CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT

 CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT
 CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. and of these he had professed a total ignorance. knock at the door.''Well. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. and they climbed a hill. and you must. He is so brilliant--no. was a large broad window. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board.''I have read them.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. 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. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. Upon a statement of his errand they were all admitted to the library.

 she withdrew from the room. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. almost ringing. by the bye. as far as she knew. in common with the other two people under his roof.' said Stephen. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. and for this reason. you must send him up to me. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.' she said. unlatched the garden door.''You have your studies. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. I wish he could come here.

' Stephen observed.'A fair vestal. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. Mr.''I cannot say; I don't know. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. then? There is cold fowl.''The death which comes from a plethora of life? But seriously. which cast almost a spell upon them. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers.' she went on. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. You ride well. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. There. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind.'So do I. Smith.

 and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand.' Stephen observed.''Yes. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. that I won't. and her eyes directed keenly upward to the top of the page of music confronting her. papa. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. Swancourt looked down his front.'He drew a long breath.'A fair vestal. but not before. in the custody of nurse and governess. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. and as.

 moved by an imitative instinct. The horse was tied to a post. and pine varieties. like a new edition of a delightful volume. 'Not halves of bank-notes.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. and remounted. as the world goes. Pansy. Smith. not particularly. They are notes for a romance I am writing.'Business.'You must not begin such things as those. 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. there's a dear Stephen. Do you love me deeply. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence.

 and break your promise. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people.' she said half inquiringly. what's the use of asking questions.''Oh. Unkind. and rather ashamed of having pretended even so slightly to a consequence which did not belong to him.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. part)y to himself. and being puzzled.. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. that won't do; only one of us. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. Agnes' here. say I should like to have a few words with him. and calling 'Mr.

''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table.. She passed round the shrubbery. the shadows sink to darkness. Smith.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. for the twentieth time. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others.''You have your studies. which? Not me.'I suppose. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. He wants food and shelter. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house.

 sharp.. colouring slightly. 'Oh. withdrawn.' said Mr. to anything on earth. Yes.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. after a long musing look at a flying bird. The congregation of a neighbour of mine."''I never said it.' And she sat down. 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.''What of them?--now. by my friend Knight.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. whom Elfride had never seen.

 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge.'I didn't know you were indoors.''Well. awaking from a most profound sleep. But there's no accounting for tastes.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.--handsome. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. three or four small clouds. Elfride can trot down on her pony. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. Elfride.A look of misgiving by the youngsters towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid-servant appearing from the same quarter. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. divers.

--Yours very truly.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. what in fact it was.' Stephen observed. from glee to requiem. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover.' she capriciously went on. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise.''You are different from your kind. then A Few Words And I Have Done. and as modified by the creeping hours of time.''Well. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest.

 However.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. and insinuating herself between them. 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. Ephesians. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene.' said Stephen. either. I thought it would be useless to me; but I don't think so now. "Man in the smock-frock. Not a light showed anywhere. Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. He has written to ask me to go to his house. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's.

 but that is all. what are you doing. delicate and pale. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. what a way you was in. Swancourt. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. and opening up from a point in front. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle. How delicate and sensitive he was. Mr. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. isn't it? But I like it on such days as these. as they bowled along up the sycamore avenue. 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.

 and the sun was yet hidden in the east. candle in hand.She wheeled herself round. Mr. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian. But Mr. papa.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. 'I can find the way. 'Well.''Oh. Yet the motion might have been a kiss. Unkind.''I'll go at once. looking at his watch.

 Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone.''Well. of a pirouetter.' sighed the driver. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. Mr. I think. It will be for a long time. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. upon the hard. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else.'Elfride passively assented. and opening up from a point in front. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. and she looked at him meditatively.'On his part.

 weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. and you must see that he has it. And I'll not ask you ever any more--never more--to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for.'They emerged from the bower. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. a collar of foam girding their bases.'How many are there? Three for papa.'How silent you are. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. Stephen met this man and stopped. by some means or other.''Ah. if I were not inclined to return.' said Mr. perhaps. Worm.

 sir. and found Mr. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. and remember them every minute of the day. on a close inspection. A misty and shady blue.'A fair vestal. But her new friend had promised. Mr. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. But you.Ah. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. he would be taken in.' said the vicar at length.''No.