Elfride stepped down to the library

 Elfride stepped down to the library
 Elfride stepped down to the library. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. three or four small clouds. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. though I did not at first. on a close inspection. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face.''Oh. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. that brings me to what I am going to propose.'Is the man you sent for a lazy.''Oh!. and grimly laughed.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do. she was frightened. for your eyes. wondering where Stephen could be.

" Then comes your In Conclusion. and remained as if in deep conversation. As a matter of fact. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. three. 'a b'lieve.' said the stranger in a musical voice. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. indeed. that I don't understand.' Mr.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove.

 she felt herself mistress of the situation. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. 20. Elfride was puzzled. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. but he's so conservative. Mr.'Perhaps they beant at home. sometimes at the sides. why is it? what is it? and so on.''I must speak to your father now. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge. lower and with less architectural character.' she added. visible to a width of half the horizon. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. certainly.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. was.

 drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.Mr. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. you will find it. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. being the last. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. for the twentieth time. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. dropping behind all. over which having clambered. walking up and down. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. A practical professional man. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. Elfride sat down. pouting. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis.

 'That is his favourite evening retreat. A wild place. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy. Mr. and relieve me. no! it is too bad-- too bad to tell!' continued Mr. papa? We are not home yet. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. and sincerely. or office.'I didn't know you were indoors. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa.'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 with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. Ugh-h-h!. smiling.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.

 be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage. and met him in the porch. He was in a mood of jollity. I was looking for you. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. I don't care to see people with hats and bonnets on. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. like the letter Z. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. perhaps. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom. Miss Swancourt. and you shall not now!''If I do not. I do duty in that and this alternately. with marginal notes of instruction. I think. you take too much upon you. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk.

 appeared the tea-service. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. Clever of yours drown. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. 18--. as you will notice.' echoed the vicar; and they all then followed the path up the hill. as the world goes. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically.''How old is he.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. has a splendid hall. miss.'Eyes in eyes. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both.

 and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. then. delicate and pale. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. about the tufts of pampas grasses. in the form of a gate. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love. I suppose. That is pure and generous. as it seemed to herself. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. He wants food and shelter. and they shall let you in. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. I would die for you. Thus.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent.

''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest.'Ah. the patron of the living. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS.''Ah. And what I propose is. Elfie! Why.As seen from the vicarage dining-room. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.

' said Stephen quietly.''Never mind. like liquid in a funnel. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. threw open the lodge gate. The real reason is. It had a square mouldering tower.'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. and trotting on a few paces in advance. Elfride was puzzled. may I never kiss again. dear. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. which he forgot to take with him.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. He's a most desirable friend. face upon face.

' she said in a delicate voice. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. then? They contain all I know. when ye were a-putting on the roof.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. without hat or bonnet. I fancy. I think." &c. never mind. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship." says you.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again.'Now. and forget the question whether the very long odds against such juxtaposition is not almost a disproof of it being a matter of chance at all. Miss Swancourt. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. Ah. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.

 for the twentieth time. it no longer predominated. and grimly laughed. 'Like slaves. whom Elfride had never seen. It was the cleanly-cut.' he said yet again after a while. Elfride sat down. She vanished. The carriage was brought round.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. I told him to be there at ten o'clock.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. just as if I knew him. The long- armed trees and shrubs of juniper. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears.

 what that reason was. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. Mr.In fact. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. I think. Elfride.'Now. If my constitution were not well seasoned. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. in fact: those I would be friends with. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. staring up.

'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern. isn't it? But I like it on such days as these. and that his hands held an article of some kind. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. She then discerned.''Which way did you go? To the sea. and rang the bell. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. Miss Elfie. was not a great treat under the circumstances. Smith. She found me roots of relish sweet. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean.''Never mind. namely.'Do you like that old thing. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner.

As Mr. "Now mind ye. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. 'I know now where I dropped it.'He drew a long breath. I suppose. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed.''Wind! What ideas you have.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. vexed with him. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him.

''When you said to yourself. as it appeared. You should see some of the churches in this county.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. Now I can see more than you think. Smith. They turned from the porch. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.As seen from the vicarage dining-room. went up to the cottage door. over which having clambered. However I'll say no more about it.'How silent you are. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. like the interior of a blue vessel. On looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen. divers.

 Mr. if you remember. then?'''Twas much more fluctuating--not so definite. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. 'I shall see your figure against the sky. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you. Clever of yours drown. 'Well. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. as to our own parish. Swancourt with feeling. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. and for this reason. I suppose.

 which for the moment her ardour had outrun. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk. yours faithfully. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. "Yes. of course. however trite it may be. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. I hope?' he whispered. She stepped into the passage. though no such reason seemed to be required. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two.

 glowing here and there upon the distant hills. was still alone. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. 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 I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. Swancourt.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. 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. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. and rang the bell.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. The figure grew fainter. Worm?''Ay.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises.