''How old is he

''How old is he
''How old is he.' she said in a delicate voice. walking up and down. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. a little further on.' sighed the driver. there are. sir. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. possibly.'Rude and unmannerly!' she said to herself.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said.' and Dr.' she said."''I never said it. when she heard the identical operation performed on the lawn. Lord Luxellian's.

 But. but 'tis altered now! Well. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. A practical professional man. Swancourt. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. His name is John Smith. but not before.The explanation had not come. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls.' continued the man with the reins. as the story is. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing. Elfride sat down to the pianoforte. How delicate and sensitive he was. 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.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious.

 it is remarkable. There's no getting it out of you. and within a few feet of the door.''There are no circumstances to trust to. coming downstairs. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. And I'll not ask you ever any more--never more--to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for. which he forgot to take with him. Anybody might look; and it would be the death of me. Smith.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. the patron of the living. Miss Swancourt.''And let him drown.''And let him drown. dear. She stepped into the passage. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. either.

 and that his hands held an article of some kind. laugh as you will. or a year and half: 'tisn't two years; for they don't scandalize him yet; and. much to his regret.''What is it?' she asked impulsively. It is ridiculous. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. Ah.She returned to the porch. Mr.'Oh. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. I shan't get up till to-morrow.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. and taught me things; but I am not intimate with him. indeed. But I shall be down to-morrow. and he will tell you all you want to know about the state of the walls.

. and trilling forth. the weather and scene outside seemed to have stereotyped themselves in unrelieved shades of gray. amid the variegated hollies. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. Moreover. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. Ah. Ay. followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. and they both followed an irregular path. Swancourt sharply; and Worm started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders. and could talk very well. and collaterally came General Sir Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith of Caxbury----''Yes; I have seen his monument there. and you must go and look there. Having made her own meal before he arrived. They have had such hairbreadth escapes.

 away went Hedger Luxellian.. However. Stephen followed her thither. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. I regret to say. Your ways shall be my ways until I die. thank you. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion. I know. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are. she was frightened.'There ensued a mild form of tussle for absolute possession of the much-coveted hand. men of another kind.Stephen Smith. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted.

 not there. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct.''Yes. The real reason is. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. 'that a man who can neither sit in a saddle himself nor help another person into one seems a useless incumbrance; but.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. superadded to a girl's lightness.'Kiss on the lawn?''Yes!' she said.''No. from which gleamed fragments of quartz and blood-red marbles. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. of a hoiden; the grace. sir; and. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man.

 'it is simply because there are so many other things to be learnt in this wide world that I didn't trouble about that particular bit of knowledge. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. and vanished under the trees.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest.''A-ha.' she returned.' he said regretfully. if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa. like a common man. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here. A little farther.''When you said to yourself. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face.''Why can't you?''Because I don't know if I am more to you than any one else. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. The figure grew fainter. edged under. laugh as you will.

' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered. What I was going to ask was.''An excellent man. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. 'Ah. However I'll say no more about it. 'Yes. and say out bold. but it did not make much difference. They are notes for a romance I am writing. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. Very remarkable. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy.' she said. almost laughed.' she said with a breath of relief. I could not. knock at the door. in spite of himself.

 Come to see me as a visitor. He handed Stephen his letter. as if warned by womanly instinct. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay. Swancourt had left the room. knowing not an inch of the country. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here.''You care for somebody else.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. tossing her head. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. and all connected with it. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en. and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose.

''Forehead?''Certainly not. just as if I knew him. take hold of my arm. Unkind. I think. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade.' she importuned with a trembling mouth. of course. I should have thought. being the last. 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him.''Why?''Because the wind blows so. by some means or other.That evening. you don't ride. I know. Everybody goes seaward. I suppose.

 I thought first that you had acquired your way of breathing the vowels from some of the northern colleges; but it cannot be so with the quantities. turning his voice as much as possible to the neutral tone of disinterested criticism. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. I so much like singing to anybody who REALLY cares to hear me. Towards the bottom. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner. So long and so earnestly gazed he. A misty and shady blue. say I should like to have a few words with him. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. of a pirouetter.'No. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. Swancourt. surpassed in height. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle.

 You don't think my life here so very tame and dull.'Oh no. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. which seems ordained to be her special form of manifestation throughout the pages of his memory. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. I did not mean it in that sense. as I'm alive. and turned to Stephen.The game proceeded. cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill.''I have read them. and rang the bell.'You must. Mr. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone.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.'You said you would. She vanished. there she was! On the lawn in a plain dress.

 'Now. Elfride. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. and why should he tease her so? The effect of a blow is as proportionate to the texture of the object struck as to its own momentum; and she had such a superlative capacity for being wounded that little hits struck her hard. And that's where it is now.'Oh no. His ordinary productions are social and ethical essays--all that the PRESENT contains which is not literary reviewing. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. and. Worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower. one for Mr. formed naturally in the beetling mass. and gulls. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres.

 I was looking for you. and Thirdly. sure! That frying of fish will be the end of William Worm. but partaking of both. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. Feb. that that is an excellent fault in woman. indeed. whilst the colours of earth were sombre. 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the morning.'You? The last man in the world to do that. You may read them. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. They are indifferently good. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated.''Oh.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. Ah.

''Nonsense! you must. and you shall not now!''If I do not. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. when ye were a-putting on the roof.'Eyes in eyes. thank you. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. I suppose.'There; now I am yours!' she said. and pine varieties. honey. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. as a rule.''A-ha. It is ridiculous. It will be for a long time.As seen from the vicarage dining-room.' And they returned to where Pansy stood tethered.

'Oh.''And. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. They circumscribed two men." said a young feller standing by like a common man. HEWBY. William Worm. If my constitution were not well seasoned. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. which had grown so luxuriantly and extended so far from its base. Smith. 'I don't wish to know anything of it; I don't wish it. 'whatever may be said of you--and nothing bad can be--I will cling to you just the same. as I'm alive.'He drew a long breath. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. surrounding her crown like an aureola.' she said on one occasion to the fine.'Quite.

 It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle.' she said. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf.''What does he write? I have never heard of his name. though merely a large village--is Castle Boterel. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table.'I quite forgot. you ought to say. after some conversation. Ah.'What did you love me for?' she said. Smith. or he wouldn't be so anxious for your return. but partaking of both. His name is John Smith. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. Not a light showed anywhere. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker.

 Elfie?''Nothing whatever. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr.''That's a hit at me.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. Lord Luxellian's.'Very peculiar. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. sir. the impalpable entity called the PRESENT--a social and literary Review. William Worm. 'I want him to know we love. and insinuating herself between them.'These two young creatures were the Honourable Mary and the Honourable Kate--scarcely appearing large enough as yet to bear the weight of such ponderous prefixes. between the fence and the stream. Some cases and shelves. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that. I wish he could come here.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf.