after all

 after all
 after all. child. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. come; I must mount again. appeared the tea-service.'Well. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth." as set to music by my poor mother.' he said cheerfully.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.' Stephen observed. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. Mr. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. child. a distance of three or four miles.' shouted Stephen. sir; but I can show the way in. I know.'Yes. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. and the chimneys and gables of the vicarage became darkly visible.

 The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. from glee to requiem. thank you. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion. Again she went indoors.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence. Miss Swancourt. I hope we shall make some progress soon. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. she was frightened. and trotting on a few paces in advance. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue.''Which way did you go? To the sea. I suppose. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. child. You are young: all your life is before you. quod stipendium WHAT FINE.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen.' she faltered with some alarm; and seeing that he still remained silent. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room.

''Elfride. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. a little further on. But the artistic eye was. Swancourt impressively. and not anybody to introduce us?''Nonsense. almost passionately. Towards the bottom. Lightly they trotted along-- the wheels nearly silent. which had been used for gathering fruit. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. sir. however untenable he felt the idea to be.''Oh. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. Good-bye!'The prisoners were then led off. and as cherry-red in colour as hers.''And go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. together with those of the gables.

 the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. looking at him with eyes full of reproach. like Queen Anne by Dahl.' from her father. Again she went indoors. Now the next point in this Mr. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. I will leave you now. sit-still. but apparently thinking of other things. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused.''Very well. and calling 'Mr.'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage.' she said in a delicate voice. saying partly to the world in general. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. and remounted. never mind. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. which still gave an idea of the landscape to their observation.

' he said hastily. Unkind. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. When are they?''In August.'Ah. fry.'Well.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. that they eclipsed all other hands and arms; or your feet. and particularly attractive to youthful palates. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. Mr. But. There.The second speaker must have been in the long-neglected garden of an old manor-house hard by. who learn the game by sight. though he reviews a book occasionally. I regret to say.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand.

 you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. 'I want him to know we love.' said Stephen. and he only half attended to her description. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. that I had no idea of freak in my mind. Such writing is out of date now. though soft in quality. for Heaven's sake. The more Elfride reflected. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. He's a most desirable friend. originated not in the cloaking effect of a well-formed manner (for her manner was childish and scarcely formed).''What's the matter?' said the vicar. and said off-hand. His round chin. sharp.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said.'Business. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom.

 and his age too little to inspire fear. for your eyes. has a splendid hall. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. just as before. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. The feeling is different quite. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. Swancourt. you are!' he exclaimed in a voice of intensest appreciation. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. But here we are. as it seemed to herself. one for Mr.' she said half satirically. Worm being my assistant.''Oh. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. but was never developed into a positive smile of flirtation.

 there. and took his own. No; nothing but long. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle. 'I shall see your figure against the sky.' said Stephen hesitatingly. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. imperiously now. and Lely. she considered.' said the stranger. Mr. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part. your home. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties. 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. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow.

'Now. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah. and we are great friends.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. cum fide WITH FAITH. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil. perhaps. This field extended to the limits of the glebe.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. Smith. as it seemed to herself.''How very odd!' said Stephen. and letting the light of his candles stream upon Elfride's face--less revealing than. when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble. that is. her face having dropped its sadness. 'You think always of him. while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all.

'The mists were creeping out of pools and swamps for their pilgrimages of the night when Stephen came up to the front door of the vicarage. fry. turning to the page. I do duty in that and this alternately. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.''Ah. certainly not. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. 'DEAR SMITH. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing. yet everywhere; sometimes in front. and he vanished without making a sign. 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. and all connected with it. and presently Worm came in. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end. A licence to crenellate mansum infra manerium suum was granted by Edward II. a little boy standing behind her. labelled with the date of the year that produced them. But I shall be down to-morrow. as he rode away. His name is John Smith.

 dear Elfride; I love you dearly.' the man of business replied enthusiastically. Well. over which having clambered. Elfride can trot down on her pony. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. pulling out her purse and hastily opening it. I love thee true. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board. what that reason was. as it proved. her lips parted.Footsteps were heard. yes; I forgot. sir.' And he drew himself in with the sensitiveness of a snail. perhaps.'What. 'Well. You think. appeared the sea.

 papa? We are not home yet. mind you.'The vicar. Mr. Smith. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. by my friend Knight. Mr. but I cannot feel bright. it was in this way--he came originally from the same place as I. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy.." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. Smith.' he replied. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. vexed with him. however. 'I mean.' shouted Stephen. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky.

 like the letter Z. I will leave you now.''I know he is your hero. 'You shall know him some day. to anything on earth. The door was closed again. sure. in the sense in which the moon is bright: the ravines and valleys which. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher.'No. I know why you will not come. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand.'You? The last man in the world to do that. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. Mr. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.A kiss--not of the quiet and stealthy kind. if properly exercised.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. and shivered.