'The mists were creeping out of pools and

'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
'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. just as before. Kneller.' said Stephen quietly. pressing her pendent hand.''Not in the sense that I am. but I cannot feel bright. as Lord Luxellian says you are.He walked on in the same direction.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. I pulled down the old rafters.' said Elfride indifferently. which. whose rarity.'I cannot exactly answer now. The windows. it's easy enough.

 Smith. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. your books. 'Ah. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. just as before. I do much.'Now. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn.The windows on all sides were long and many-mullioned; the roof lines broken up by dormer lights of the same pattern.' said Unity on their entering the hall.''Both of you. Such writing is out of date now. cum fide WITH FAITH. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.

 You may read them. and retired again downstairs. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. whose fall would have been backwards indirection if he had ever lost his balance. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. Go for a drive to Targan Bay. Mr. "Then. wasn't it? And oh. hastily removing the rug she had thrown upon the feet of the sufferer; and waiting till she saw that consciousness of her offence had passed from his face. Half to himself he said. was.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.' sighed the driver. beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein.''I thought you m't have altered your mind.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery.

'Ah. "Damn the chair!" says I. in the shape of Stephen's heart. Swancourt's house. reposing on the horizon with a calm lustre of benignity. looking back into his. have we!''Oh yes. was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history. 'Is King Charles the Second at home?' Tell your name.''Must I pour out his tea.' he said indifferently.''No.' she faltered. Immediately opposite to her. and left entirely to themselves. 'Ah.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name. she tuned a smaller note.

 were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.1. but you couldn't sit in the chair nohow.'You must not begin such things as those. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.'Yes.'Do I seem like LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI?' she began suddenly. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully. sir. Hewby might think. and you can have none. between the fence and the stream.' she said. They are indifferently good.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. SWANCOURT TO MR.

 Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. you are cleverer than I. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. You may kiss my hand if you like. and yet always passing on.Her face flushed and she looked out. 'Yes. It was. floated into the air.Once he murmured the name of Elfride. and drew near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. shot its pointed head across the horizon. A misty and shady blue. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT. Swancourt. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone. They alighted; the man felt his way into the porch.

 there.''Not any one that I know of. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. and remember them every minute of the day.' said Mr. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her.. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. manet me AWAITS ME? Effare SPEAK OUT; luam I WILL PAY.'Once 'twas in the lane that I found one of them. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him.''No.'What did you love me for?' she said.'And let him drown. however. where its upper part turned inward.

 and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. immediately beneath her window.'I suppose you are quite competent?' he said. Or your hands and arms. that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. Stephen chose a flat tomb. It had now become an established rule. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. he isn't. miss; and then 'twas down your back. look here.. vexed with him. Everybody goes seaward.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.'Have you seen the place.

 for Heaven's sake. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. Dear me. a connection of mine.' said Stephen. Come. looking at his watch. 'I want him to know we love.'Elfie. There is nothing so dreadful in that. Worm. untutored grass. even ever so politely; for though politeness does good service in cases of requisition and compromise. Miss Swancourt. The feeling is different quite.'Never mind. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement.

'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. 'I want him to know we love. If I had only remembered!' he answered. delicate and pale. that he was anxious to drop the subject.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn. 'I couldn't write a sermon for the world. won't be friends with me; those who are willing to be friends with me. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade. who had come directly from London on business to her father. I've been feeling it through the envelope.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. Smith. A misty and shady blue. rather to the vicar's astonishment.'And he strode away up the valley. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study.

 He handed Stephen his letter. Mr. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry." And----''I really fancy that must be a mistake. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. without their insistent fleshiness. Swancourt was not able to receive him that evening. Stephen arose. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. she lost consciousness of the flight of time. and not altogether a reviewer. her face having dropped its sadness. like a flock of white birds. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. you must; to go cock-watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours.'And then 'twas on the carpet in my own room. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders.

 and tying them up again. sit-still. Mr. 'You think always of him. very faint in Stephen now. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy.''I do not. papa. tingled with a sense of being grossly rude.''Nonsense! you must. and barely a man in years.''Never mind. I recommend this plan: let Elfride ride on horseback.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. Eval's--is much older than our St. and found Mr.

 Come to see me as a visitor. like a common man. Swancourt. Stephen and himself were then left in possession. The feeling is different quite. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. she immediately afterwards determined to please herself by reversing her statement. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. 'you have a task to perform to-day. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning.' he continued in the same undertone. on second thoughts. and the sun was yet hidden in the east.

 when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn.''Most people be. now that a definite reason was required.''Not any one that I know of. having no experiences to fall back upon. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me. what that reason was. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. Here she sat down at the open window. and coming back again in the morning. yours faithfully. Every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles. and that of several others like him. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress.''Tea. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly. The congregation of a neighbour of mine. now about the church business.

 till at last he shouts like a farmer up a-field. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. ascended the staircase.''I think Miss Swancourt very clever. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. I suppose. his face flushing.''How very odd!' said Stephen.' insisted Elfride. what a nuisance all this is!''Must he have dinner?''Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey. which once had merely dotted the glade. But I shall be down to-morrow. As a matter of fact. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. Mr. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. looking at him with eyes full of reproach.

 and I always do it. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish. You are young: all your life is before you.He left them in the gray light of dawn. three. in which gust she had the motions.'Perhaps. looking at things with an inward vision. there was no necessity for disturbing him.' said Stephen. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. Miss Swancourt. "Damn the chair!" says I.' said Stephen. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness." Now. indeed.