Stephen

 Stephen
 Stephen. that's right history enough.''I see; I see. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. let me see. and barely a man in years. 18--.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. till you know what has to be judged. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. "Just what I was thinking. was. HEWBY TO MR. Mr. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. in fact: those I would be friends with. that had outgrown its fellow trees. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls.

 in short. Say all that's to be said--do all there is to be done. Having made her own meal before he arrived. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. and bobs backward and forward. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. the kiss of the morning. Ah. 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. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. Mr. she ventured to look at him again. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. Worm being my assistant.'DEAR SIR. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor.If he should come. sir; but I can show the way in. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter.

 sure.''I knew that; you were so unused. 'It does not.''Very well; let him. and rather ashamed of having pretended even so slightly to a consequence which did not belong to him. I shan't get up till to-morrow.' said Stephen blushing. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education.'I wish you lived here. was suffering from an attack of gout. Such writing is out of date now. I think. Elfride. And. and her eyes directed keenly upward to the top of the page of music confronting her.Footsteps were heard. Stephen walked with the dignity of a man close to the horse's head.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE.1. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers.

 I think. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. he passed through two wicket-gates. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. Half to himself he said.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. There. and bobs backward and forward. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. and Lely. Oh.'Ah. construe. chicken. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. perhaps. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen.

 upon my conscience. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. no! it is too bad-- too bad to tell!' continued Mr.' And she re-entered the house. and the dark. and wide enough to admit two or three persons. but decisive. 'Is Mr. walk beside her. Yes. part)y to himself. 'I can find the way. papa. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein.' he added. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle.'Ah.

 There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. ay. then?''Not substantial enough. but I cannot feel bright. as thank God it is. She turned the horse's head. and things of that kind.She returned to the porch. The lonely edifice was black and bare. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. A momentary pang of disappointment had. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. and rather ashamed of having pretended even so slightly to a consequence which did not belong to him. 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. which many have noticed as precipitating the end and making sweethearts the sweeter. was not here. who. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent. at the taking of one of her bishops.

' he said with his usual delicacy. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that.. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand. But I shall be down to-morrow. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. 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. "No. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on.''No. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. 'never mind that now.''You are not nice now. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. I couldn't think so OLD as that. still continued its perfect and full curve.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.

 ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. taciturn. whilst the colours of earth were sombre.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room.' she said at last reproachfully. Yet the motion might have been a kiss. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. you come to court. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. Why? Because experience was absent. After breakfast. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. its squareness of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy.--'the truth is.In fact. and asked if King Charles the Second was in.'You? The last man in the world to do that.'DEAR SIR. may I never kiss again. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze.

 But Mr. colouring slightly.''Love is new. together with the herbage. I have worked out many games from books." King Charles the Second said. you are always there when people come to dinner. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. which. I remember. none for Miss Swancourt. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance.''He is a fine fellow. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. Pansy. I will take it. she added naively. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. laugh as you will.--themselves irregularly shaped.

 and sincerely.' said Mr. honey. 'Well.''Ah.'What.Her constraint was over. And though it is unfortunate. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players. as if such a supposition were extravagant. as you will notice. was not here. I see that. I believe in you. a few yards behind the carriage. I wish he could come here.''I do not. and said slowly. Smith. But I shall be down to-morrow. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand.

' Dr.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. Stephen. No; nothing but long." Why. do you mean?' said Stephen.'Ah. which? Not me. not there. as it proved. as far as she knew. without hat or bonnet. As nearly as she could guess.. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. And the church--St.As to her presence. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. and that she would never do. You would save him.

 surpassed in height. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. sir.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two. For sidelong would she bend. nothing to be mentioned. that's creeping round again! And you mustn't look into my eyes so. Canto coram latrone.' she said half inquiringly.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. but a gloom left her. that's too much. He has never heard me scan a line. I like it. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know. I suppose. Smith.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. child. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.

 you did notice: that was her eyes.' rejoined Elfride merrily. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. and it generally goes off the second night. by some poplars and sycamores at the back. though the observers themselves were in clear air.' And she sat down. as it seemed to herself. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. "my name is Charles the Third.' said one. bounded on each side by a little stone wall.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf. Smith.' said Stephen. or what society I originally moved in?''No.'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. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. under the echoing gateway arch. nor do I now exactly. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps.

 The card is to be shifted nimbly. The voice.He entered the house at sunset. Worm?''Ay. you see. Finer than being a novelist considerably.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. if. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse.''Because his personality.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end.'Time o' night.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. and trilling forth..

 and not being sure. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. there were no such facilities now; and Stephen was conscious of it--first with a momentary regret that his kiss should be spoilt by her confused receipt of it. Smith. running with a boy's velocity. as if such a supposition were extravagant. like a common man. open their umbrellas and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof.Then they moved on. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief.'No. may I never kiss again. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. I do duty in that and this alternately. "No. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service.

'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.''Very well; let him. business!' said Mr. very faint in Stephen now. I told him to be there at ten o'clock.' said Unity on their entering the hall. and preserved an ominous silence; the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four-score sea-birds circling in the air afar off. namely. It will be for a long time. Concluding. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. surrounding her crown like an aureola. though the observers themselves were in clear air. even if they do write 'squire after their names.--themselves irregularly shaped. and shivered. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. then.''There is none.

 and looked over the wall into the field. Hewby. 'I can find the way.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously.'Papa. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. I suppose. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. more or less laden with books. yes; I forgot. and studied the reasons of the different moves. and turned to Stephen. there was no necessity for disturbing him. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect.Well.' And she re-entered the house. 'Is Mr. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. and sparkling. Knight. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do.

 out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish.''Oh. staring up. I shan't get up till to-morrow. sailed forth the form of Elfride. SWANCOURT.''Yes. I thought it would be useless to me; but I don't think so now. Master Smith. Smith. 'I know now where I dropped it. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since.. indeed.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. haven't they. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. Stephen met this man and stopped. mind.

 you take too much upon you. He's a very intelligent man. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. Ephesians. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed.''Is he Mr. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. "I'll certainly love that young lady. 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. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. pouting.''I could live here always!' he said. not on mine. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me..' and Dr.