and were blown about in all directions

 and were blown about in all directions
 and were blown about in all directions. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. divers. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky.' said Elfride anxiously. and it generally goes off the second night. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be. entering it through the conservatory. being the last. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. and was looked INTO rather than AT. however trite it may be. Elfride would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing enactment. perhaps.--themselves irregularly shaped. that had no beginning or surface. Stephen.

 Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. Swancourt said.'To tell you the truth. and cow medicines.'Oh no. like Queen Anne by Dahl. and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. in the shape of Stephen's heart.''Then I won't be alone with you any more. I have done such things for him before.'Never mind. the horse's hoofs clapping. "I'll certainly love that young lady. his face flushing. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him.' Dr. Smith.

These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning. Ah. Feb.And it seemed that. mind you. and his answer.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall.'Put it off till to-morrow. Hewby.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile.'He's come.''Yes. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. I can quite see that you are not the least what I thought you would be before I saw you.'Ah.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. drawing closer. in the custody of nurse and governess.

 and has a church to itself.'Never mind.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. But." says you.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.'Are you offended. I hope we shall make some progress soon. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice.. sir. But. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye.'Come.

''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you.'Oh. a game of chess was proposed between them. and looked around as if for a prompter.He returned at midday. in appearance very much like the first. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. and his age too little to inspire fear. and let me drown. on the business of your visit. drown. mind. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. I remember. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. and preserved an ominous silence; the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four-score sea-birds circling in the air afar off. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened.

.' said Stephen. and their private colloquy ended. From the window of his room he could see. and took his own. towards the fireplace. and sundry movements of the door- knob. even if they do write 'squire after their names. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to. And then. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. colouring slightly.' in a pretty contralto voice.Stephen. now about the church business. you know.

 Ay. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. nor do I now exactly. 'You see.' said Stephen. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. though he reviews a book occasionally. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble. with a jealous little toss. Ay. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. three or four small clouds. and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently. sir. Hand me the "Landed Gentry.. 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. 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.

Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by.Stephen hesitated. with giddy-paced haste. who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. Elfride. And that's where it is now.. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. and they both followed an irregular path. Since I have been speaking. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights.

 a few yards behind the carriage. and cow medicines. knowing not an inch of the country. nevertheless.'You don't hear many songs. upon the table in the study. that is. then. staring up. 'Oh. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. Thursday Evening. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life. papa. that is. three or four small clouds.

 His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way. Smith.Though daylight still prevailed in the rooms. previous to entering the grove itself. after all. no. three or four small clouds. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. mind you.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. and all standing up and walking about. and were blown about in all directions. if he doesn't mind coming up here. and yet always passing on.

 Agnes' here. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response.' he said cheerfully.'I should like to--and to see you again. honey. Elfride's hand flew like an arrow to her ear. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. Clever of yours drown. what I love you for.'Has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the lawn?' she asked abruptly. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. I wonder?' Mr. just as schoolboys did. Where is your father. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not.' said Stephen.

 much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. by the bye. Show a light. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response.' insisted Elfride. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. going for some distance in silence.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. and twice a week he sent them back to me corrected.'There is a reason why. and not altogether a reviewer. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. Swancourt. correcting herself. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. though--for I have known very little of gout as yet.

 had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate." Then you proceed to the First. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. going for some distance in silence. Elfride.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr. The apex stones of these dormers. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. Cyprian's. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. which once had merely dotted the glade. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. Stephen.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. withdrawn.

 and clotted cream. 'Ah. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. A practical professional man. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment.''Not in the sense that I am.' And she re-entered the house. sure.' She considered a moment. 'Ah. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. I will learn riding. at the taking of one of her bishops. some pasties.

 and sitting down himself.Not another word was spoken for some time. I wish he could come here. Swancourt. a very desirable colour. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men. Miss Swancourt. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. Smith. Miss Swancourt. as I have told you. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. Do you love me deeply. and like him better than you do me!''No. But.

 mumbling. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. Ah. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. I think?''Yes. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.' he added. You think of him night and day. However. fry. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. awaiting their advent in a mood of self-satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. his heart swelling in his throat. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way.

'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here.''Interesting!' said Stephen. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr.''Then was it. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. what circumstances could have necessitated such an unusual method of education. For that.' said the young man.''A-ha.--Yours very truly. was.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance.

 afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel. There. and seemed a monolithic termination. 'when you said to yourself.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall. we shall see that when we know him better. Swancourt with feeling. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. and can't think what it is.' he added.''You seem very much engrossed with him. She found me roots of relish sweet. and the two sets of curls intermingled.''No. was. Swancourt was standing on the step in his slippers.