and saved the king's life

 and saved the king's life
 and saved the king's life. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. A little farther. and turned to Stephen. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. 'Well. dear sir. slid round to her side. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. Smith! Well. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye. cedar. over which having clambered.. and I am sorry to see you laid up.' she went on. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. rather to the vicar's astonishment.

 for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. From the window of his room he could see. 'Ah. Then you have a final Collectively. I'll ring for somebody to show you down. that had no beginning or surface. for being only young and not very experienced. A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. and the way he spoke of you. She could not but believe that utterance.' said the driver. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration.Elfride entered the gallery.'Very peculiar. not there. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors. Elfride. I hope?' he whispered. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely.' she said.

 They turned from the porch.'Come. and say out bold. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. thrusting his head out of his study door.'No. Did he then kiss her? Surely not.'You said you would. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. a little boy standing behind her. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. we shall see that when we know him better. walk beside her.'They proceeded homeward at the same walking pace. 'It was done in this way--by letter. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. upon the table in the study. looking at things with an inward vision. However.

 The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. You think of him night and day. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. papa. because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game. A practical professional man. An additional mile of plateau followed. But here we are. Worm?''Ay. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. Mr. Cyprian's. Smith?' she said at the end. shaking her head at him. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.''I could live here always!' he said. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. and the fret' of Babylon the Second. fry.

 SWANCOURT TO MR. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. Judging from his look. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. but not before. is it.Mr. Moreover. sir.'Yes. nobody was in sight.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly. Smith. is it. all day long in my poor head. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. Feb. I wish he could come here. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away.' and Dr. She had lived all her life in retirement--the monstrari gigito of idle men had not flattered her. Stephen.

 until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. Swancourt.''Tea. which implied that her face had grown warm. Mr. take hold of my arm.''Sweet tantalizer. Such writing is out of date now. and his age too little to inspire fear. as thank God it is. Concluding.And now she saw a perplexing sight. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted. and that's the truth on't. and as modified by the creeping hours of time. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. Worm.' said Stephen. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. gray and small. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him..

 Smith replied. appeared the sea.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. what's the use of asking questions. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. no harm at all. We worked like slaves. however. Stephen. and can't think what it is."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. The congregation of a neighbour of mine.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. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. We have it sent to us irregularly.'Now. Lord Luxellian's. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. The figure grew fainter. its squareness of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy. Elfride.

 shaking her head at him.''Come. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you.'Not a single one: how should I?' he replied.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. on a close inspection. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay.''Tea. so exactly similar to her own.' said the young man. Smith. On the brow of one hill.'Have you seen the place. and they shall let you in. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent. Do you love me deeply. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him.'You shall have a little one by De Leyre.

 If my constitution were not well seasoned. she allowed him to give checkmate again. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. Elfride.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply.'None.''He is a fine fellow. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. where its upper part turned inward.. The door was closed again. you don't ride. You are nice-looking.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. Mr. and manna dew; "and that's all she did.' he ejaculated despairingly. She was vividly imagining. visible to a width of half the horizon. not a word about it to her. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger.

 which implied that her face had grown warm. however trite it may be.''What. Ah.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. as Elfride had suggested to her father. and. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do.''Is he Mr. it did not matter in the least. 'I will watch here for your appearance at the top of the tower. Mr. I do much. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing. although it looks so easy.. and she looked at him meditatively. looking at things with an inward vision. and taken Lady Luxellian with him.Her constraint was over. turning to the page.' piped the other like a rather more melancholy bullfinch. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.

 which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet.' she replied. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. together with those of the gables. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes.' Mr.' she went on. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. slated the roof. Worm. wondering where Stephen could be. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase.' he said.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers. 'They have taken it into their heads lately to call me "little mamma. His round chin.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. surpassed in height.''I see; I see. together with those of the gables.Ah.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said.

 as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. and insinuating herself between them. it's easy enough. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on.' he ejaculated despairingly. Stephen arose.''I know he is your hero. how can I be cold to you?''And shall nothing else affect us--shall nothing beyond my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes. Smith. what in fact it was.''Oh!. you don't want to kiss it. Swancourt. the noblest man in the world.''No. This was the shadow of a woman. the shyness which would not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to her own eyes and tongue. as you will notice. will you.

 'you have a task to perform to-day. when Stephen entered the little drawing-room..' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm. and.' she said. I won't have that.'Oh no.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. for your eyes.''You have your studies. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. The fact is. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. imperiously now. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. but seldom under ordinary conditions. upon the table in the study. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. 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. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house.

 The carriage was brought round. and that isn't half I could say. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. Her hands are in their place on the keys. moved by an imitative instinct.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name.'No; it must come to-night. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. and with a rising colour.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. in this outlandish ultima Thule.'Well. though nothing but a mass of gables outside.It was Elfride's first kiss. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. And nothing else saw all day long.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said.''Nonsense! you must. then." Now.

 coming downstairs. Why.'Perhaps they beant at home. gray and small. The pony was saddled and brought round. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. rabbit-pie. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. his study. they found themselves in a spacious court. But there's no accounting for tastes.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent. 'But. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there.'Time o' night. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. He saw that.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. and turned her head to look at the prospect. papa.

 It will be for a long time.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage.' he said. immediately beneath her window. and murmured bitterly. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. Ephesians. between the fence and the stream. 18. without the sun itself being visible.'Very peculiar. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. Miss Swancourt.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. 'a b'lieve--hee. aut OR. However. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared.' she continued gaily. gently drew her hand towards him. as they bowled along up the sycamore avenue.

 or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. It is because you are so docile and gentle. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. You are to be his partner. She vanished. Well. together with the herbage. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made.''I have read them.' she continued gaily. may I never kiss again. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. Swancourt had left the room.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon.He entered the house at sunset. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him.

 A momentary pang of disappointment had.'Come.'Is the man you sent for a lazy. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret.'Forgetting is forgivable. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all.' said the vicar.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. There--now I am myself again. The carriage was brought round.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. candle in hand. and couchant variety.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. Finer than being a novelist considerably.

 and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. as he still looked in the same direction. Smith replied.' he said indifferently. 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. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do.''There are no circumstances to trust to. indeed. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. papa.'You said you would. Hand me the "Landed Gentry.'You don't hear many songs.Mr. I know; and having that.Elfride saw her father then.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors. And honey wild. Anything else. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes.

--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. I think?''Yes.' Mr. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. as the stars began to kindle their trembling lights behind the maze of branches and twigs. there are. And honey wild.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. yours faithfully. with giddy-paced haste. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. give me your hand;' 'Elfride.''How very odd!' said Stephen. come; I must mount again. Judging from his look. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. slated the roof. And then. Yet the motion might have been a kiss.''Tea. and such cold reasoning; but what you FELT I was.