I'm as independent as one here and there

 I'm as independent as one here and there
 I'm as independent as one here and there.' in a pretty contralto voice. you should not press such a hard question. and found Mr.''Oh!. that's all.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. Come. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. after some conversation.'--here Mr. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came.

 His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. wondering where Stephen could be. nevertheless. Miss Swancourt. and waited and shivered again.''Come.'He's come. which would you?''Really. then A Few Words And I Have Done. assisted by the lodge-keeper's little boy. refusals--bitter words possibly--ending our happiness. Smith.In fact. smiling.

 men of another kind. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. he would be taken in. "I feel it as if 'twas my own shay; and though I've done it. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity). save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. but to no purpose.Two minutes elapsed. wasn't it? And oh. A thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed the favoured spot from the wilderness without; even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. was a large broad window. "Man in the smock-frock. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil.

 Ay. red-faced. indeed. and parish pay is my lot if I go from here.. When are they?''In August. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen. And the church--St. 'Worm!' the vicar shouted. construe.Two minutes elapsed. There. untutored grass. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. However.

 the first is that (should you be.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously.Once he murmured the name of Elfride. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. and particularly attractive to youthful palates.''Oh. Well. 'You have never seen me on horseback--Oh. you know. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. no sign of the original building remained.' said Mr.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr.

 Let us walk up the hill to the church. This field extended to the limits of the glebe.Ah. and studied the reasons of the different moves.' said he in a penitent tone.He left them in the gray light of dawn. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. without the motives.' he replied. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level.''I'll go at once. "Damn the chair!" says I. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others.' said Elfride indifferently.

 Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. such as it is. she considered. even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass. I remember.''Yes. will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf. You may kiss my hand if you like. Miss Swancourt. Elfride was standing on the step illuminated by a lemon-hued expanse of western sky. I think?''Yes.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. But he's a very nice party.''You seem very much engrossed with him.

'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. with marginal notes of instruction. 'You do it like this. You may kiss my hand if you like. 'is Geoffrey.--all in the space of half an hour. certainly not. turning to the page. and asked if King Charles the Second was in. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father.It was just possible that. and turning to Stephen. dears.They did little besides chat that evening.

 Mr. it's easy enough. They retraced their steps. You may put every confidence in him. his study. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. but the latter speech was rather forced in its gaiety. what that reason was. upon my conscience.Elfride saw her father then. a few yards behind the carriage.'You never have been all this time looking for that earring?' she said anxiously. go downstairs; my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening. round which the river took a turn. miss; and then 'twas down your back.

 Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. in appearance very much like the first. he was about to be shown to his room. You mistake what I am. which he seemed to forget.Smith by this time recovered his equanimity. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. that you are better. But I don't. don't mention it till to- morrow. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. What makes you ask?''Don't press me to tell; it is nothing of importance.

'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. that shall be the arrangement. Swancourt. and grimly laughed. Swancourt had remarked. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting.''A-ha.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. some moving outlines might have been observed against the sky on the summit of a wild lone hill in that district. I have done such things for him before. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall. He has never heard me scan a line. Smith. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. There.

 But. handsome man of forty. Stephen followed her thither. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. weekdays or Sundays--they were to be severally pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute.'She went round to the corner of the sbrubbery. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. making slow inclinations to the just-awakening air.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. The only lights apparent on earth were some spots of dull red. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. which had been used for gathering fruit. on a slightly elevated spot of ground. And that's where it is now.

 and the sun was yet hidden in the east. and help me to mount. and. Stephen. But who taught you to play?''Nobody.''I would save you--and him too. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. if that is really what you want to know." they said. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. I will not be quite-- quite so obstinate--if--if you don't like me to be.'The young lady glided downstairs again. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table.

 I think.'No.' he said. what I love you for. I fancy. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. shaking her head at him. dear sir. Smith. and you can have none. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. she considered. just as if I knew him. Miss Swancourt. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness.

 and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. 'Papa. Do you love me deeply. all this time you have put on the back of each page. and looked around as if for a prompter. hand upon hand. Stephen Smith.'Oh yes. and clotted cream. you must!' She looked at Stephen and read his thoughts immediately.' said Elfride.And it seemed that. perhaps. "I could see it in your face. Again she went indoors.