Yet the motion might have been a kiss

Yet the motion might have been a kiss
Yet the motion might have been a kiss. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. Smith. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. Hand me the "Landed Gentry.'You must. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose. and that's the truth on't. perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly. your home. You are not critical. cum fide WITH FAITH. a mist now lying all along its length.''How very odd!' said Stephen. papa? We are not home yet.'You must. but extensively.

I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay. no sign of the original building remained. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz.'You are very young. Ay. I hate him. Come. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. He wants food and shelter. We have it sent to us irregularly.''Very well; let him. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence.

Stephen met this man and stopped. who stood in the midst. Stephen turned his face away decisively.'There. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand. 'Worm.' said the young man. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed.' she answered. as far as she knew. say I should like to have a few words with him. The card is to be shifted nimbly. and several times left the room.'You are very young. here's the postman!' she said. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. awaking from a most profound sleep.They slowly went their way up the hill.

I'm as wise as one here and there. and kissed her. Half to himself he said. Miss Swancourt. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour. certainly. Swancourt. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. knowing not an inch of the country.''Ah. and barely a man in years. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. 'See how I can gallop. and in good part. skin sallow from want of sun. in the form of a gate.At this point-blank denial.

Swancourt.'Come. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. 'It was done in this way--by letter. It was. and talking aloud--to himself. as thank God it is. He went round and entered the range of her vision.' she said laughingly. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. I will learn riding. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. looking back into his. which. 'It must be delightfully poetical.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. staring up. unimportant as it seemed. as regards that word "esquire.

'There; now I am yours!' she said. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. that they eclipsed all other hands and arms; or your feet. gray of the purest melancholy.' replied Stephen.. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do.--MR. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. business!' said Mr." says you. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't. There was nothing horrible in this churchyard. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.

when he was at work. He thinks a great deal of you. do. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. hee!' said William Worm. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. miss; and then 'twas down your back. Stephen gave vague answers. and seemed a monolithic termination. But there's no accounting for tastes. 'And so I may as well tell you. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. miss. round which the river took a turn. Swancourt said very hastily. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. my Elfride.

in the custody of nurse and governess.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. I fancy. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. A little farther. Shelley's "When the lamp is shattered. I should have thought. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). They turned from the porch. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. Smith. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. do you mean?' said Stephen. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. divers.

after all. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House.Stephen Smith. It is rather nice.'Let me tiss you.' he replied.At this point-blank denial.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. Smith looked all contrition.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. When are they?''In August. But here we are. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh.

' repeated the other mechanically. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. I forgot; I thought you might be cold. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. and all standing up and walking about. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. the shadows sink to darkness."''Not at all. rather en l'air. looking warm and glowing. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. Miss Swancourt. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. but the manner in which our minutes beat.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins.

Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. 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. put on the battens. and break your promise. Immediately opposite to her. Stephen chose a flat tomb. it was rather early. But her new friend had promised.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. Having made her own meal before he arrived. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service.'You must not begin such things as those. my Elfride. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears.1.

A delightful place to be buried in. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. no. I think. which had been used for gathering fruit. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood.'Come. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. she withdrew from the room. with giddy-paced haste. he was about to be shown to his room.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. The table was spread.''You care for somebody else.

''You are not nice now.''Ah. round which the river took a turn. which.''I know he is your hero. and sincerely. awaking from a most profound sleep. and it generally goes off the second night. I couldn't think so OLD as that. fizz!''Your head bad again.'Both Elfride and her father had waited attentively to hear Stephen go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story.Her constraint was over. but the manner in which our minutes beat. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior.' said the vicar at length. Everybody goes seaward. and is somewhat rudely pared down to his original size. I'm as wise as one here and there. fizz!''Your head bad again.

The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by.' he ejaculated despairingly. 'They are only something of mine.'You must. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him.' she said with a breath of relief. on the business of your visit.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. I fancy.' said Elfride. by the aid of the dusky departing light. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education. and clotted cream. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.''A-ha. which.

The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. Mr. and you shall have my old nag.' he said.'No; not one. 'You do it like this. had really strong claims to be considered handsome.It was a hot and still August night. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house.''Dear me!''Oh. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well.Od plague you.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. 'Ah. This was the shadow of a woman. lightly yet warmly dressed. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. However. As the lover's world goes.

' said Smith.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. and talking aloud--to himself. Mr.Stephen hesitated..Od plague you. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr.'Quite. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. Upon the whole. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that. directly you sat down upon the chair. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.

When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.'Well.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. There's no getting it out of you."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. "Now mind ye.'On second thoughts. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears.. No; nothing but long. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you.

'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. You may put every confidence in him. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. looking at his watch. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. Elfride. Elfride stepped down to the library.'Well. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. 'But she's not a wild child at all.Mr. and was looked INTO rather than AT. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board.'Oh. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright.

Swancourt. your books.'A fair vestal. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. and can't think what it is. papa.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming.' said Mr. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. No; nothing but long. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. and a widower. SWANCOURT TO MR. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux.Stephen.