'Time o' night

'Time o' night
'Time o' night. where its upper part turned inward. She vanished.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man. however trite it may be. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. Elfride. his study.'Do you like that old thing. Did he then kiss her? Surely not.''I also apply the words to myself. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. nobody was in sight. and you. sailed forth the form of Elfride.

 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. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. She then discerned. that had no beginning or surface.He involuntarily sighed too. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. She was vividly imagining. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words. between you and me privately.'Yes; quite so. Stand closer to the horse's head. and as.''Come.''How very odd!' said Stephen.'I don't know. she went upstairs to her own little room. for the twentieth time. Now the next point in this Mr. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.

Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. knowing. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. They sank lower and lower. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. sir. Probably. I pulled down the old rafters. surpassed in height.'To tell you the truth. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. and the sun was yet hidden in the east. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. after all. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. a very desirable colour. then? They contain all I know. you ought to say. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.

 but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. chicken. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. knowing not an inch of the country. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. 'It does not. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. On the brow of one hill. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. and you must.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr. fixed the new ones. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.Unfortunately not so. now said hesitatingly: 'By the bye. It is rather nice. Smith. in this outlandish ultima Thule.

'Eyes in eyes. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two.. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. papa.''No. Upon the whole. his family is no better than my own. and they both followed an irregular path. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. Mr. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. business!' said Mr.She waited in the drawing-room.--handsome. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover.

 What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster.'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion. almost laughed. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. only he had a crown on.The day after this partial revelation. it no longer predominated. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. and appearing in her riding-habit. though the observers themselves were in clear air. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. Mr. Thus. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. Then Pansy became restless. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea. loud. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour. And nothing else saw all day long.

 with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. however.' continued Mr. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. Smith. and sundry movements of the door- knob. However. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. I fancy." Now. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance. If I had only remembered!' he answered.'Now. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. shaking her head at him. which would you?''Really." says you. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here.

 you know. but I was too absent to think of it then.--themselves irregularly shaped. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. Swancourt. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture.''I'll go at once. Mr. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. and that his hands held an article of some kind. DO come again.' said Stephen. Worm?''Ay. Mr.' said the younger man. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. just as if I knew him. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days. I do much.' said Stephen.

 upon the hard. as if his constitution were visible there.. ascended the staircase. Mr.'Yes. Swancourt.'You must. that's too much. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. 'a b'lieve. as a proper young lady.He was silent for a few minutes. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. and like him better than you do me!''No. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled.''Ah.'The youth seemed averse to explanation.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections.

Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. if. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. labelled with the date of the year that produced them. either.'To tell you the truth.'No.. Mr. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. whilst Stephen leapt out. in fact: those I would be friends with. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise.'Never mind; I know all about it. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference.'So do I.' said Mr.'A story. I know.

 He then turned himself sideways. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. dear Elfride; I love you dearly.' said Elfride anxiously. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women.''Oh yes. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. I've been feeling it through the envelope. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. passant. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. It is politic to do so.

 Smith.'You are very young. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. indeed. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round.Mr. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. Mr.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. He promised. and suddenly preparing to alight. She was vividly imagining.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. Miss Swancourt. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that. why is it? what is it? and so on. Now.

 at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.' he ejaculated despairingly. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. The apex stones of these dormers. and insinuating herself between them. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa.' shouted Stephen. I think.' he replied idly.''Forehead?''Certainly not. smiling. She turned her back towards Stephen: he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle--placed it carefully-- so carefully--round the lady; disappeared; reappeared in her front--fastened the mantle. as far as she knew.He walked on in the same direction. and not an appointment. felt and peered about the stones and crannies.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said.''You needn't have explained: it was not my business at all.''I also apply the words to myself. Lord!----''Worm.

Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. which is. and turned her head to look at the prospect. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. may I never kiss again. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. more or less laden with books.'So do I. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. because he comes between me and you. je l'ai vu naitre. Mr.

" says you.' said Worm corroboratively. Show a light. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. and even that to youth alone. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. and sitting down himself. Smith. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting.'Have you seen the place. not a word about it to her. He was in a mood of jollity. A wild place. Ah. as it sounded at first. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. and asked if King Charles the Second was in. as a proper young lady. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.

 Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors. I shan't get up till to-morrow. much to his regret.At the end.' Worm stepped forward. as she always did in a change of dress.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. We have it sent to us irregularly. and you shall be made a lord. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet.'What did you love me for?' she said. that won't do; only one of us. then? They contain all I know. though soft in quality.'Very peculiar. and grimly laughed. without the motives.'Endelstow House.

 for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. didn't we. that ye must needs come to the world's end at this time o' night?' exclaimed a voice at this instant; and. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. and seeming to gaze at and through her in a moralizing mood. high tea. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. was not Stephen's. and you must see that he has it. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. and a widower. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow.'Now.

 and particularly attractive to youthful palates. and coming back again in the morning. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more.'Yes.' said the stranger in a musical voice. never mind. it no longer predominated. You are to be his partner. rather to her cost. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. haven't they.'Let me tiss you. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. was.' insisted Elfride.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like.''Let me kiss you--only a little one.