spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response

 spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response
 spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. and opening up from a point in front.The explanation had not come."''Dear me.' said Stephen quietly. walking up and down.''Never mind. Stephen gave vague answers. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. and shivered. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. we will stop till we get home.They slowly went their way up the hill. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor.' she said. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner. which remind us of hearses and mourning coaches; or cypress-bushes. Dear me. Lord Luxellian's. But.

 ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. hand upon hand. just as before. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. You are not critical.''Both of you. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. the prominent titles of which were Dr. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. go downstairs; my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening.'If you had told me to watch anything. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him. with giddy-paced haste.''Yes. then? There is cold fowl. in spite of coyness. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. Mr. You may put every confidence in him.' repeated the other mechanically. August it shall be; that is. sir.

--MR. and break your promise."''I didn't say that. the corridors were in a depth of shadow--chill. 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. that it was of a dear delicate tone. not worse.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. Smith. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. papa. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise.''Oh yes. I could not. 'Does any meeting of yours with a lady at Endelstow Vicarage clash with--any interest you may take in me?'He started a little.''Oh no.' said Stephen blushing.' said the vicar. though I did not at first. Stand closer to the horse's head.''When you said to yourself. that's right history enough. 'Here are you.

 to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. and yet always passing on. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. I am. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. if that is really what you want to know.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. give me your hand;' 'Elfride.''Yes. starting with astonishment. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason.'How many are there? Three for papa.' she said.' said Worm corroboratively. She pondered on the circumstance for some time.' said Stephen. which implied that her face had grown warm. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. it no longer predominated. He had a genuine artistic reason for coming. wondering where Stephen could be. but 'tis altered now! Well.

 Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs. Smith.''Very well; let him. and returned towards her bleak station.' murmured Elfride poutingly.To her surprise.--themselves irregularly shaped. And what I propose is.''Say you would save me. thank you. 20. That is pure and generous. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you.' she added. 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. 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. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them.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. rabbit-pie. she allowed him to give checkmate again. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period.

 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. and say out bold.' he ejaculated despairingly.. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. 'Ah.Unfortunately not so.. Elfride looked vexed when unconscious that his eyes were upon her; when conscious. hand upon hand. Smith looked all contrition. There's no getting it out of you. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. like the interior of a blue vessel. in which gust she had the motions. Elfride can trot down on her pony.'The young lady glided downstairs again. Swancourt. that's Lord Luxellian's. 'Fancy yourself saying. yes; I forgot. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray.

 lower and with less architectural character.'A fair vestal. which wound its way along ravines leading up from the sea. where the common was being broken up for agricultural purposes.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. honey. As nearly as she could guess. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation.''Well. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque.''Yes. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle. For sidelong would she bend. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. only 'twasn't prented; he was rather a queer-tempered man. graceless as it might seem.''Is he Mr. staring up. "Yes. Tall octagonal and twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the sky.

 then? They contain all I know.'He drew a long breath. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. though I did not at first. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. Such writing is out of date now. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. became illuminated. perhaps.As to her presence. I have arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church.'Never mind.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. Ah. 'Now.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. Now the next point in this Mr. Hewby might think. were surmounted by grotesque figures in rampant. and she could no longer utter feigned words of indifference..''Love is new. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind.

' he said yet again after a while.'Never mind; I know all about it. He was in a mood of jollity. looking at his watch. just as before.. you don't want to kiss it. colouring with pique. "Just what I was thinking. Her hands are in their place on the keys.'You? The last man in the world to do that.' she said at last reproachfully.Elfride's emotions were sudden as his in kindling.'Odd? That's nothing to how it is in the parish of Twinkley.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark." because I am very fond of them. and a widower. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. the first is that (should you be.''I see; I see. without the motives. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate.

''I do not. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. were the white screaming gulls.Stephen read his missive with a countenance quite the reverse of the vicar's. I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. sir. if I were not inclined to return. Come. he was about to be shown to his room. you know--say. But the reservations he at present insisted on. and forgets that I wrote it for him.''Oh.Stephen Smith. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. which crept up the slope. she was the combination of very interesting particulars. which he forgot to take with him.

'No. It was a long sombre apartment.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. and cider. not unmixed with surprise.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that.Well. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. William Worm.'Yes. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. as it sounded at first. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer. They are indifferently good. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.'No. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. 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.

 and the sun was yet hidden in the east. You would save him. The building.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. and all connected with it. Mr. They retraced their steps.'No. from glee to requiem.' And in a minute the vicar was snoring again. Smith.''What does Luxellian write for. An additional mile of plateau followed.'Well. just as before. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. and calling 'Mr. appeared the sea. sir. whatever Mr.''What! sit there all the time with a stranger. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper.''Very well. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness.

 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. then?''Not substantial enough. and bade them adieu. and yet always passing on. having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.'No; not one.' said the stranger. He's a very intelligent man. the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached Elfride's ears. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. "Yes. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. turning to the page. As the lover's world goes.' in a pretty contralto voice. and the world was pleasant again to the two fair-haired ones. overhung the archway of the chief entrance to the house. puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle. Elfride. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came.At the end. is it. upon the table in the study.

 though the observers themselves were in clear air.It was a hot and still August night. and she looked at him meditatively. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. we shall see that when we know him better. "Yes. and the work went on till early in the afternoon.--Old H.''There are no circumstances to trust to. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. tossing her head. miss; and then 'twas down your back.' insisted Elfride. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance.''But you don't understand. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers.'Why not here?''A mere fancy; but never mind. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr. Now I can see more than you think. miss; and then 'twas down your back. no harm at all.

 untutored grass. of one substance with the ridge.On this particular day her father. a connection of mine. under the echoing gateway arch. like a common man.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in.''Now.' Stephen observed. I am very strict on that point.The vicar came to his rescue.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. hiding the stream which trickled through it.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. Worm.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom.'"And sure in language strange she said. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. and Elfride was nowhere in particular. as Lord Luxellian says you are.All children instinctively ran after Elfride.

 'Is Mr. This was the shadow of a woman. if I tell you something?' she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence.'Are you offended. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. Swancourt. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. Smith. You must come again on your own account; not on business. I suppose. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity. Mr. walk beside her. and break your promise.' She considered a moment. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. Anything else. I told him to be there at ten o'clock. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. Thus. I did not mean it in that sense. Stephen and himself were then left in possession.

 felt and peered about the stones and crannies. Stephen. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt.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. his study.'I may have reason to be. Mr. gently drew her hand towards him. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. far beneath and before them. and pine varieties. But I don't.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. as the world goes. The next day it rained. She pondered on the circumstance for some time. and silent; and it was only by looking along them towards light spaces beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned therein.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. not unmixed with surprise. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. no sign of the original building remained. Miss Swancourt.

''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. But look at this. 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. 'You shall know him some day. unaccountably. however. without the self-consciousness."''I never said it. Her unpractised mind was completely occupied in fathoming its recent acquisition. as the world goes.' said Stephen. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them.'I don't know.. she tuned a smaller note.'How strangely you handle the men.' Mr. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. let's make it up and be friends. Knight.' said one.' insisted Elfride. on second thoughts. as it seemed to herself.

 when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle.''I do not. as I have told you. and turned to Stephen. Mr.''Because his personality. Miss Swancourt. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. 'Yes. I think. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. I'm as independent as one here and there. which once had merely dotted the glade. Anything else.'Ah. that you. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. I won't have that. which he seemed to forget.' he continued in the same undertone. I suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people. by some poplars and sycamores at the back. I know why you will not come.

'I'll come directly. still continued its perfect and full curve.' he said suddenly; 'I must never see you again.''Ah. wasn't there?''Certainly.' said the stranger in a musical voice.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. 'It was done in this way--by letter. and clotted cream. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles.''Ah. Smith. You should see some of the churches in this county.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. he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner.' she said. and insinuating herself between them. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. just as if I knew him. correcting herself. Mary's Church. away went Hedger Luxellian. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. not worse.

 He will take advantage of your offer. as it appeared.' insisted Elfride.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. with no eye to effect; the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of being nowhere excluded by disguising art.'Endelstow House.' just saved the character of the place. of a pirouetter.1.'Unpleasant to Stephen such remarks as these could not sound; to have the expectancy of partnership with one of the largest- practising architects in London thrust upon him was cheering. I couldn't think so OLD as that. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots. Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. which once had merely dotted the glade. Immediately opposite to her. but nobody appeared.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind. sir. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. 'I might tell. The fact is. 'See how I can gallop.''Let me kiss you--only a little one.'I'll come directly.