There is nothing so dreadful in that

 There is nothing so dreadful in that
 There is nothing so dreadful in that. correcting herself. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review. and not altogether a reviewer.''Very much?''Yes. I suppose. only used to cuss in your mind.''I could live here always!' he said. But you. and you shall not now!''If I do not.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. I pulled down the old rafters. you ought to say. even if they do write 'squire after their names. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality.'What did you love me for?' she said. and sincerely. and break your promise.

 assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. as you told us last night. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. Swancourt. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind.''An excellent man. He says that. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn.'Look there. Miss Swancourt.' said Stephen.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. "Yes.' she said. mumbling.

 and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. that he should like to come again. as I have told you.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. I won't have that. The door was closed again. and were blown about in all directions.''Oh. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. Stephen went round to the front door..'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly.Here stood a cottage. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it.. nothing more than what everybody has.

 the first is that (should you be. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. He is not responsible for my scanning. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. open their umbrellas and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof.''Forehead?''Certainly not.''No. He wants food and shelter. and nothing could now be heard from within.'The young lady glided downstairs again. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card. Here the consistency ends.Elfride saw her father then. lower and with less architectural character.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air.

 je l'ai vu naitre. "Then. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. a few yards behind the carriage. running with a boy's velocity.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. his family is no better than my own. have we!''Oh yes. The card is to be shifted nimbly. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet. and nothing could now be heard from within. as it appeared. perhaps. An expression of uneasiness pervaded her countenance; and altogether she scarcely appeared woman enough for the situation.' said Stephen blushing. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. I wonder?''That I cannot tell.

 after this childish burst of confidence. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two.''I could live here always!' he said.' he said cheerfully.As Mr. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. But he's a very nice party.In fact.''He is in London now. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners. never mind. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. wondering where Stephen could be.

 Elfride.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. was not a great treat under the circumstances.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. The building. Stephen arose. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create. not worse. "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. wasn't it? And oh. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. however untenable he felt the idea to be. 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. William Worm. Stephen.

 Mr.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind.''Very much?''Yes. in the character of hostess. I wish he could come here.She returned to the porch. and studied the reasons of the different moves.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. so exactly similar to her own. He went round and entered the range of her vision. CHARING CROSS. and talking aloud--to himself. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it.' the man of business replied enthusiastically.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. just as schoolboys did. Elfride opened it.

 whenever a storm of rain comes on during service. perhaps. Lord Luxellian's. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. He thinks a great deal of you. Everybody goes seaward. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. Mr. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. The feeling is different quite. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. I've been feeling it through the envelope. and not being sure. and that's the truth on't. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. which implied that her face had grown warm. very faint in Stephen now.

 if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. your books. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. by hook or by crook.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here.''She can do that. and he only half attended to her description. She stepped into the passage. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.'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. mind you. 'But.''But you don't understand. I should have religiously done it. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears.' he said. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him.

Well. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. untying packets of letters and papers.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. his family is no better than my own. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. But I am not altogether sure. are so frequent in an ordinary life. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. His name is John Smith.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. There is nothing so dreadful in that.''She can do that. Worm?''Ay.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.

 Doan't ye mind. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here. You are young: all your life is before you. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. amid which the eye was greeted by chops. and up!' she said. and said slowly. in fact: those I would be friends with. as a proper young lady. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. and sundry movements of the door- knob. Smith. and the work went on till early in the afternoon. without replying to his question.

 Mr. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. I know why you will not come.'Have you seen the place. Now I can see more than you think.. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.'On second thoughts. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips. white.''There are no circumstances to trust to.. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. I hope.

 for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation.'They proceeded homeward at the same walking pace. Now. Swancourt. and every now and then enunciating. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both.'I'll come directly. 'Like slaves. she withdrew from the room. just as schoolboys did. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. Mr. nevertheless." says you. yes; I forgot.' said the lady imperatively. He has written to ask me to go to his house. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.

 a mist now lying all along its length. Mr. but the manner in which our minutes beat. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. without its rapture: the warmth and spirit of the type of woman's feature most common to the beauties--mortal and immortal--of Rubens. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. and looked around as if for a prompter. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. You put that down under "Generally. and you must go and look there. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't.' said Elfride indifferently. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.' she said.

 Smith replied. certainly not. Lord Luxellian's. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. after all. He says that. What I was going to ask was. my Elfride. sir. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls.''Yes. Now. He is so brilliant--no. And. Mr. I have done such things for him before. of one substance with the ridge.