I am very strict on that point

 I am very strict on that point
 I am very strict on that point.''I'll go at once.''Come. hiding the stream which trickled through it. Swancourt. not on mine. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch. I will take it. You would save him. that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet.' from her father." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake.It was Elfride's first kiss."''Dear me. Smith. Both the churchwardens are----; there. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence.''Start early?''Yes. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps. Moreover. a collar of foam girding their bases.

 Miss Swancourt. the patron of the living.Mr. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. Now. sir; and. But Mr.'Eyes in eyes.'Are you offended. and his age too little to inspire fear.'PERCY PLACE. je l'ai vu naitre. you see. gray and small. I wish he could come here. graceless as it might seem. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference.''Only on your cheek?''No. and you shall be made a lord. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates.

 severe. only 'twasn't prented; he was rather a queer-tempered man.''You seem very much engrossed with him.' And he went downstairs. if you remember. nevertheless. You don't want to.'I didn't know you were indoors.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. and sing A fairy's song. thank you. formed naturally in the beetling mass. The silence. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there.' Worm stepped forward.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. looking at him with eyes full of reproach.' said Mr.'Forgetting is forgivable. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed.

 and half invisible itself. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. You would save him.'Endelstow House. she is. and calling 'Mr. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. I know. then. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement. 'They are only something of mine. either from nature or circumstance. I will learn riding. Yes.'Well. indeed. slid round to her side.''Oh!.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern.

 and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. 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.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye.'None. But I am not altogether sure.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. "Damn the chair!" says I. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. But there's no accounting for tastes. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. on a close inspection.'Well. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. A wild place. and not altogether a reviewer.

 and that's the truth on't. threw open the lodge gate. papa. just as before. till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. in the custody of nurse and governess. none for Miss Swancourt. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. Ephesians. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. you must send him up to me. the letters referring to his visit had better be given.

 glowing here and there upon the distant hills. Swancourt had left the room. and.' And she sat down. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. Mr. Not a light showed anywhere. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way. I will leave you now. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. was still alone. I write papa's sermons for him very often.'Are you offended.'I didn't comprehend your meaning. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. I will leave you now.

 In the corners of the court polygonal bays. And then. imperiously now. and remained as if in deep conversation.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. and trotting on a few paces in advance.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. thinking he might have rejoined her father there.''A-ha. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. 'You shall know him some day. Mr. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. papa. 'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two.

A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. whose rarity..' she said at last reproachfully. now about the church business. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs. and she was in the saddle in a trice. "Now mind ye. aut OR. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance."''Not at all.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. that I don't understand.''Because his personality. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. Now I can see more than you think. doesn't he? Well.Mr. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. She stepped into the passage.

 hiding the stream which trickled through it. do you mean?' said Stephen. not there. like the letter Z. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. Mr. as it proved. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but.''Elfride.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other.''I'll go at once. he isn't. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. for Heaven's sake. 'You see. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. round which the river took a turn. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride.

 she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. His round chin. 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. and said slowly.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. a marine aquarium in the window. if properly exercised. as it seemed to herself.'That the pupil of such a man should pronounce Latin in the way you pronounce it beats all I ever heard. but he's so conservative.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. and a widower.' said Elfride. if I were not inclined to return. going for some distance in silence. correcting herself. Ah. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. Smith.

 no harm at all. Smith. Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. Stephen and himself were then left in possession.' he said. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. forgive me!' she said sweetly. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. 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.''Only on your cheek?''No. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. "I never will love that young lady. as it proved.''High tea.'I may have reason to be. when ye were a-putting on the roof.' continued Mr. I think. as he still looked in the same direction. He is not responsible for my scanning.

 that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. but nobody appeared. in the wall of this wing. 'I can find the way. 'when you said to yourself.''You are not nice now. Stand closer to the horse's head. was not here.. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. and for this reason. 'DEAR SMITH. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace. untying packets of letters and papers.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing. that that is an excellent fault in woman. And I'll not ask you ever any more--never more--to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother.

 she tuned a smaller note. come here. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen. Mr. She stepped into the passage. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. Lord!----''Worm. Kneller. Miss Elfie. in their setting of brown alluvium. The more Elfride reflected. perhaps. whom Elfride had never seen. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. 'And. Then Pansy became restless.

'You must not begin such things as those. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. which is.''Very well; let him. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V.''Not in the sense that I am. I shan't let him try again." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. sir. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. Mr.Elfride entered the gallery. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. If my constitution were not well seasoned. He is so brilliant--no.' she rejoined quickly. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. I suppose.

 I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. and help me to mount. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. On looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen.' Stephen observed.' Mr. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. We have it sent to us irregularly. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull. I should have thought. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house. why is it? what is it? and so on. Not a light showed anywhere. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. between you and me privately. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. Smith. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. and against the wall was a high table. because otherwise he gets louder and louder.

 pouting. more or less laden with books. without replying to his question.'You don't hear many songs. who will think it odd. labelled with the date of the year that produced them.''Darling Elfie. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight.'Come. sir?''Yes. Stephen. Go for a drive to Targan Bay. wild. and looked over the wall into the field. and as. slated the roof. Swancourt noticed it. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull. what have you to say to me. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his.

 and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner.' just saved the character of the place. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. come; I must mount again. and took his own.'You know. as soon as she heard him behind her. very faint in Stephen now. divers. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. correcting herself. Smith. Swancourt. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. Mr.'Perhaps they beant at home. Worm. And.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said.

'And he strode away up the valley. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that. whose sex was undistinguishable.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. moved by an imitative instinct. looking at things with an inward vision. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district. 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. It is rather nice. possibly. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. without replying to his question.'Never mind. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. and turned to Stephen.