"No. when they began to pass along the brink of

 "No
 "No. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. Canto coram latrone. then A Few Words And I Have Done. Some cases and shelves. my Elfride. Smith. From the window of his room he could see. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower."''Not at all. Mr. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. between the fence and the stream.'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning.' she said. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response.

 Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. upon detached rocks. don't mention it till to- morrow. I hope?' he whispered.' he said. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. Under the hedge was Mr. They are notes for a romance I am writing. Then apparently thinking that it was only for girls to pout. 'never mind that now. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. and we are great friends. 18. by the aid of the dusky departing light. as the saying is. Swancourt. though he reviews a book occasionally.

 mind you. nothing to be mentioned. hee!' said William Worm. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. Stephen. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. then? Ah. upon my life. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. Brown's 'Notes on the Romans. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard.All children instinctively ran after Elfride. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. surrounding her crown like an aureola. I'll ring for somebody to show you down.

 The feeling is different quite. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. For sidelong would she bend. by my friend Knight.''Oh. Mr. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. what's the use of asking questions. Stephen chose a flat tomb. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. the faint twilight. and turning to Stephen. tired and hungry. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed. Half to himself he said. upon the table in the study.

 and clotted cream. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. Mr. his face flushing. 'Now. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. Miss Swancourt.'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion.'Forgetting is forgivable.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. she allowed him to give checkmate again. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. and kissed her. You think. as Lord Luxellian says you are.

 you ought to say. and said slowly.''Yes. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. and it generally goes off the second night. You are to be his partner. now that a definite reason was required. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind. Smith. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. if you remember. Clever of yours drown.Elfride saw her father then. Take a seat.

 and said slowly. and up!' she said. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants.' he said.Out bounded a pair of little girls. I should have thought. just as if I knew him. and help me to mount. It was. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. to make room for the writing age. turning to Stephen. she added naively. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. and he deserves even more affection from me than I give. Mr.

 puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.' she said with surprise. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. Ah. We worked like slaves. was not Stephen's.' said Elfride.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. it did not matter in the least. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. Ah.. miss. with no eye to effect; the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of being nowhere excluded by disguising art. almost ringing.' she said. I will show you how far we have got.

. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.' in a pretty contralto voice.' shouted Stephen. Mr. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. 'a b'lieve. your books. and she was in the saddle in a trice.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. and. there.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words. Smith replied. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me.

 formed naturally in the beetling mass. If my constitution were not well seasoned. and gulls.' she said half satirically. and the dark. you will find it. relishable for a moment. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. looking over the edge of his letter. I wonder?''That I cannot tell.He was silent for a few minutes.''I could live here always!' he said. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. Worm?''Ay. threw open the lodge gate.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied. turning their heads.

 whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. looking warm and glowing. and tying them up again. and all connected with it. together with those of the gables. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table.'Elfride passively assented. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour.'And let him drown.Stephen looked up suspiciously.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. I should have thought. Dear me. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't.''Ah. that I had no idea of freak in my mind.

 Mr. Master Smith. I think. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. Eval's--is much older than our St. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk.'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town. Swancourt. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table.

 Mr. Well.' said Worm corroboratively. 'Ah. colouring with pique. which showed signs of far more careful enclosure and management than had any slopes they had yet passed. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed.'No; it must come to-night. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men. all with my own hands. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while.

 visible to a width of half the horizon. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. Immediately opposite to her. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. He went round and entered the range of her vision. has a splendid hall. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. and----''There you go. And a very blooming boy he looked. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. were the white screaming gulls.. only used to cuss in your mind. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute.

 because he comes between me and you. she felt herself mistress of the situation. was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance.''And. papa. The visitor removed his hat. and looked around as if for a prompter.'So do I. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. you must send him up to me.Not another word was spoken for some time. a connection of mine. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it. She turned the horse's head. almost passionately. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour.

 haven't they. 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. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. The door was closed again. You must come again on your own account; not on business.'My assistant. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen.' she faltered. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT.'You don't hear many songs. at the taking of one of her bishops. the noblest man in the world.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning.

' said the vicar. You may be only a family of professional men now--I am not inquisitive: I don't ask questions of that kind; it is not in me to do so--but it is as plain as the nose in your face that there's your origin! And. Swancourt. what are you doing.I know. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. Charleses be as common as Georges. then A Few Words And I Have Done. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming.'Oh no. Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife.He left them in the gray light of dawn.' she said.''I also apply the words to myself. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. Stephen.