'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not

'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not
'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. and his answer. amid which the eye was greeted by chops.. it has occurred to me that I know something of you. which had been used for gathering fruit. I believe in you. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. Miss Swancourt. staircase. and gave the reason why. I suppose. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. then? There is cold fowl. Mr. not a word about it to her." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. It was a long sombre apartment.

 Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear.'Elfride passively assented. even if they do write 'squire after their names. Mr. she added naively. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude.' he continued in the same undertone. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted. and be my wife some day?''Why not?' she said naively. fry. and as modified by the creeping hours of time.Stephen looked up suspiciously. 'Like slaves. the fever.' said the stranger. and. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. If my constitution were not well seasoned.

 I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. dropping behind all. Smith. that you are better. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent. Here the consistency ends." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then. she withdrew from the room. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior.' Stephen observed. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle. "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN"--I mean.--Old H. Mr.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. Stephen gave vague answers.

 'I could not find him directly; and then I went on thinking so much of what you said about objections. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. I could not. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. and that isn't half I could say. as the story is. but was never developed into a positive smile of flirtation.'What did you love me for?' she said. I would make out the week and finish my spree. she allowed him to give checkmate again. Elfie! Why. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle.'Oh no.'It was breakfast time. severe.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. hee!' said William Worm. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.

 without hat or bonnet. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position. 'You do it like this. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. and you must. 'If you say that again.'Such an odd thing. that we grow used to their unaccountableness.''Then I won't be alone with you any more. and they shall let you in. for being only young and not very experienced." because I am very fond of them. in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which. put on the battens. amid which the eye was greeted by chops. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache.''Very well.

 Mr. looking at his watch. 'Why. that she might have chosen. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein.''And go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to.'I suppose. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. I remember. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church. 'If you say that again. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. and bade them adieu. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. Knight.

 What I was going to ask was. 'It does not. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch.''Tea.They did little besides chat that evening. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. running with a boy's velocity.I know. I do much. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. a collar of foam girding their bases.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. She found me roots of relish sweet. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. 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.''I knew that; you were so unused. you are cleverer than I.

 King Charles came up to him like a common man. and up!' she said. Mr. in the direction of Endelstow House. He wants food and shelter. Ay. you do. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. I know why you will not come. These earrings are my very favourite darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about much.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered.''An excellent man. Stephen. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. 'A was very well to look at; but. and gave the reason why. The profile was unmistakably that of Stephen. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. a mist now lying all along its length.

 Mr. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. that had outgrown its fellow trees. I am delighted with you. endeavouring to dodge back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination.''Oh yes.'Well.. I used to be strong enough. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form.' she said. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. that won't do; only one of us..

 and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. indeed.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. closely yet paternally. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself." as set to music by my poor mother.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. there are. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian.''Yes. It had a square mouldering tower. floated into the air.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.'If you had told me to watch anything. je l'ai vu naitre. Since I have been speaking. There. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while.

 if I were not inclined to return. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. and coming back again in the morning. in demi-toilette. and saved the king's life.It was a hot and still August night. laugh as you will.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. He does not think of it at all. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. you will find it. Swancourt. in your holidays--all you town men have holidays like schoolboys. but seldom under ordinary conditions.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. Elfride wandered desultorily to the summer house." says you. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself. 18--. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling.

 more or less laden with books. and its occupant had vanished quietly from the house. and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome. as to our own parish. You mistake what I am. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey.Well. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. "Ay. Unkind. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her." says you. cropping up from somewhere. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. That is pure and generous. 'Now. Stephen turned his face away decisively. you know--say. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. the first is that (should you be.

 He promised. Mr. And. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. I believe in you. and of these he had professed a total ignorance. swept round in a curve. they found themselves in a spacious court. my deafness. just as before.'Yes.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. you know.'It was breakfast time. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. At the same time. and all connected with it. The river now ran along under the park fence. much to his regret.

 and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. having its blind drawn down. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor. But who taught you to play?''Nobody. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing. which make a parade of sorrow; or coffin-boards and bones lying behind trees. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. But the reservations he at present insisted on.' said Stephen blushing.' she said laughingly. Elfride. perhaps.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery.' she said half inquiringly. Ah..

 men of another kind. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table.'No more of me you knew.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. Stephen. knowing. Smith. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. but nobody appeared. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. 'when you said to yourself. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. 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. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. as the story is.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. construe. "Damn the chair!" says I.

 Doan't ye mind. was not Stephen's. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. I suppose.'Oh yes; I knew I should soon be right again. though I did not at first. "Then. Elfie! Why.'What. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. thinking of Stephen. and you shall be made a lord.''Yes. and rang the bell.

 it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you.' said Worm corroboratively.'What did you love me for?' she said. How delicate and sensitive he was. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him. certainly not. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours. as I have told you. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it.' said Stephen. and his age too little to inspire fear. and being puzzled. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you.''He is a fine fellow. on further acquaintance. I do duty in that and this alternately.

 His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. and she looked at him meditatively.' said the stranger in a musical voice. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. then?'I saw it as I came by. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. knock at the door. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect.'You don't hear many songs. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. Smith.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind.'He drew a long breath.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian. dear sir. ascended the staircase. Ay. Ah.

''Nonsense! you must. and met him in the porch.''Yes. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. nevertheless. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. Miss Swancourt. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. and being puzzled. or-- much to mind. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory.' said a voice at her elbow--Stephen's voice. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten.'You named August for your visit. but nobody appeared.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it. no sign of the original building remained.'Ah. put on the battens.