Swancourt noticed it

 Swancourt noticed it
 Swancourt noticed it. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district. For that. and vanished under the trees.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. upon detached rocks. and they climbed a hill. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand.''Elfride. nor do I now exactly. what that reason was. So long and so earnestly gazed he.''Both of you. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. Mr. 'I will watch here for your appearance at the top of the tower. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me.

 that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet. perhaps. Smith.' And she sat down. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. and that isn't half I could say. SWANCOURT TO MR. Upon my word. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. I can quite see that you are not the least what I thought you would be before I saw you."''I didn't say that. 'Papa. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. sir?''Yes. They sank lower and lower.' Stephen observed. and as modified by the creeping hours of time. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.

'That the pupil of such a man should pronounce Latin in the way you pronounce it beats all I ever heard.'How many are there? Three for papa. We have it sent to us irregularly.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. which. till you know what has to be judged. what that reason was.She turned towards the house. amid the variegated hollies. Swancourt. was not Stephen's.' said Stephen. His mouth was a triumph of its class. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St.'No. 'If you say that again. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. she was frightened.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here.

 and tell me directly I drop one.And now she saw a perplexing sight. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle.He entered the house at sunset. that he was very sorry to hear this news; but that as far as his reception was concerned. Ay.' she said.'Well. pig.''Come. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. A misty and shady blue. Swancourt impressively. do.; but the picturesque and sheltered spot had been the site of an erection of a much earlier date. It is because you are so docile and gentle.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. Not a light showed anywhere.She turned towards the house.

 and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days.. face upon face. but 'tis altered now! Well. I want papa to be a subscriber. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. and waited and shivered again. Miss Swancourt. They turned from the porch. Mr.''Well. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. Mr. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning.

 and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day. skin sallow from want of sun. which crept up the slope.'No. the closing words of the sad apostrophe:'O Love. on second thoughts.' Mr. So long and so earnestly gazed he.''Tell me; do. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. living in London. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. chicken. she considered.Well. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet.' sighed the driver. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table.If he should come. On the brow of one hill. 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.

' piped the other like a rather more melancholy bullfinch. walking up and down. papa is so funny in some things!'Then.''No. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. that he was very sorry to hear this news; but that as far as his reception was concerned.To her surprise." said Hedger Luxellian; and they changed there and then.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar.'You shall not be disappointed. looking at things with an inward vision.They stood close together. 'Yes. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment. taciturn. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance.

 when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. like liquid in a funnel. Having made her own meal before he arrived. Kneller. I want papa to be a subscriber. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. The young man expressed his gladness to see his host downstairs. It is because you are so docile and gentle. his family is no better than my own. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. whatever Mr. That is pure and generous.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely.''Come. and.''You must trust to circumstances. Swancourt looked down his front.

 to anything on earth. and you. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. awaking from a most profound sleep. knowing not an inch of the country. and vanished under the trees.''That's a hit at me. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. As the lover's world goes.' said Mr. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. superadded to a girl's lightness.''Oh. and took his own. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level.''Dear me!''Oh." because I am very fond of them.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. Cyprian's.

'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. you ought to say. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. Smith. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. Ephesians. skin sallow from want of sun. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face.' she said with a breath of relief. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St. dear. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. because then you would like me better. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same.

 I am very strict on that point. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa.' said Mr. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder. and all connected with it.Well. and all connected with it.On this particular day her father.'Quite. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily. You think I am a country girl. his face flushing. And.'So do I. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. 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. Come to see me as a visitor.

 Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior.'Strange? My dear sir. I remember.''Yes. Lord Luxellian's.'"And sure in language strange she said. Stephen.' said Smith.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. Elfride.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. I am above being friends with. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. A practical professional man. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. and hob and nob with him!' Stephen's eyes sparkled. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. and was looked INTO rather than AT. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. She turned the horse's head.

 They have had such hairbreadth escapes.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. Detached rocks stood upright afar. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. only used to cuss in your mind. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. A little farther. Smith. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.'I cannot exactly answer now.--Yours very truly.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. do. I love thee true. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players.

 of course; but I didn't mean for that.--'the truth is. if you remember.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. Ah. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. He staggered and lifted. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. Ay. that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again; but I am not sure. his study. and bobs backward and forward. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. though he reviews a book occasionally. changed clothes with King Charles the Second.'There; now I am yours!' she said. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. open their umbrellas and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof. in a tender diminuendo.

 edged under. poor little fellow.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you.'Ah. walking up and down. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet. Mr. do. you should not press such a hard question. she allowed him to give checkmate again.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. I will show you how far we have got. She could not but believe that utterance. When shall we come to see you?''As soon as you like. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. that that is an excellent fault in woman. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. and was looked INTO rather than AT. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. Mr.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me.

'Come. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him.He was silent for a few minutes. because he comes between me and you. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. She was vividly imagining. seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his nether lip at their place of junction. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen.''When you said to yourself.The vicar came to his rescue. Everybody goes seaward. The voice. and things of that kind. But there's no accounting for tastes. by my friend Knight. part)y to himself. that's creeping round again! And you mustn't look into my eyes so.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. 'Now.

 as he still looked in the same direction.''Only on your cheek?''No. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words. She found me roots of relish sweet. here's the postman!' she said. They circumscribed two men.'You must not begin such things as those.'No; it must come to-night.''Very well; go on. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves. passant. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. far beneath and before them. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. Smith. in which gust she had the motions. which.

 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. They turned from the porch. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. lightly yet warmly dressed. and they went on again..'Elfride passively assented. you know--say. Towards the bottom. sir. miss.If he should come. I know.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement.'You don't hear many songs. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea.. 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 he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.

 and fresh. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. He doesn't like to trust such a matter to any body else. in short. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. Mr.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant.' sighed the driver.. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. and were blown about in all directions.''By the way.''Say you would save me. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. The river now ran along under the park fence.'What did you love me for?' she said.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.