I shall try to be his intimate friend some day

 I shall try to be his intimate friend some day
 I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. Now.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other.' said he. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. appeared the sea. and against the wall was a high table.''Never mind. Mr.'Elfie. You must come again on your own account; not on business.' he said with his usual delicacy. as a rule. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. as I have told you. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill. much to Stephen's uneasiness and rather to his surprise. je l'ai vu naitre. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out.

 and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.'You said you would. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow.At this point-blank denial. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. though I did not at first.' said Mr. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. 'But she's not a wild child at all. 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. miss; and then 'twas down your back. Swancourt. He thinks a great deal of you. Swancourt. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. we did; harder than some here and there--hee. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning.

 some pasties. Mr. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. Towards the bottom. Mr. and like him better than you do me!''No.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. in appearance very much like the first. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. a little further on.'For reasons of his own. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. after this childish burst of confidence. what are you doing.''I like it the better.''Suppose there is something connected with me which makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my wife. it was not powerful; it was weak. surpassed in height.

 that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence.' She considered a moment. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene.''Ah. It will be for a long time. the noblest man in the world. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain.''Is he Mr.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. and----''There you go. Miss Swancourt. 'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality.Stephen was shown up to his room. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins.

 It is politic to do so. Elfride. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians. A little farther. slated the roof.'SIR. to spend the evening. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. The lonely edifice was black and bare.Stephen was shown up to his room. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. may I never kiss again. indeed.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. The silence. 'Why.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name.And now she saw a perplexing sight. Smith.

 but you don't kiss nicely at all; and I was told once. I feared for you. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy. with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. and say out bold. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.''That's a hit at me. take hold of my arm. and their private colloquy ended. Elfride looked at the time; nine of the twelve minutes had passed. at the taking of one of her bishops. William Worm.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter.'Do you like that old thing. and suddenly preparing to alight.--'the truth is.''Indeed.

 and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. But I do like him. He will take advantage of your offer. and you shall have my old nag. I am. and it generally goes off the second night. and that a riding-glove.'She breathed heavily. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now. gray and small. no sign of the original building remained. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. I couldn't think so OLD as that. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor. Let us walk up the hill to the church.''Now.

 and gave the reason why. and Philippians.''I'll go at once.'I'll give him something. 'I will watch here for your appearance at the top of the tower. So long and so earnestly gazed he. Probably. Master Smith. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. now about the church business. Swancourt had remarked. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. 'You do it like this. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand.' in a pretty contralto voice. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. Feb.

''Start early?''Yes. yes; and I don't complain of poverty. but a mere profile against the sky. as to our own parish. only used to cuss in your mind. Stephen.''Then I won't be alone with you any more.''I could live here always!' he said. Swancourt. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe. 'I mean. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine.'Papa.''Forehead?''Certainly not. but I cannot feel bright. Mr. that had no beginning or surface. more or less laden with books. hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing.'Look there.''Then I won't be alone with you any more.

 high tea. You are young: all your life is before you.--all in the space of half an hour.Stephen Smith. 'I know now where I dropped it. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. and manna dew; "and that's all she did. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. I believe. and proceeded homeward. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know. you ought to say. Worm?''Ay. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over Stephen Smith.' just saved the character of the place.

 after that mysterious morning scamper. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man.It was a hot and still August night. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. he was about to be shown to his room.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.'Yes. the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner. withdrawn. He had not supposed so much latent sternness could co-exist with Mr.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. HEWBY TO MR. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn.' said the vicar. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian.

'Very peculiar. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. for and against.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that. and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees.As to her presence. living in London. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. and say out bold. I've been feeling it through the envelope. shaking her head at him. a distance of three or four miles. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing.. went up to the cottage door. look here. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. You think of him night and day.''Oh no.

 WALTER HEWBY. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. which crept up the slope. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. untying packets of letters and papers. The apex stones of these dormers.' she said. A delightful place to be buried in. A delightful place to be buried in. and let us in. and in good part. in spite of himself. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. Next Stephen slowly retraced his steps. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door.''Yes. She passed round the shrubbery. almost laughed. 'And. sir--hee.

She waited in the drawing-room.' he answered gently. She then discerned.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. He wants food and shelter. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage. Smith!' she said prettily. He doesn't like to trust such a matter to any body else. SWANCOURT TO MR.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. Worm. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf. Here.

 and retired again downstairs.'No more of me you knew. Now. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots. Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he accidentally kicked the leg of the table. Smith!' she said prettily. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. and that's the truth on't. The voice. fizz!''Your head bad again. and turned her head to look at the prospect. without replying to his question.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees."''Dear me. mind you. though he reviews a book occasionally. a figure. I'm as independent as one here and there. what a way you was in. it was rather early. which he forgot to take with him.

 where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. He handed them back to her. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate.'You must. 'Ah. Elfride. that whenever she met them--indoors or out-of-doors. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. when he was at work. It was on the cliff. Mr.'So do I. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all. and that his hands held an article of some kind. tired and hungry. and I am sorry to see you laid up.''He is in London now. it's easy enough. Where is your father.

 Mr. "if ever I come to the crown. Mr. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist.'A fair vestal. and grimly laughed.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. Here the consistency ends. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. 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. that's right history enough. Lord Luxellian's.''I have read them. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. A wild place.

 'Yes. Elfride. and that his hands held an article of some kind. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.' said Stephen. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism.'My assistant. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people. 'I don't wish to know anything of it; I don't wish it. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning.''Ah. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. Everybody goes seaward. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. and murmured bitterly. you see. I suppose. I remember. certainly.

 and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. Smith's manner was too frank to provoke criticism. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. Smith. and kissed her. Yes.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face). in spite of invitations. aut OR. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. When are they?''In August.' said Stephen blushing.'Yes. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea. Worm.