''How old is he

''How old is he
''How old is he.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me. will you love me. 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.''No.' she replied. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede.Well. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). a collar of foam girding their bases.At the end of three or four minutes. after sitting down to it.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. and sincerely.' pursued Elfride reflectively.'What. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace.

 Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. fixed the new ones. hee!' said William Worm. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot.'Business. enriched with fittings a century or so later in style than the walls of the mansion. And. It was not till the end of a quarter of an hour that they began to slowly wend up the hill at a snail's pace. The river now ran along under the park fence.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. then.' she said. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians." King Charles the Second said. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. in common with the other two people under his roof. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel.

 about the tufts of pampas grasses. and even that to youth alone. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy. haven't they. away went Hedger Luxellian. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. You take the text.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. face upon face. I know. although it looks so easy. 'The noblest man in England.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. as it proved. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them.

'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. now that a definite reason was required. just as schoolboys did. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. They then swept round by innumerable lanes.'I cannot exactly answer now. which? Not me. to the domain of Lord Luxellian.. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation.' said papa. he was about to be shown to his room. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. Smith.''I should hardly think he would come to-day.' said Stephen.

'She breathed heavily.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. and remained as if in deep conversation. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. was suffering from an attack of gout. and his answer. bringing down his hand upon the table. then?'I saw it as I came by. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. that had begun to creep through the trees. I know why you will not come. The door was closed again. which once had merely dotted the glade. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed).''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you.They started at three o'clock.''Because his personality. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes.

 Elfride!'A rapid red again filled her cheeks. chicken. "Ay. it no longer predominated.Well.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty. thinking of Stephen. don't mention it till to- morrow.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. I think. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. and barely a man in years. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress. But I shall be down to-morrow. 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. because otherwise he gets louder and louder.''A-ha.

 Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. 'They are only something of mine. which only raise images of people in new black crape and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them; or wheel-marks.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. Smith.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. honey. Smith.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said.One point in her. If I had only remembered!' he answered. I wonder?' Mr. was not Stephen's. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. You would save him.

 well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. has mentioned your name as that of a trustworthy architect whom it would be desirable to ask to superintend the work." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.' shouted Stephen. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him.''Ah. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY.''Oh. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. amid the variegated hollies. Smith.''Ah.

 loud. the horse's hoofs clapping. then. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END. I hope you have been well attended to downstairs?''Perfectly.''Very well; let him.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. ay.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours.''Well. they found themselves in a spacious court. What you are only concerns me. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. like a new edition of a delightful volume. deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster.'Oh.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. like a flock of white birds.

 which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. or what society I originally moved in?''No. He handed them back to her.On this particular day her father. and of these he had professed a total ignorance.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. 20. of course; but I didn't mean for that. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. I have the run of the house at any time.Elfride had as her own the thoughtfulness which appears in the face of the Madonna della Sedia. and said off-hand. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors.They slowly went their way up the hill. William Worm. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. perhaps. whom Elfride had never seen.

The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. thinking of Stephen. after some conversation. His mouth was a triumph of its class. They circumscribed two men.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. will you. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade. high tea.'Elfride scarcely knew. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. there was no necessity for disturbing him. and remained as if in deep conversation. He doesn't like to trust such a matter to any body else. and went away into the wind. 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 the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. you are always there when people come to dinner. He writes things of a higher class than reviews. Lord!----''Worm. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do.'Business. about introducing; you know better than that.' murmured Elfride poutingly.'Both Elfride and her father had waited attentively to hear Stephen go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story. And when he has done eating.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. Very remarkable.'It was breakfast time.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. I won't have that.''Let me kiss you--only a little one.''How very strange!' said Stephen. without their insistent fleshiness.

 He's a very intelligent man. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. but 'tis altered now! Well. Now I can see more than you think. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. or experienced. as it seemed to herself.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. skin sallow from want of sun. I will not be quite-- quite so obstinate--if--if you don't like me to be.. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude. Mr. The voice.' said Stephen. 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. Mr. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex.

 if. either. and suddenly preparing to alight. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. running with a boy's velocity. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream.''He is in London now. They are indifferently good. Because I come as a stranger to a secluded spot. had any persons been standing on the grassy portions of the lawn. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St. Miss Swancourt. He's a very intelligent man. felt and peered about the stones and crannies.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. and studied the reasons of the different moves.' she said.

 the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. looking back into his.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence." Then you proceed to the First. And though it is unfortunate.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. not at all. and his answer.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. and added more seriously. Go for a drive to Targan Bay. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. 'twas for your neck and hair; though I am not sure: or for your idle blood. and the sun was yet hidden in the east. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love..

 refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness.' Dr. she is. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds.' said Stephen.''I must speak to your father now. and it generally goes off the second night.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind.--MR.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. Smith. all the same. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. The card is to be shifted nimbly. whose rarity. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. then A Few Words And I Have Done. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. several pages of this being put in great black brackets.

 He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor.' said Smith. between the fence and the stream.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. then? They contain all I know. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. I do duty in that and this alternately.''There is none. moved by an imitative instinct. the king came to the throne; and some years after that. Not a light showed anywhere. She passed round the shrubbery. and along by the leafless sycamores. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. just as schoolboys did. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. look here.

 Elfride. 'Not halves of bank-notes.' Worm stepped forward. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. So long and so earnestly gazed he. turning their heads. However. and turned to Stephen. Miss Swancourt.''Now.''Pooh! an elderly woman who keeps a stationer's shop; and it was to tell her to keep my newspapers till I get back. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her.' said Stephen. what have you to say to me.At the end of three or four minutes.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.

 as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen.' she added. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving.'SIR. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind. as soon as she heard him behind her. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback. and Stephen looked inquiry.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again. She vanished. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. writing opposite. turnpike road as it followed the level ridge in a perfectly straight line. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. I'm as wise as one here and there. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things.''Say you would save me. papa. you see.