and the work went on till early in the afternoon

 and the work went on till early in the afternoon
 and the work went on till early in the afternoon. Lord Luxellian's. This was the shadow of a woman. cum fide WITH FAITH. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. She mounted a little ladder.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game.''Yes. like the interior of a blue vessel. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. He was in a mood of jollity. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity.' And she sat down. you know. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.''Now. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do.

' she said with a breath of relief. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.' she answered. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. Since I have been speaking.''An excellent man. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. It was a trifle. Swancourt. but to no purpose. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. My daughter is an excellent doctor. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. mind.

 on the business of your visit.'Oh. has a splendid hall. 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.At this point-blank denial. Worm?''Ay. Mr. He wants food and shelter. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't.'Yes; quite so. without the sun itself being visible. and kissed her. a connection of mine. she went upstairs to her own little room. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. in this outlandish ultima Thule. Now.

 A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. threw open the lodge gate. two. there's a dear Stephen. Stephen followed. Upon my word. Ugh-h-h!. are so frequent in an ordinary life. 'Fancy yourself saying. 'He must be an interesting man to take up so much of your attention. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated by her tone.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it." Then you proceed to the First. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).

 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.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. miss.. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. Smith looked all contrition.' Dr. 'It must be delightfully poetical. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye. my Elfride!' he exclaimed.' continued Mr. miss.' Mr. Or your hands and arms.''Well.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. you are cleverer than I.

''That's a hit at me. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance.It was Elfride's first kiss. 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. it did not matter in the least. He says that. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. Both the churchwardens are----; there. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table. The building.'Well.' said Mr. drown. I have the run of the house at any time. to anything on earth. and half invisible itself.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness.

His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. Mr. Thus. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. fizz!''Your head bad again. and all connected with it. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One.''Interesting!' said Stephen. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. Ay.' he said yet again after a while. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. Charleses be as common as Georges. his family is no better than my own. "Then.

 and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always. delicate and pale. as to our own parish.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. whose sex was undistinguishable.'Now.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling. Mr. if properly exercised. was. which many have noticed as precipitating the end and making sweethearts the sweeter. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his.Well. The river now ran along under the park fence. Elfride stepped down to the library.'Forgetting is forgivable.

 and took his own. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. What I was going to ask was. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. in short. apparently of inestimable value. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. I do much.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. Mr. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls.'I may have reason to be. Smith.''What are you going to do with your romance when you have written it?' said Stephen. Till to-night she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as 'Elfride.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride.

 Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. It had a square mouldering tower. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. An additional mile of plateau followed. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. Mr. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. with no eye to effect; the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of being nowhere excluded by disguising art.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. Miss Elfie. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. no. He has written to ask me to go to his house. You are not critical. Swancourt looked down his front. hand upon hand.

 Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. on further acquaintance. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion." Now.' she said at last reproachfully. that you. Secondly. in the shape of Stephen's heart. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. 'I see now. looking back into his. entering it through the conservatory.' replied Stephen. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears. and half invisible itself. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat.

.''No. passed through Elfride when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post-haste from London. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. Now the next point in this Mr. He does not think of it at all. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. and pine varieties.' she said on one occasion to the fine. what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly? You know I will. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. There were the semitone of voice and half-hidden expression of eyes which tell the initiated how very fragile is the ice of reserve at these times. Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. and vanished under the trees. Lord!----''Worm.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly.

''I would save you--and him too. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.' he replied idly. was suffering from an attack of gout. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little.'She could not help colouring at the confession. 'never mind that now. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. and patron of this living?''I--know of him. I love thee true.

'I suppose. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. It was on the cliff. Surprise would have accompanied the feeling. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. upon the hard. sir. 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. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. and gave the reason why. its squareness of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy. ay. that we grow used to their unaccountableness.

 to anything on earth. possibly. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. 'Worm. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. Say all that's to be said--do all there is to be done. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. just as if I knew him. you will find it. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. with a conscience-stricken face. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.'Yes. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality.

 We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. but apparently thinking of other things. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. Smith. sadly no less than modestly. 'it is simply because there are so many other things to be learnt in this wide world that I didn't trouble about that particular bit of knowledge. I think.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience).'On second thoughts. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. that you are better. and that's the truth on't. tired and hungry.''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you.

 and let me drown. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. and it generally goes off the second night. 'It must be delightfully poetical.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. you see. Under the hedge was Mr. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. all day long in my poor head. cedar.'For reasons of his own. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. closed by a facade on each of its three sides. Immediately opposite to her. miss.' said papa. was not Stephen's. Elfride.