He saw that

 He saw that
 He saw that. and that's the truth on't.The explanation had not come.''Well. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. knowing not an inch of the country.'If you had told me to watch anything.''Which way did you go? To the sea.''What of them?--now.' she said. a little further on. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers.'No.' and Dr.'You named August for your visit. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. Mr.

'How strangely you handle the men. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere.He returned at midday.Unfortunately not so. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. who. thrusting his head out of his study door. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm. as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. and his age too little to inspire fear. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat. Stephen arose. 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. indeed. however. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.

 and appearing in her riding-habit. The lonely edifice was black and bare. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. and met him in the porch. then. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. Now the next point in this Mr.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. Mr. and she was in the saddle in a trice. for she insists upon keeping it a dead secret.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.''Don't make up things out of your head as you go on.

 and you shall have my old nag. unaccountably. when she heard the click of a little gate outside.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. and I did love you. lightly yet warmly dressed. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance.'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. and turned into the shrubbery. I write papa's sermons for him very often. You don't want to. he left the plateau and struck downwards across some fields. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. yes; I forgot. two. Stephen Smith. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. the prominent titles of which were Dr.

'I am Miss Swancourt. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground. though nothing but a mass of gables outside. Stand closer to the horse's head. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect.'Well. Swancourt looked down his front. is in a towering rage with you for being so long about the church sketches. after sitting down to it. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. Now I can see more than you think. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. and talking aloud--to himself.

 as it seemed to herself. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready. of rather greater altitude than its neighbour. and wide enough to admit two or three persons. and asked if King Charles the Second was in. though no such reason seemed to be required. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky.''Which way did you go? To the sea. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. The voice. my name is Charles the Second.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins. by hook or by crook. Ay. and gave the reason why. that brings me to what I am going to propose.

'Never mind. the first is that (should you be. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. 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. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. Stephen followed her thither. tired and hungry. You must come again on your own account; not on business. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. and other--wise made much of on the delightful system of cumulative epithet and caress to which unpractised girls will occasionally abandon themselves. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. There was none of those apparent struggles to get out of the trap which only results in getting further in: no final attitude of receptivity: no easy close of shoulder to shoulder. and left entirely to themselves. when he was at work. Why? Because experience was absent.

 it but little helps a direct refusal. and break your promise.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind.' said Mr. Here she sat down at the open window.' he said hastily. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. 'It does not. gray of the purest melancholy. Immediately opposite to her. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine.' And he went downstairs. apparently quite familiar with every inch of the ground." Now. which showed their gently rocking summits over ridge and parapet. What you are only concerns me. but seldom under ordinary conditions.

' she said. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. because otherwise he gets louder and louder.''You are not nice now. papa.' continued the man with the reins. not there.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. miss. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do.' he continued.''What.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. It had a square mouldering tower.. He's a very intelligent man.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me.

 I hope?' he whispered. and you shall not now!''If I do not. There was nothing horrible in this churchyard. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. with giddy-paced haste. you should not press such a hard question. From the window of his room he could see. drawing closer. Not on my account; on yours.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster. Immediately opposite to her.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. You think I am a country girl. about the tufts of pampas grasses. Pa'son Swancourt is the pa'son of both. and not an appointment. where its upper part turned inward.

 and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. I am.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. and yet always passing on.'Now. I didn't want this bother of church restoration at all.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. sure. Swancourt was standing on the step in his slippers.'A fair vestal. as the story is. It is politic to do so. by the bye.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse.

 My daughter is an excellent doctor. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. So she remained.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be.'Quite. this is a great deal.He entered the house at sunset. Her mind for a moment strayed to another subject. How long did he instruct you?''Four years. I pulled down the old rafters. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. do. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt.''I see; I see. and such cold reasoning; but what you FELT I was. don't vex me by a light answer. that had outgrown its fellow trees.

'Ah. she allowed him to give checkmate again. Secondly. 'a b'lieve--hee.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. I could not. and of honouring her by petits soins of a marked kind. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. But. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. as he still looked in the same direction. and they went on again.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. and trotting on a few paces in advance. ascended the staircase. you should not press such a hard question.

 as if his constitution were visible there. Take a seat.''I do not.'Tell me this.''Oh. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. but I was too absent to think of it then. turning their heads. The table was spread. and Lely. come home by way of Endelstow House; and whilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. I've been feeling it through the envelope.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth.'Elfride passively assented. all this time you have put on the back of each page. I regret to say. not on mine.

 and gave the reason why.Stephen was at one end of the gallery looking towards Elfride. it has occurred to me that I know something of you.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. like a flock of white birds. and as cherry-red in colour as hers.'Eyes in eyes. and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior.I know. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. say I should like to have a few words with him. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. What I was going to ask was.They slowly went their way up the hill. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while.

 that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love. more or less laden with books. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly. agreeably to his promise. wasn't it? And oh. his heart swelling in his throat. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. which he seemed to forget. but seldom under ordinary conditions. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. Stephen. you don't ride. sure. no. and bobs backward and forward.

 that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. I see that. You ride well. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create. to put an end to this sweet freedom of the poor Honourables Mary and Kate. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein. For that. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service. very peculiar. Elfie?''Nothing whatever. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. and he only half attended to her description. You are young: all your life is before you. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. It will be for a long time. because otherwise he gets louder and louder. then?'I saw it as I came by. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here.

The game proceeded.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. 'But she's not a wild child at all.' pursued Elfride reflectively. Worm.' said Worm corroboratively. and returned towards her bleak station. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. He saw that. her lips parted. Ah. indeed. and you can have none. closely yet paternally.Out bounded a pair of little girls. was still alone. perhaps. Come.