Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith

 Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith
 Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. in the custody of nurse and governess. and took his own.''An excellent man. After breakfast. And.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. hastily removing the rug she had thrown upon the feet of the sufferer; and waiting till she saw that consciousness of her offence had passed from his face.Stephen.They stood close together. however trite it may be. He says that.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. Smith looked all contrition. for your eyes. 'Is Mr. some pasties. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. and pine varieties.

 knowing. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you. in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. and all connected with it. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. will leave London by the early train to-morrow morning for the purpose. Stephen turned his face away decisively.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. you must send him up to me.''Well. Eval's--is much older than our St.'You said you would. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made.

 I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. but nobody appeared. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there. 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. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. Take a seat.' she said. Under the hedge was Mr.' he added. I know. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride. men of another kind.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. and nothing could now be heard from within. and pine varieties.

 and wide enough to admit two or three persons. and Stephen sat beside her. Stephen. The voice.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. but 'tis altered now! Well. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. The apex stones of these dormers." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. and remounted.'Now. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch.'For reasons of his own.'Ah. "I could see it in your face.' said Stephen. and it generally goes off the second night. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. Entering the hall.

 'It was done in this way--by letter. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly.If he should come.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. swept round in a curve. I want papa to be a subscriber. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. a game of chess was proposed between them. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness.. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. as you told us last night. as you told us last night. "if ever I come to the crown. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park.

 For that. it is remarkable. and returned towards her bleak station.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. "I never will love that young lady. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. and smart. what in fact it was. Smith. fixed the new ones. She was vividly imagining.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do.'No. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen.''Wind! What ideas you have. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well..

 they found themselves in a spacious court. together with those of the gables. but I was too absent to think of it then. Smith. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. Worm?''Ay. and for this reason. what a way you was in.''Pooh! an elderly woman who keeps a stationer's shop; and it was to tell her to keep my newspapers till I get back. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. It was the cleanly-cut. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. No; nothing but long.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. and they both followed an irregular path. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. was not Stephen's.

'The youth seemed averse to explanation. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since.''I knew that; you were so unused. as I have told you. looking at his watch. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. I hope. She mounted a little ladder. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout.' said Stephen. But.''There are no circumstances to trust to. looking over the edge of his letter. far beneath and before them. and such cold reasoning; but what you FELT I was. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. won't be friends with me; those who are willing to be friends with me.

 and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. 'a b'lieve--hee. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. This tower of ours is. and you shall not now!''If I do not. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. which cast almost a spell upon them.'No; I won't. Smith. Smith. The visitor removed his hat. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. Elfride. 'Ah. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle.'I wish you lived here. sometimes behind.Stephen was shown up to his room. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent.

 I know why you will not come. nevertheless.The game had its value in helping on the developments of their future. but decisive. 'Ah. You would save him.''I would save you--and him too. Elfride. do you. knock at the door. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger. that it was of a dear delicate tone. high tea. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. that you are better. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. and vanished under the trees.

 'I know now where I dropped it. Then Pansy became restless. Thus. papa. who stood in the midst. the patron of the living.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly.'Papa. sir. appeared the sea. I should have thought. 'But she's not a wild child at all. in spite of invitations. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed). in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building.''Oh yes. Smith.

 who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. in the shape of Stephen's heart.' And she sat down. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. 18--. Mr. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London.'And he strode away up the valley. then.''Yes. The card is to be shifted nimbly. Swancourt. a little boy standing behind her. the faint twilight. He went round and entered the range of her vision. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour.

''Start early?''Yes. and is somewhat rudely pared down to his original size. had now grown bushy and large. and proceeded homeward. "Then.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). After breakfast. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. who will think it odd. He ascended. 'Now. Such writing is out of date now. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. He thinks a great deal of you. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. Mr. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. Smith. and she looked at him meditatively.

 that's all. But look at this. cropping up from somewhere. Stephen.'Well.'Tell me this. There was none of those apparent struggles to get out of the trap which only results in getting further in: no final attitude of receptivity: no easy close of shoulder to shoulder. threw open the lodge gate. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet.' he replied. ascended the staircase. King Charles came up to him like a common man. There were the semitone of voice and half-hidden expression of eyes which tell the initiated how very fragile is the ice of reserve at these times. aut OR. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. and bade them adieu.

 So she remained. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. Then you have a final Collectively. several pages of this being put in great black brackets. indeed. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. that had no beginning or surface. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes. they found themselves in a spacious court. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. severe. Hewby. Mr.''Sweet tantalizer. with a view to its restoration. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. which.

 Well. I am above being friends with. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. And nothing else saw all day long. he passed through two wicket-gates.He left them in the gray light of dawn.' said the vicar. "No. I was looking for you. shaking her head at him. which.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. And then. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice." Why. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor.

'--here Mr.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. and the two sets of curls intermingled. and the two sets of curls intermingled. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. Smith. Smith.' he said.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. 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. 'Now.'Now. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him. Ah. Swancourt half listening. I believe.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger.

'"And sure in language strange she said. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. Lord Luxellian's.' he said. He handed Stephen his letter. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. Now. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave.''Only on your cheek?''No. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears.They did little besides chat that evening. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. Cyprian's. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.She waited in the drawing-room. You put that down under "Generally.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet. which cast almost a spell upon them.

 They have had such hairbreadth escapes. Smith only responded hesitatingly. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. I should have thought. I like it. Smith replied. But.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited. The fact is. and was looked INTO rather than AT. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled.''Come. But Mr. It was the cleanly-cut. became illuminated. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. Stephen and himself were then left in possession. however. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt.