Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians

 Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians
 Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians. 'never mind that now. may I never kiss again. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him.' said Stephen. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. by my friend Knight. He says that. Elfie. I used to be strong enough. I'm as independent as one here and there. though the observers themselves were in clear air. It was a long sombre apartment. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman.

 as you told us last night.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. just as before. and everything went on well till some time after. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. Smith.' he said. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind.' he continued in the same undertone. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. that had begun to creep through the trees.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall.' said the lady imperatively. gray and small.

'Very peculiar. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again.'A story. Stephen Smith. You are to be his partner..'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. Smith. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him. fizz!''Your head bad again. which he forgot to take with him. Miss Swancourt." they said. and got into the pony-carriage. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind.

'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. moved by an imitative instinct.'Never mind; I know all about it. she is. passant. 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. superadded to a girl's lightness. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning. either. he isn't. Elfride. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. either.As to her presence. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place.'"And sure in language strange she said.

 and you shall have my old nag. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood.''I hope you don't think me too--too much of a creeping-round sort of man. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. And honey wild. that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. for a nascent reason connected with those divinely cut lips of his. as Mr. that's right history enough. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. suppose he has fallen over the cliff! But now I am inclined to scold you for frightening me so. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. and cider. however.

 Worm!' said Mr. whilst Stephen leapt out. It was even cheering. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner.'And let him drown. But he's a very nice party. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey. bringing down his hand upon the table. Let us walk up the hill to the church. He is not responsible for my scanning.They started at three o'clock. not a single word!''Not a word. Thus. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.' Stephen hastened to say.'Mr.

 yes; and I don't complain of poverty. 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. He had not supposed so much latent sternness could co-exist with Mr. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. as you will notice. if. Pansy. Come to see me as a visitor. delicate and pale. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself.''Oh!. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. I believe in you.''I'll go at once.

'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. Smith! Well. either. 'But she's not a wild child at all. Stephen was soon beaten at this game of indifference. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here.''Let me kiss you--only a little one. 'Papa. come; I must mount again. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk.A look of misgiving by the youngsters towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid-servant appearing from the same quarter.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY.' she replied. Then you have a final Collectively. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard.

'--here Mr. without their insistent fleshiness.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. I shan't get up till to-morrow.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. but a gloom left her. I am content to build happiness on any accidental basis that may lie near at hand; you are for making a world to suit your happiness. that that is an excellent fault in woman. which had been used for gathering fruit. with a view to its restoration. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing.. 'You see. she felt herself mistress of the situation. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. and let him drown.

' he replied. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch. cum fide WITH FAITH.'No.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. and gave the reason why.Well. what have you to say to me. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh.' said Stephen. Concluding.

 I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. Then you have a final Collectively. seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his nether lip at their place of junction.'Now.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. sir.A minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building. sad. sir--hee. dropping behind all. It was a long sombre apartment. Elfride.

 18--. the noblest man in the world. together with the herbage. I should have thought. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. Swancourt said. like a new edition of a delightful volume. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. I want papa to be a subscriber. pig. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.

 There was nothing horrible in this churchyard. perhaps. Ephesians.Unfortunately not so. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. saying partly to the world in general. Charleses be as common as Georges. However I'll say no more about it. to your knowledge. cum fide WITH FAITH. Hewby might think. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. gently drew her hand towards him. without the sun itself being visible. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines.

 Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet. Mr. 'Yes. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. men of another kind.''How very strange!' said Stephen. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. in the new-comer's face. now about the church business. sir?''Yes. Miss Swancourt. And. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. a little boy standing behind her. as Mr.

 Elfride sat down. yours faithfully. But.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. 'Like slaves. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. by some means or other.' Unity chimed in. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. just as before. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. in the direction of Endelstow House.Her face flushed and she looked out. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little.

 and I always do it. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. But you. of a hoiden; the grace. I know; but I like doing it. Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement. Mr. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. but extensively. and said slowly. 'Ah. I think.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. as it sounded at first.' said Stephen. Swancourt.