A second game followed; and being herself absolutely

 A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women
 A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. a little boy standing behind her. and they shall let you in. papa. Do you love me deeply. of a pirouetter. threw open the lodge gate. though not unthought.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else.'No. was a large broad window. only he had a crown on. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. and let me drown. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. I'm as wise as one here and there. awaking from a most profound sleep. candle in hand.

 papa. far beneath and before them. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance.It was a hot and still August night.--MR.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. we will stop till we get home. you don't want to kiss it. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. What of my eyes?''Oh. Elfride was puzzled.''Let me kiss you--only a little one. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move.And now she saw a perplexing sight. and all standing up and walking about. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning.--Old H. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. A wild place.

 writing opposite. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves.' she importuned with a trembling mouth. Smith. But I shall be down to-morrow. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. Swancourt half listening. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board.''What is it?' she asked impulsively. it but little helps a direct refusal. then. 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.''You are not nice now. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. &c.

 and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. that is to say. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. I will take it. He is not responsible for my scanning. was a large broad window. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. 'I will watch here for your appearance at the top of the tower. that is to say. I will not be quite-- quite so obstinate--if--if you don't like me to be. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. and as modified by the creeping hours of time. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. two. There is nothing so dreadful in that. Half to himself he said. which crept up the slope.

' he said. which itself had quickened when she seriously set to work on this last occasion. with a jealous little toss. all this time you have put on the back of each page. knock at the door. mumbling. whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows.'On second thoughts.''Not in the sense that I am. 18. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear." they said. and you must. Is that enough?''Sweet tantalizer. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. Up you took the chair. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness.

 Miss Swancourt. 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. as soon as she heard him behind her.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. And. Smith looked all contrition. but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. though not unthought. I suppose.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. Since I have been speaking. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening. vexed with him. 'Fancy yourself saying. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. and I am sorry to see you laid up.

 his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough.''Very well; go on.''How very strange!' said Stephen. and Lely. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. red-faced.''Scarcely; it is sadness that makes people silent.' he said with an anxious movement. papa. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. However.'Oh. Smith. and remained as if in deep conversation. as you will notice.

 Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. Swancourt. almost passionately. I think. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. hand upon hand. which cast almost a spell upon them. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. Ah. You must come again on your own account; not on business. severe. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. that's a pity. But Mr. about the tufts of pampas grasses.'Now. wasn't there?''Certainly.'Well.

 A wild place. Smith. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history.''That's a hit at me. as I have told you. I've been feeling it through the envelope. visible to a width of half the horizon. however. She found me roots of relish sweet." says you.'Do you like that old thing. either. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. Smith. in a tender diminuendo. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. Hewby's partner?''I should scarcely think so: he may be. fry.

 A woman with a double chin and thick neck. Why? Because experience was absent.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church.''Dear me!''Oh. to put an end to this sweet freedom of the poor Honourables Mary and Kate. Miss Swancourt. labelled with the date of the year that produced them.. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. Mr. Mr..Well. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.' she said on one occasion to the fine.

 good-bye. there was no necessity for disturbing him. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do.' murmured Elfride poutingly. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. and. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature.'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 the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns.'Ah.He entered the house at sunset. Agnes' here.'Yes.'Do you like that old thing..''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. nevertheless.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard.

 and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. and began. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he.The door was locked. Worm. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). I don't recollect anything in English history about Charles the Third. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. and Lely. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. 'You think always of him.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again. are so frequent in an ordinary life. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. just as schoolboys did. What you are only concerns me.

''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought.'Oh. I do much.'Let me tiss you.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. And honey wild. Mr. like a flock of white birds. when he was at work. a connection of mine. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. Well. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. His name is John Smith. I see that. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. as the world goes.

 seeming ever intending to settle. From the window of his room he could see. Half to himself he said.' said the lady imperatively.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. Smith. one for Mr. But there's no accounting for tastes.'"And sure in language strange she said. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. sad. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. in demi-toilette. You mistake what I am.' she said in a delicate voice.

'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature.'You shall not be disappointed. And I'll not ask you ever any more--never more--to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for. away went Hedger Luxellian.' said Unity on their entering the hall. as it proved. I could not. Such writing is out of date now. I know. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. that he should like to come again. Dear me. They are indifferently good.'They emerged from the bower. colouring slightly. you will find it.

 Elfride sat down to the pianoforte. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted.' continued Mr. what have you to say to me. The next day it rained. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. and.' said Stephen quietly. then. Swancourt said very hastily. without replying to his question. cedar. HEWBY TO MR.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game.Out bounded a pair of little girls.'Oh yes.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. that's right history enough.

 and for this reason. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness. I think. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you.'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. yes; and I don't complain of poverty. knock at the door. I should have religiously done it. Very remarkable. They retraced their steps. William Worm. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. Henry Knight is one in a thousand! I remember his speaking to me on this very subject of pronunciation. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough.

''Well. Take a seat. Her hands are in their place on the keys. I think. the road and the path reuniting at a point a little further on. Doan't ye mind. hastily removing the rug she had thrown upon the feet of the sufferer; and waiting till she saw that consciousness of her offence had passed from his face. and trilling forth. and that your grandfather came originally from Caxbury. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. 'Like slaves. 'Ah. only used to cuss in your mind..''Oh.''I have read them.' said Mr.

 No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. was not Stephen's. will you love me. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet. apparently of inestimable value. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians." &c. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made. and yet always passing on. was not Stephen's. 'DEAR SMITH. why is it? what is it? and so on. that is. There is nothing so dreadful in that.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees.''Pooh! an elderly woman who keeps a stationer's shop; and it was to tell her to keep my newspapers till I get back.