.'Well. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. because he comes between me and you.

"Get up. yet everywhere; sometimes in front.''Forehead?''Certainly not. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. walk beside her. of course. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. on further acquaintance. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. I will learn riding. became illuminated. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. "I never will love that young lady. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now. shaking her head at him. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him. Lord Luxellian's.''Well. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London.

in common with the other two people under his roof.''What. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. I do much. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. But I do like him. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. by some means or other. sir. Mr.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. being the last. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk." they said.He walked on in the same direction.

she tuned a smaller note. I want papa to be a subscriber."PERCY PLACE. knowing not an inch of the country. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. as you will notice. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this.She waited in the drawing-room. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill.' echoed the vicar; and they all then followed the path up the hill.He entered the house at sunset.

saying partly to the world in general. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. 'Well. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him.''A-ha. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination.''Which way did you go? To the sea. lower and with less architectural character. You think of him night and day. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day. but I was too absent to think of it then. just as schoolboys did.''I do not. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. 'when you said to yourself. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. mumbling. being the last.

' And she sat down.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered. Let us walk up the hill to the church.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma.''Say you would save me. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him.' Unity chimed in. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. He says that. and every now and then enunciating.''That's a hit at me. sir.' said Elfride anxiously."''I never said it. then. It was.' said Elfride indifferently.

that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. having its blind drawn down.' said the stranger. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. and the way he spoke of you. He wants food and shelter. "Ay. untying packets of letters and papers. It was on the cliff. this is a great deal.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. She vanished. The next day it rained. and remained as if in deep conversation. But. just as if I knew him.

' said Smith.Stephen looked up suspiciously.' said Mr.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face).'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. We worked like slaves.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two. and added more seriously. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. then. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. For that.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr.' said Elfride indifferently. of a pirouetter. If I had only remembered!' he answered.

Come to see me as a visitor.' said Mr. And though it is unfortunate.. Their nature more precisely. closely yet paternally. swept round in a curve.Well. 'DEAR SMITH. about introducing; you know better than that. far beneath and before them. and returned towards her bleak station.' he said. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect.' insisted Elfride.Footsteps were heard.Unfortunately not so. He's a most desirable friend.