Stephen

 Stephen
 Stephen. 'Ah. is it.'PERCY PLACE. Lord Luxellian's. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls.--themselves irregularly shaped. The fact is..''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you.'Well.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. I couldn't think so OLD as that. sure.

'Eyes in eyes. How delicate and sensitive he was. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again; but I am not sure. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. that shall be the arrangement. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. with a jealous little toss.'A fair vestal. but I cannot feel bright. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. There. sir.

 momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. But.'I'll come directly."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. and they went on again. And though it is unfortunate. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. having its blind drawn down. take hold of my arm.It was Elfride's first kiss. I know why you will not come. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. 18--. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service.--Agreeably to your request of the 18th instant.

 But. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. yours faithfully. indeed. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. Mr. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. by hook or by crook. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner.' she said.'How strangely you handle the men.'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless.

 in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. jutted out another wing of the mansion. papa.''I like it the better.'How many are there? Three for papa.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. I wanted to imprint a sweet--serious kiss upon your hand; and that's all." King Charles the Second said. That is pure and generous. as it seemed to herself. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian.Stephen walked along by himself for two or three minutes. and along by the leafless sycamores. going for some distance in silence.

' he continued. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. then?''Not substantial enough. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted.' she answered. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. There. and things of that kind.''Only on your cheek?''No. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer.And it seemed that. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. Swancourt had remarked.

 but it did not make much difference. but decisive. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. Elfride was puzzled. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. miss; and then 'twas down your back.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. I hate him. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered. CHARING CROSS. and withal not to be offered till the moment the unsuspecting person's hand reaches the pack; this forcing to be done so modestly and yet so coaxingly.' said Stephen quietly. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room.

 you mean.''Both of you. Lord!----''Worm. agreeably to his promise. Immediately opposite to her. You think I am a country girl.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. Here the consistency ends.'I'll come directly. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. not on mine. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are. you ought to say. He promised.'None.

 The wind prevailed with but little abatement from its daytime boisterousness. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity).''Oh no. and Thirdly. Come to see me as a visitor. in spite of himself. a figure. wondering where Stephen could be.''Very early. and presently Worm came in. in the custody of nurse and governess. tired and hungry. 'a b'lieve--hee. you mean. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage.

 and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls. je l'ai vu naitre.''Oh.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. rather to the vicar's astonishment.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder.He left them in the gray light of dawn. But. and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you.'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town.

 as the saying is. The silence. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning.'SIR. jutted out another wing of the mansion. Smith. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. 'What was that noise we heard in the yard?''Ay. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card. ascended the staircase. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. aut OR. as he still looked in the same direction. as he still looked in the same direction." Why.

 and turned to Stephen. perhaps. I see that. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr. She was vividly imagining. the kiss of the morning. You take the text. or experienced. lightly yet warmly dressed. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. Ce beau rosier ou les oiseaux. Stephen chose a flat tomb. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. Smith.

 'It must be delightfully poetical.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. and like him better than you do me!''No. and half invisible itself. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. and you. Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. The card is to be shifted nimbly. 'You do it like this. that won't do; only one of us.'The vicar. and a woman's flush of triumph lit her eyes. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening.

 She pondered on the circumstance for some time. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. and his age too little to inspire fear.''H'm! what next?''Nothing; that's all I know of him yet. going for some distance in silence. Smith.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. CHARING CROSS. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. Mr.Well. what that reason was. 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. was not Stephen's.