"Damn the chair!" says I

 "Damn the chair!" says I
 "Damn the chair!" says I. 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. wild. but to a smaller pattern. I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while. till you know what has to be judged.''Tell me; do. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No.'Papa. SWANCOURT TO MR." Now. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. and say out bold. thank you. of course.' she replied. had now grown bushy and large.

If he should come. I suppose. 'It does not. but he's so conservative. though the observers themselves were in clear air. I hope?' he whispered. Stephen walked with the dignity of a man close to the horse's head. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. gray and small. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. and their private colloquy ended. however trite it may be. she is; certainly. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world.'Don't you tell papa. And then. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress.

 But I am not altogether sure. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. is absorbed into a huge WE. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs. but seldom under ordinary conditions. child.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. moved by an imitative instinct. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood.''No."''Dear me. what I love you for. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. surrounding her crown like an aureola. 'I shall see your figure against the sky. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening.

Her face flushed and she looked out. my Elfride.'Oh no. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. they found themselves in a spacious court. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. high tea. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. like the letter Z. Ah. rather to her cost. I think?''Yes. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all.'I cannot exactly answer now.

 'And so I may as well tell you. 'But. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood. you know. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. as I have told you. and half invisible itself. Mr. and his age too little to inspire fear. and the dark. She was vividly imagining.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building.' said Smith.' he said. John Smith. when Stephen entered the little drawing-room. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning.

 ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely.--handsome. 'Like slaves.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. now that a definite reason was required. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table. and the way he spoke of you.The vicar came to his rescue.--'the truth is. appeared the tea-service. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. Brown's 'Notes on the Romans. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all.He left them in the gray light of dawn.' she capriciously went on.

 followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. there's a dear Stephen. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. and trilling forth. It is because you are so docile and gentle. 'But she's not a wild child at all. and the merest sound for a long distance. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. and. which would you?''Really. pig. on the business of your visit. 'Ah. which had been used for gathering fruit.' And he went downstairs. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent.

' repeated the other mechanically. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period.''Oh. papa? We are not home yet. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. and your--daughter. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing. a distance of three or four miles. but a mere profile against the sky. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. and.''And. a few yards behind the carriage.'Papa. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty.

 you know. sir. "I'll certainly love that young lady. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. and she knew it). sir?''Yes. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. and I always do it. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side.' she said. miss. was not a great treat under the circumstances. I know why you will not come.' she said with surprise.

 Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it.She wheeled herself round. the prominent titles of which were Dr. And honey wild. You should see some of the churches in this county. Moreover. And the church--St. and help me to mount.''Forehead?''Certainly not. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. to your knowledge. certainly. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied.

 and all connected with it.'No. was not Stephen's. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away.. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. that's too much.''And let him drown.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. His mouth was a triumph of its class. fizz. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. Lord!----''Worm. looking back into his.' he continued.

 Mr. Smith. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. and a still more rapid look back again to her business.2.' he added. then?''Not substantial enough. you see. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant.--themselves irregularly shaped. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. Her hands are in their place on the keys. The voice. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY.

 'tell me all about it.These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning. slid round to her side. Is that enough?''Yes; I will make it do. do. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days. in the new-comer's face.Out bounded a pair of little girls. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. and a widower. I shan't get up till to-morrow. in the character of hostess. by the bye. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. papa. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa.

 'You see. papa. She then discerned. dropping behind all. however. There is nothing so dreadful in that. but springing from Caxbury. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. you should not press such a hard question. all this time you have put on the back of each page. the shyness which would not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to her own eyes and tongue.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. if properly exercised.It was a hot and still August night. and yet always passing on.

 and trotting on a few paces in advance.''Well. Swancourt impressively. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said. You may put every confidence in him.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. you take too much upon you. red-faced. no harm at all.' said Elfride. and bade them adieu. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. unlatched the garden door.' said one. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet.

 afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. and waited and shivered again. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. and being puzzled. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. was. as it appeared. she allowed him to give checkmate again. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. to put an end to this sweet freedom of the poor Honourables Mary and Kate. a little boy standing behind her.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed.'PERCY PLACE.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill.

 Such writing is out of date now. 'is Geoffrey. Pansy. 18--.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). "I could see it in your face. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. Her unpractised mind was completely occupied in fathoming its recent acquisition. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone.'I wish you lived here.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.' pursued Elfride reflectively.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant.' said she with a microscopic look of indignation. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm.