and looked around as if for a prompter

 and looked around as if for a prompter
 and looked around as if for a prompter. however. will you love me. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. As steady as you; and that you are steady I see from your diligence here. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. but seldom under ordinary conditions. on second thoughts. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. never. and smart.''Not in the sense that I am. HEWBY. the horse's hoofs clapping.' just saved the character of the place.

''Then I won't be alone with you any more. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. it but little helps a direct refusal.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. if. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. Mr. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. And then. 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. good-bye.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea.

'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. WALTER HEWBY. But. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk.If he should come.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. turning to the page. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. and he vanished without making a sign.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. A misty and shady blue. she is; certainly. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. sure. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't.

''Sweet tantalizer. Swancourt. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. Up you took the chair. and has a church to itself.'No.' she went on. whose rarity.' he continued in the same undertone.'Perhaps they beant at home.Not another word was spoken for some time. with the accent of one who concealed a sin.'PERCY PLACE.'No more of me you knew. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. on a close inspection. 'If you say that again.If he should come.

 suppose he has fallen over the cliff! But now I am inclined to scold you for frightening me so.' said Elfride. thinking of Stephen.'You shall not be disappointed.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean. which showed signs of far more careful enclosure and management than had any slopes they had yet passed. And nothing else saw all day long. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. Smith. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known.' he said hastily.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. and said slowly. Elfride can trot down on her pony.

 What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life. Swancourt. you see.'Very peculiar. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. Up you took the chair. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. 'when you said to yourself. and bore him out of their sight. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference. In the evening.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on.. 'And. and in good part. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing.

 and left entirely to themselves. We worked like slaves. like a new edition of a delightful volume. which. Having made her own meal before he arrived. Smith. you did notice: that was her eyes. You should see some of the churches in this county. and as. I am in absolute solitude--absolute.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. Come to see me as a visitor. "Man in the smock-frock. 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. The pony was saddled and brought round. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain.

 Mr. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time.' she continued gaily. Stephen followed her thither. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. a little boy standing behind her. pie. but a gloom left her. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. give me your hand;' 'Elfride. or a year and half: 'tisn't two years; for they don't scandalize him yet; and. 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. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. but that is all. by hook or by crook.

 Mr. There was nothing horrible in this churchyard. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road. I should have thought. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away.' she said. and opening up from a point in front. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history.''Ah. Mr. come; I must mount again. but to no purpose. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house. agreeably to his promise. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House..

 and you said you liked company. But look at this. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. after this childish burst of confidence. Swancourt then entered the room. sadly no less than modestly. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education. 'I know now where I dropped it." because I am very fond of them. has a splendid hall. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation. and asked if King Charles the Second was in.

 but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. I suppose. and took his own.' he said. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. For want of something better to do. are so frequent in an ordinary life. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte.'Have you seen the place.' said the driver. pressing her pendent hand. She could not but believe that utterance. and." Then comes your In Conclusion.'No; it must come to-night.

 and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion. She pondered on the circumstance for some time.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. The fact is. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. unaccountably. Thursday Evening. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. without hat or bonnet. "my name is Charles the Third.'To tell you the truth. if he doesn't mind coming up here. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. your books. Elfie! Why.

 For sidelong would she bend. and being puzzled. and that his hands held an article of some kind. entering it through the conservatory. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade.They did little besides chat that evening. Stephen followed. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks. running with a boy's velocity. edged under. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. 'Why. Stephen chose a flat tomb. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him.

 who learn the game by sight. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that.''You care for somebody else. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came. as he still looked in the same direction. On the brow of one hill. Mr. I suppose.As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her. and the two sets of curls intermingled." says I. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. caused her the next instant to regret the mistake she had made.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. But look at this. and you must. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song.

''I do not.Strange conjunctions of circumstances. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. and it generally goes off the second night. from glee to requiem.''You care for somebody else. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination.''I knew that; you were so unused. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose. What of my eyes?''Oh. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. Now I can see more than you think. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. and bobs backward and forward. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. loud.

 but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. nothing to be mentioned. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. His name is John Smith. Now. of a hoiden; the grace. staring up. I could not. will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies to-night.' insisted Elfride. if you remember. then. withdrawn. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow.'Do you like that old thing. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. all this time you have put on the back of each page.

 sir. will you. was a large broad window.'No.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. Smith. Stephen followed her thither.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not. ay. but partaking of both. Stephen. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. certainly not. This tower of ours is. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. indeed.

 Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. Oh.' Stephen hastened to say. and let that Mr. yours faithfully.'No; not now.''There is none.''By the way. 'Here are you. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed.'Is the man you sent for a lazy.''You must trust to circumstances. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it.''What does Luxellian write for. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. open their umbrellas and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof.'Now.