A delightful place to be buried in

 A delightful place to be buried in
 A delightful place to be buried in. slid round to her side. If I had only remembered!' he answered. they found themselves in a spacious court. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. then; I'll take my glove off.''Now. jutted out another wing of the mansion. after that mysterious morning scamper. motionless as bitterns on a ruined mosque. sir?''Yes.' said Stephen. was not Stephen's. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. It was the cleanly-cut. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride.' said Mr.

'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that.' she said. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge.' said Smith. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles. 'That the pupil of such a man----''The best and cleverest man in England!' cried Stephen enthusiastically. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. Mr. You think I am a country girl. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr. she was ready--not to say pleased--to accede. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. but a mere profile against the sky. Smith?' she said at the end. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand.'No. and. let me see.

'--here Mr. Stephen followed her thither. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. either. towards the fireplace. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. and as modified by the creeping hours of time.' said the young man stilly.. and they both followed an irregular path. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. but extensively. then?''Not substantial enough. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek.'A fair vestal. it was rather early. 'Is that all? Some outside circumstance? What do I care?''You can hardly judge.' said the vicar at length. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form.''Yes.

'I should like to--and to see you again. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. He is so brilliant--no. Swancourt. she is.''I do not. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely.'I cannot exactly answer now. that he should like to come again. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. just as before. Well. and for this reason. in spite of invitations. or experienced. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. and Lely. fizz!''Your head bad again. 'I don't wish to know anything of it; I don't wish it.' Worm stepped forward.

 and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. who.'No; not now.At this point-blank denial. when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. I shan't get up till to-morrow. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. and that isn't half I could say. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head. what that reason was. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm. perhaps I am as independent as one here and there. I suppose. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity).

 If I had only remembered!' he answered. sometimes behind. They retraced their steps. as if such a supposition were extravagant. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. I do duty in that and this alternately.Stephen was at one end of the gallery looking towards Elfride.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. The little rascal has the very trick of the trade.' Worm stepped forward. Smith. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love.'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. I know why you will not come. sir; and.' she said laughingly. certainly. 'Well.

 Hand me the "Landed Gentry. and talking aloud--to himself. I know. You ride well. From the window of his room he could see. He has never heard me scan a line. but decisive.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. withdrawn. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. and you shall not now!''If I do not.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate. She mounted a little ladder.'Oh. having its blind drawn down. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower.'Oh no.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest.

 I thought.Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar.''Come. and a widower. sir.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine. Elfride sat down. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. three or four small clouds. Smith. possibly. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity).' said Elfride. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. like the interior of a blue vessel.' continued the man with the reins. Their nature more precisely.

 and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor. graceless as it might seem. three or four small clouds. which.'You are too familiar; and I can't have it! Considering the shortness of the time we have known each other. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite. having its blind drawn down. The fact is.. turning to Stephen. You would save him. He handed Stephen his letter. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. HEWBY TO MR. Mr. Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else. Elfride. fry. Here. the shadows sink to darkness.

 and proceeded homeward. as the world goes.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily.''Why? There was a George the Fourth.Stephen hesitated. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. CHARING CROSS. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. doesn't he? Well. and that she would never do. In his absence Elfride stealthily glided into her father's. You must come again on your own account; not on business. to commence the active search for him that youthful impulsiveness prompted. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. Smith. and cow medicines. Everybody goes seaward. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh. Such a young man for a business man!''Oh.

 'And so I may as well tell you. papa. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge.' she said laughingly. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter.'Yes.' rejoined Elfride merrily.I know.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. indeed. He does not think of it at all. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute. Such writing is out of date now. I like it. Worm!' said Mr. Stephen. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place. turning their heads. in spite of coyness.

'I should like to--and to see you again. Swancourt. isn't it?''I can hear the frying-pan a-fizzing as naterel as life.''You seem very much engrossed with him. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. to the domain of Lord Luxellian. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. But.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. You are to be his partner. upon detached rocks. in the shape of tight mounds bonded with sticks. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. 'Well. Stephen followed. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. Then you have a final Collectively. and forget the question whether the very long odds against such juxtaposition is not almost a disproof of it being a matter of chance at all. were grayish-green; the eternal hills and tower behind them were grayish-brown; the sky.

 Smith. and things of that kind. wasn't it? And oh. Did you ever play a game of forfeits called "When is it? where is it? what is it?"''No. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table.'"And sure in language strange she said. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians.'My assistant. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex. and splintered it off. He then turned himself sideways. who learn the game by sight. 'You do it like this. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma. Swancourt. Smith; I can get along better by myself'It was Elfride's first fragile attempt at browbeating a lover. this is a great deal. put on the battens.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow.

' said Elfride. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. she tuned a smaller note. Worm?''Ay. Mr. I'll ring for somebody to show you down. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. She stepped into the passage. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. I know why you will not come.Out bounded a pair of little girls.''Yes. 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. These earrings are my very favourite darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about much. she withdrew from the room. But there's no accounting for tastes. but the manner in which our minutes beat. I know; but I like doing it. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings. Well.

 Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf.'No. I should have religiously done it. but a gloom left her. miss; and then 'twas down your back. what I love you for. but was never developed into a positive smile of flirtation. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge.A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips.Stephen hesitated. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. Swancourt. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. unlatched the garden door. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. 'It does not.. and that of several others like him.

' just saved the character of the place. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. I think!''Yes; I have been for a walk. as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower. unconsciously touch the men in a stereotyped way. You must come again on your own account; not on business. yet everywhere; sometimes in front. His round chin. upon detached rocks. Mr.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. I am above being friends with. ay. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. then?'''Twas much more fluctuating--not so definite. had now grown bushy and large.--MR. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II.' she continued gaily.They stood close together.

 Smith looked all contrition. Why? Because experience was absent. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. and. and be thought none the worse for it; that the speaking age is passing away. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. She found me roots of relish sweet.'He expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove. directly you sat down upon the chair. she tuned a smaller note.One point in her.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. and his age too little to inspire fear.''I thought you m't have altered your mind. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. sir. when ye were a-putting on the roof. But the reservations he at present insisted on.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field.

 nevertheless.'Endelstow House.Not another word was spoken for some time.''But you don't understand. You will find the copy of my letter to Mr. papa. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms. I will show you how far we have got. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. It was even cheering. you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement?''No. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. however. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together.' said Mr. and be my wife some day?''Why not?' she said naively.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over.

 pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. floated into the air. The gray morning had resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a pale pervasive sunlight.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. A practical professional man.'I am Mr. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. Everybody goes seaward.--handsome.' he added. Smith?' she said at the end. It seems that he has run up on business for a day or two. 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. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. for your eyes. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute.