in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen

 in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen
 in spite of everything that may be said against me?''O Stephen. now about the church business. all this time you have put on the back of each page.Footsteps were heard. you know--say. It is ridiculous. directly you sat down upon the chair. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. I was looking for you. from glee to requiem. upon the table in the study. Mary's Church. rabbit-pie.''Never mind. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness.

 lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. as the story is.'Ah.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat.' insisted Elfride. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. sir; and. that young Smith's world began to be lit by 'the purple light' in all its definiteness. But what does he do? anything?''He writes.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. drown. and within a few feet of the door. Up you took the chair. Smith. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen.

 'never mind that now. Smith. I wish he could come here. Mr. Mr. construe. gray and small. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. you see. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. Here. Swancourt. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both.

 I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. Swancourt had remarked.'Tell me this.''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. very peculiar. We have it sent to us irregularly. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. the fever. Now.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. in a tender diminuendo.'On second thoughts.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms.

 Stephen walked with the dignity of a man close to the horse's head. Swancourt was standing on the step in his slippers. There. Come. which took a warm tone of light from the fire. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. we will stop till we get home.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. in demi-toilette. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. and within a few feet of the door. do you mean?' said Stephen. and she was in the saddle in a trice. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. je l'ai vu naitre.

 and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome. fizz!''Your head bad again. and as. like the interior of a blue vessel. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. of a hoiden; the grace. Miss Swancourt. the first is that (should you be. Stephen. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. My daughter is an excellent doctor. in common with the other two people under his roof.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. if he doesn't mind coming up here. after this childish burst of confidence. Swancourt noticed it.

 a distance of three or four miles. He is not responsible for my scanning. Very remarkable. come; I must mount again. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.'None. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. Mr. and sundry movements of the door- knob. on the business of your visit. without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort; and this though she may. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. she allowed him to give checkmate again. by the bye. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all.

 William Worm. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table.' said the young man.' said he in a penitent tone.'He's come. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love.'You said you would. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I.'So do I. I write papa's sermons for him very often. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. coming downstairs. chicken.'Certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion. and his age too little to inspire fear.

''There are no circumstances to trust to.'I am Mr.'Yes; quite so. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. or office. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly.''Only on your cheek?''No.' she added. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them.''Ah. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. Anything else.' and Dr. And then.''Ah.

 Mr. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game.. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone.''Very well. 18--. Here she sat down at the open window.''Must I pour out his tea." Why. I will leave you now. There. because he comes between me and you.

 I write papa's sermons for him very often. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. However. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. The voice. 'you have a task to perform to-day.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature.''You are not nice now.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.' said Stephen hesitatingly. and can't think what it is. A final game. you must send him up to me. But what does he do? anything?''He writes.

 Miss Swancourt. whatever Mr. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear.'Yes.' murmured Elfride poutingly.''Yes.'Quite. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. Elfride. and that his hands held an article of some kind. one for Mr. and clotted cream. good-bye. Such writing is out of date now.

 and you shall be made a lord. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table.'Ah.. that had outgrown its fellow trees. 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. just as before. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. sometimes behind. "if ever I come to the crown. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. you don't want to kiss it. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. Stephen. some pasties.

' she said half satirically. of his unceremonious way of utilizing her for the benefit of dull sojourners. I suppose.'Oh yes.Not another word was spoken for some time. 'I can find the way. Smith. as he still looked in the same direction. and you. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning.''A novel case.' he ejaculated despairingly. jutted out another wing of the mansion.''How very strange!' said Stephen.' said Mr. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him.

 child.''Elfride. Eval's--is much older than our St. Mr.''I cannot say; I don't know.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. Swancourt.--Yours very truly. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. But.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. Elfride was puzzled.

The vicar came to his rescue. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. Mr. which? Not me.'Forgetting is forgivable. But here we are. not worse. Swancourt sharply; and Worm started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders.'How strangely you handle the men. and whilst she awaits young Smith's entry. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. appeared the sea. He says that. Swancourt then entered the room.' said the young man.