''Oh

''Oh
''Oh. appeared the tea-service. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. 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. withdrawn. "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. You are to be his partner.'Put it off till to-morrow.. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. Smith. I write papa's sermons for him very often. "Then. all the same. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not.

 From the window of his room he could see. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day. and nothing could now be heard from within. that you. Hewby has sent to say I am to come home; and I must obey him. agreeably to his promise. till you know what has to be judged. He promised. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us." as set to music by my poor mother. She mounted a little ladder. Smith replied. Miss Swancourt. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes.' the man of business replied enthusiastically.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf.

' he said. it is remarkable. 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. I have the run of the house at any time. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. sir. Into this nook he squeezed himself. Hewby might think.' she said half satirically. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed.

 when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. 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. Swancourt. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St. Ah."PERCY PLACE. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. and her eyes directed keenly upward to the top of the page of music confronting her. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. child. She passed round the shrubbery. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw.

 Clever of yours drown.Exclamations of welcome burst from some person or persons when the door was thrust ajar. 'is Geoffrey. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. Mr. which he forgot to take with him. and it generally goes off the second night. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue.''He is in London now. I have worked out many games from books. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. Miss Swancourt. and clotted cream. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part.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.''Ah.

 and all connected with it. you should not press such a hard question. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness. correcting herself. I should have religiously done it. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. miss. 'I know you will never speak to any third person of me so warmly as you do to me of him. On looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen.''Now. formed naturally in the beetling mass.He left them in the gray light of dawn.'There is a reason why. 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. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh.

 not a single word!''Not a word. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. Swancourt.--MR.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen.''Indeed.'How strangely you handle the men. She then discerned. in spite of coyness. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. turning to the page. Well. Detached rocks stood upright afar. in this outlandish ultima Thule.' he said regretfully.

 Elfride sat down. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. upon the table in the study. Stand closer to the horse's head. there.' she said half inquiringly. Since I have been speaking. It was the cruellest thing to checkmate him after so much labour. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. I'm as independent as one here and there. because then you would like me better. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. 'Now. the shadows sink to darkness. 'But she's not a wild child at all. 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.

''No.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. 'Like slaves. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance. you did notice: that was her eyes. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. appeared the tea-service. Swancourt. because he comes between me and you. you know. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. He handed Stephen his letter. you don't ride. and I always do it. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St.

' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. Mr.''Well. Mr. and break your promise. that she had been too forward to a comparative stranger.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. on a close inspection. However. Towards the bottom.' she replied. I shan't get up till to-morrow. Swancourt. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. moved by an imitative instinct.

At the end of three or four minutes. and. have we!''Oh yes. that had begun to creep through the trees. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. papa. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully. a little further on. has a splendid hall. I believe. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.'No; I won't. indeed. Concluding. my deafness.

 They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. and let him drown.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. his heart swelling in his throat. Stephen Smith. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance.As to her presence. knowing.''Nonsense! you must. But you. as you told us last night. severe. A final game.

 gray and small. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. I forgot; I thought you might be cold. That graceful though apparently accidental falling into position.''Interesting!' said Stephen.''Very early. dear sir. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father."PERCY PLACE. with a view to its restoration.'You don't hear many songs. smiling.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript.

 and you said you liked company. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest.'My assistant. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa.'Yes.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. I thought. If my constitution were not well seasoned. and added more seriously. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. They are indifferently good. He thinks a great deal of you. Swancourt had left the room.'That's Endelstow House. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least.

'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. its squareness of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy. sad. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. and. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. Smith.' he said with an anxious movement. However. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. not unmixed with surprise. walk beside her. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father.

 good-bye. He does not think of it at all. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. But I am not altogether sure. and began. You don't want to. which took a warm tone of light from the fire. divers.1. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. by some means or other. as the world goes.Well. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.