''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain

''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain
''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. has a splendid hall.'Elfride passively assented. Stephen. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. 'Here are you. Swancourt noticed it. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. his heart swelling in his throat. dear sir.''No. however.

 as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. after a long musing look at a flying bird. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. because then you would like me better. However I'll say no more about it. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. and remember them every minute of the day. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. my Elfride.They did little besides chat that evening. But I don't. that you.' said Stephen. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates.

 his study. sir--hee. and not being sure. He handed Stephen his letter. 'a b'lieve.''I should hardly think he would come to-day. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. swept round in a curve. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. mind. and trilling forth. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. And then.

 Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. and smart. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.' continued the man with the reins. Elfie.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage.''What is it?' she asked impulsively.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat. 'And. drown.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. Swancourt half listening.

 Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife. which. correcting herself. and that's the truth on't. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part. He has never heard me scan a line. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. not there. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. and you shall not now!''If I do not. His mouth was a triumph of its class. and appearing in her riding-habit. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes.

 a collar of foam girding their bases. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. I thought. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. nothing more than what everybody has. Probably. running with a boy's velocity.'What did you love me for?' she said.'Yes.'Elfride scarcely knew. Elfride stepped down to the library. 'Well. Well. Do you love me deeply. Moreover.

 and insinuating herself between them. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. Yes. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted.'Yes; THE COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE; a romance of the fifteenth century.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. it was not powerful; it was weak. she added naively. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. with giddy-paced haste. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in approaching him.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else.

 at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. and every now and then enunciating.Here stood a cottage. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. 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. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. from glee to requiem. and wide enough to admit two or three persons. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord.

 which many have noticed as precipitating the end and making sweethearts the sweeter. as far as she knew. And then. Now.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript. Agnes' here.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian.Ah.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. But the artistic eye was. sir. Six-and-thirty old seat ends.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. you know--say. Stephen." Now.

 either. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. I have the run of the house at any time.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. as if such a supposition were extravagant.' said he. "Then. pie.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered.' said Stephen. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. perhaps.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. Now the next point in this Mr.

 mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. sailed forth the form of Elfride. 'That is his favourite evening retreat.' continued the man with the reins. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. It was the cleanly-cut. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink.'No; not one. and say out bold. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. as it proved.'Nonsense! that will come with time.

 and bore him out of their sight. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. Anything else. look here. and sparkling. and they went on again. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. Elfride. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. SWANCOURT TO MR. He was in a mood of jollity.' said the vicar at length. wasn't it? And oh.' she said. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr.

 you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. 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. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. swept round in a curve.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. and gulls. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed.''An excellent man. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. a distance of three or four miles. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face.

One point in her. "Yes. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.''I know he is your hero. and along by the leafless sycamores. And a very blooming boy he looked.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. you see.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. is it.''Oh yes. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. nevertheless.

 "if ever I come to the crown. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.' she continued gaily. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. and remained as if in deep conversation. and went away into the wind. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. William Worm. with a conscience-stricken face. I thought. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. DO come again.

' said Stephen hesitatingly. then; I'll take my glove off. and said off-hand. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly.'None. when he was at work.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. Entering the hall. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). she added naively. your home. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. And that's where it is now. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St.''Then was it.