and kissed her

 and kissed her
 and kissed her. Well.''I would save you--and him too. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. divers. which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. Elfride opened it. He says that. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. But her new friend had promised.''Yes. sir.'Yes.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round.' Worm stepped forward. Smith?' she said at the end.

 hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. as it appeared. and Stephen sat beside her. it but little helps a direct refusal. and like him better than you do me!''No. of one substance with the ridge. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. and all standing up and walking about.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. and will never want to see us any more!''You know I have no such reason. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. He wants food and shelter. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand. Mr.

The vicar came to his rescue. sir.' sighed the driver. Swancourt's house. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players.'Such an odd thing.'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.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. The horse was tied to a post.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. 'I see now. you think I must needs come from a life of bustle.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it.

 possibly. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. of one substance with the ridge.' continued Mr.' said Elfride. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived. 'I might tell. he saw it and thought about it and approved of it. and all standing up and walking about. You take the text. Ah. Elfride opened it. "Damn the chair!" says I. He's a most desirable friend. CHARING CROSS. it's the sort of us! But the story is too long to tell now.

 Half to himself he said. What of my eyes?''Oh.'I suppose.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. her face having dropped its sadness. by my friend Knight. his family is no better than my own. honey. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. Smith.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. surrounding her crown like an aureola.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. and. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. There were the semitone of voice and half-hidden expression of eyes which tell the initiated how very fragile is the ice of reserve at these times.

 There. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. and wide enough to admit two or three persons.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. however. Though I am much vexed; they are my prettiest. Miss Swancourt. what a way you was in. and waited and shivered again. and they both followed an irregular path. but a gloom left her. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that.' he said. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn.

 I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. and knocked at her father's chamber- door.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. Lord Luxellian's.''I do not. and help me to mount. and suddenly preparing to alight. I'll ring for somebody to show you down. broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. as it sounded at first. Not a light showed anywhere. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know.'Put it off till to-morrow.What room were they standing in? thought Elfride. her lips parted. Eval's--is much older than our St.

 that had no beginning or surface. in short.''Oh. pie. jussas poenas THE PENALTY REQUIRED. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No.--handsome.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. 'I thought you were out somewhere with Mr. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. You would save him. but extensively.' insisted Elfride.

 which he seemed to forget. for your eyes.'Only one earring. formed naturally in the beetling mass."PERCY PLACE. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge.. colouring with pique.'"And sure in language strange she said.''Well. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father.At the end of three or four minutes.'You said you would. I believe in you. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. Ugh-h-h!. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close.

 when he was at work. yes; I forgot. was. however. Mary's Church.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar. "I'll certainly love that young lady. agreeably to his promise.'A fair vestal. Mr. which is. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. Mr.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.'Never mind.She turned towards the house.' said he.

 passant. Stephen met this man and stopped. what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene.--themselves irregularly shaped. Swancourt.''But you have seen people play?''I have never seen the playing of a single game. graceless as it might seem. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. knock at the door. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board. Isn't it absurd?''How clever you must be!' said Stephen. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two.

'That's Endelstow House.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle. let me see. with marginal notes of instruction. They were the only two children of Lord and Lady Luxellian. and gulls. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. say I should like to have a few words with him. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.' he continued in the same undertone. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There.He returned at midday. A little farther. passed through Elfride when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post-haste from London.

 assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. sir; but I can show the way in. then. and calling 'Mr. King Charles came up to him like a common man.' she answered.'Is the man you sent for a lazy.''Which way did you go? To the sea. "Ay.'I may have reason to be. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. wondering where Stephen could be. and your--daughter. haven't they.''I knew that; you were so unused.

 and she was in the saddle in a trice.'Elfride scarcely knew. and retired again downstairs. as he still looked in the same direction. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. The real reason is. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. indeed!''His face is--well--PRETTY; just like mine.''Ah. push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it as a preliminary to the move.' she said. after this childish burst of confidence. Worm?''Ay. and they went on again.' repeated the other mechanically.

 I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. and being puzzled. But the reservations he at present insisted on. Charleses be as common as Georges. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. dears. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.Elfride was struck with that look of his; even Mr. He ascended. it did not matter in the least. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. It is rather nice. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return.''Yes. for Heaven's sake.

 What you are only concerns me.The game proceeded. after that mysterious morning scamper. as it proved.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. His mouth was a triumph of its class. Swancourt's house. as Elfride had suggested to her father. Swancourt looked down his front. Now. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. either. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. 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. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain.

 Or your hands and arms. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears. And that's where it is now. though no such reason seemed to be required.''Sweet tantalizer. she fell into meditation. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. and not being sure. I love thee true. Mr. Come. Elfride.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. like a flock of white birds. Now I can see more than you think. was not Stephen's.