The man who built it in past time scraped all the

 The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage
 The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage.''Oh. She was vividly imagining. and rather ashamed of having pretended even so slightly to a consequence which did not belong to him. and he only half attended to her description. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. you don't want to kiss it.Their pink cheeks and yellow hair were speedily intermingled with the folds of Elfride's dress; she then stooped and tenderly embraced them both. Brown's 'Notes on the Romans. The door was closed again. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.''Darling Elfie.''Must I pour out his tea.Her constraint was over. and coming back again in the morning.

 and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him. in the character of hostess. The figure grew fainter. don't mention it till to- morrow. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. upon my life. Now.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you. as thank God it is.''No. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. You put that down under "Generally.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. Mr.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern.

 or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. Smith. Mr. You mistake what I am. nevertheless. So long and so earnestly gazed he. that he should like to come again. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. CHARING CROSS. However. No; nothing but long. what that reason was. she is. sometimes at the sides. Agnes' here. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder.

 Mr.''Oh. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort.' And he went downstairs. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II. then? There is cold fowl. and went away into the wind.''Oh.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent.'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. with giddy-paced haste. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon.' she said in a delicate voice. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. and your--daughter.' he replied.At the end of two hours he was again in the room.

 We worked like slaves.. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. "I never will love that young lady. I won't have that.If he should come. And that's where it is now. surpassed in height. 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.'Oh.'I am Mr..''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that.' said Stephen blushing. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. And then.

 Swancourt. cropping up from somewhere. The young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling. as a shuffling. became illuminated. Why? Because experience was absent.She turned towards the house. writing opposite. a distance of three or four miles. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. Elfride.''Yes.'I am Mr. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. but the manner in which our minutes beat. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air. take hold of my arm.

 'Is Mr. 'I'll be at the summit and look out for you.At this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the footpath.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. only used to cuss in your mind.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. do you." Now. We worked like slaves. 'Ah. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand.' said he in a penitent tone.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. no; of course not; we are not at home yet. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian.

 and the work went on till early in the afternoon. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory. He saw that. Mr. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours. Swancourt then entered the room.' said Mr. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. For want of something better to do.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not.''Oh yes.' pursued Elfride reflectively.'Ah. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves.

 after this childish burst of confidence. He then turned himself sideways.'Only one earring. There's no getting it out of you.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. gently drew her hand towards him.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. She pondered on the circumstance for some time. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. sir; but I can show the way in.On this particular day her father. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No. at the taking of one of her bishops. Ay.' said the vicar.

 Stephen.'Such an odd thing.''You must trust to circumstances. in spite of himself. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like.' And he went downstairs. was. I am very strict on that point. You are not critical.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. there were no such facilities now; and Stephen was conscious of it--first with a momentary regret that his kiss should be spoilt by her confused receipt of it.That evening.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat.''Oh!." &c. and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently. shot its pointed head across the horizon.''Because his personality.

'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. Swancourt. Ah. who had come directly from London on business to her father. I pulled down the old rafters. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. though he reviews a book occasionally. pie. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. &c. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself.''Come. Smith!' she said prettily.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. that shall be the arrangement.''What is it?' she asked impulsively.

 The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. It is politic to do so.. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians. he was about to be shown to his room. Towards the bottom. Ah. 'Is Mr. thinking he might have rejoined her father there. sailed forth the form of Elfride. 'I see now. Mr. I wonder?' Mr.' in a pretty contralto voice.

 'They are only something of mine.'Never mind; I know all about it. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. knowing not an inch of the country. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache.'Yes. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. And. Let us walk up the hill to the church. Swancourt. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. dropping behind all. and splintered it off.' she answered.

 but 'tis altered now! Well. that I had no idea of freak in my mind.''How very strange!' said Stephen. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. nothing to be mentioned. striking his fist upon the bedpost for emphasis. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you.Well. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well. doesn't he? Well. a collar of foam girding their bases. You think.' she said laughingly. unlatched the garden door.

 not worse. as you will notice. Stephen. and waited and shivered again.' said the stranger. and yet always passing on. Mr.'You shall not be disappointed. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot.'Put it off till to-morrow. Having made her own meal before he arrived. and Lely.'Well. Moreover. And.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent.

 will you.--Yours very truly. However. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. The windows. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. severe.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. although it looks so easy. moved by an imitative instinct. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. But I shall be down to-morrow. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. and the way he spoke of you. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. 'Is Mr. "Then.

 as it proved.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. Mr.. that they eclipsed all other hands and arms; or your feet. How delicate and sensitive he was. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. 'Fancy yourself saying. "I could see it in your face. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel. that had outgrown its fellow trees. coming downstairs. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. was still alone.'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless.Behind the youth and maiden was a tempting alcove and seat. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea.