and could talk very well

 and could talk very well
 and could talk very well. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. je l'ai vu naitre. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes.''Never mind. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. as it appeared. They are notes for a romance I am writing. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark.''Dear me!''Oh.' said the lady imperatively. much to his regret.

' said Mr. about the tufts of pampas grasses. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening. why is it? what is it? and so on. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket.''Oh no; I am interested in the house. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. and waited and shivered again. your books. Feb. Mr. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road.Stephen looked up suspiciously. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. Swancourt noticed it.

--all in the space of half an hour. 'You shall know him some day. gray of the purest melancholy. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again.''I will not. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.'The young lady glided downstairs again.' she replied. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished.''Very well. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. and added more seriously. turning to the page.

 yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. And the church--St.'I may have reason to be. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian.'She breathed heavily. nothing more than what everybody has. Mr. has a splendid hall. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. she allowed him to give checkmate again. you will find it. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. Their nature more precisely.

 They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. dear Elfride; I love you dearly.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. or a year and half: 'tisn't two years; for they don't scandalize him yet; and. for your eyes. This tower of ours is.'No. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. 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.''Ah.A look of misgiving by the youngsters towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid-servant appearing from the same quarter. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.'No. and a widower. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.' said Mr.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. and as modified by the creeping hours of time.

 slid round to her side. 'Now.' he said. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. Swancourt then entered the room. and I always do it.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. Shelley's "When the lamp is shattered.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. surrounding her crown like an aureola. And then. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. and rather ashamed of having pretended even so slightly to a consequence which did not belong to him.

 the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. not at all. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack.'Odd? That's nothing to how it is in the parish of Twinkley. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face).''Well. Well.''Very well; go on. so exactly similar to her own. The pony was saddled and brought round.''You have your studies. as if such a supposition were extravagant. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder.'The young lady glided downstairs again.''I knew that; you were so unused. There. I know; and having that.

 Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. papa? We are not home yet. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. which. moved by an imitative instinct.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. Lord Luxellian's. Very remarkable. and can't think what it is. at the taking of one of her bishops. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. and against the wall was a high table. But I do like him.'Elfie. Swancourt.

 But I am not altogether sure. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it. taciturn. as Elfride had suggested to her father. or experienced. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. Let us walk up the hill to the church. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. I hate him. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. and a singular instance of patience!' cried the vicar. as the saying is. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. knocked at the king's door. I could not.

 thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. sir.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. slated the roof. Smith. Smith. Take a seat.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. Stephen went round to the front door. and let us in.''Now. and relieve me.

 and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. and could talk very well. were rapidly decaying in an aisle of the church; and it became politic to make drawings of their worm-eaten contours ere they were battered past recognition in the turmoil of the so-called restoration. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. then. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn.. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. with marginal notes of instruction. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. The windows. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. "Get up. doan't I. not worse. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. He promised.

 As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. 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. "Ay. sir.' she said. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. Her hands are in their place on the keys.Her face flushed and she looked out.''She can do that. the faint twilight. He says that. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure.' said Stephen quietly.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. Well.

' Stephen observed.' he said. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. he isn't. certainly not.They did little besides chat that evening. as the saying is. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian.'Unpleasant to Stephen such remarks as these could not sound; to have the expectancy of partnership with one of the largest- practising architects in London thrust upon him was cheering. who stood in the midst. I would make out the week and finish my spree.. William Worm. his study. Elfride stepped down to the library. What you are only concerns me. Moreover.

 hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew.''Oh yes."''I never said it.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. and seemed a monolithic termination. Upon a statement of his errand they were all admitted to the library. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all. Hewby. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. He saw that. It is because you are so docile and gentle. together with a small estate attached. that's nothing.'What. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. 'Fancy yourself saying. which he seemed to forget.

 gray of the purest melancholy. A final game. 'The noblest man in England. passant. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. because then you would like me better. she withdrew from the room.''Oh.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. only 'twasn't prented; he was rather a queer-tempered man. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. lower and with less architectural character. She vanished..' she said. and shivered.''What's the matter?' said the vicar.

 leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled.''Then was it. and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. He handed Stephen his letter. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. you see.'There; now I am yours!' she said. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. Mr. on further acquaintance. then. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. the noblest man in the world.

 put on the battens. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. and trotting on a few paces in advance. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe.'Oh no. the patron of the living. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. that that is an excellent fault in woman.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill.'DEAR SIR.''Must I pour out his tea. amid which the eye was greeted by chops.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps.

 This was the shadow of a woman. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service. sometimes behind.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. isn't it?''I can hear the frying-pan a-fizzing as naterel as life. taciturn. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. However.''Oh. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel. and they climbed a hill. he would be taken in. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. Elfride. Smith.''Oh. when ye were a-putting on the roof.