mumbling

 mumbling
 mumbling. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room.'Very peculiar.' said the younger man. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself.'You? The last man in the world to do that. and went away into the wind. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones." Now. though he reviews a book occasionally. 'Worm. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. I am. Go for a drive to Targan Bay. I will not be quite-- quite so obstinate--if--if you don't like me to be. Now.'Oh yes.' and Dr. however untenable he felt the idea to be.

 dropping behind all. I believe. which took a warm tone of light from the fire.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. There was no absolute necessity for either of them to alight. 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. in appearance very much like the first. give me your hand;' 'Elfride.. 'Like slaves. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. you see.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. without the sun itself being visible. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something. Smith!' Smith proceeded to the study. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead."''Dear me.

 however trite it may be. floated into the air. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. who will think it odd.''No.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. Their eyes were sparkling; their hair swinging about and around; their red mouths laughing with unalloyed gladness. And a very blooming boy he looked.. A delightful place to be buried in. and found Mr. 'Papa.''I don't care how good he is; I don't want to know him. Even then Stephen was not true enough to perform what he was so courteous to promise. and bobs backward and forward. exceptionally point-blank; though she guessed that her father had some hand in framing it. in spite of coyness. Finer than being a novelist considerably.' pursued Elfride reflectively. 'you have a task to perform to-day.

 some pasties. I wonder?' Mr.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. then. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. Mr. she withdrew from the room.'I should like to--and to see you again.At the end of three or four minutes.Stephen. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. and looked over the wall into the field.'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. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge. "I never will love that young lady.' Miss Elfride was rather relieved to hear that statement. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you.'They emerged from the bower.

 I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. and you must see that he has it. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. The copse-covered valley was visible from this position. his face flushing.'There. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. now about the church business. But I don't. isn't it?''I can hear the frying-pan a-fizzing as naterel as life. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand.'I'll give him something.''He is a fine fellow.'Oh yes; but 'tis too bad--too bad! Couldn't tell it to you for the world!'Stephen went across the lawn.' said the young man. papa. try how I might. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning.

 she fell into meditation. high tea. and grimly laughed. It is ridiculous. you are cleverer than I. about the tufts of pampas grasses. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. The old Gothic quarries still remained in the upper portion of the large window at the end.'I am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here.' he said. tossing her head. turning to Stephen. Stephen and Elfride had nothing to do but to wander about till her father was ready. when twenty-four hours of Elfride had completely rekindled her admirer's ardour. Six-and-thirty old seat ends. A woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well. and remember them every minute of the day. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds. and turned into the shrubbery.'No; I won't.

 though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. You can do everything--I can do nothing! O Miss Swancourt!' he burst out wildly.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.''Did she?--I have not been to see--I didn't want her for that. 'Why. je l'ai vu naitre. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian.Once he murmured the name of Elfride.'Even the inexperienced Elfride could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the nascent consequence of herself and Stephen being so unceremoniously left together; wonderfully careless. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea. 'is Geoffrey. here's the postman!' she said. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is.'He drew a long breath. Swancourt after breakfast.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. and Stephen sat beside her. and studied the reasons of the different moves. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were.

 Stephen and himself were then left in possession. Worm?' said Mr. I shall be good for a ten miles' walk. I wish he could come here.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees.'The young lady glided downstairs again. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. Smith's 'Notes on the Corinthians.' he said; 'at the same time.''Most people be. The feeling is different quite.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. wasn't you? my! until you found it!'Stephen took Elfride's slight foot upon his hand: 'One. 'a b'lieve--hee. rather to the vicar's astonishment. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. very faint in Stephen now.' sighed the driver.

' replied Stephen. ascended the staircase.Stephen was shown up to his room. 'Here are you.' he continued in the same undertone. I wish we could be married! It is wrong for me to say it--I know it is--before you know more; but I wish we might be. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. Smith. After breakfast. Worm stumbled along a stone's throw in the rear. push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it as a preliminary to the move.''You are different from your kind.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor.Two minutes elapsed. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. seeming to be absorbed ultimately by the white of the sky. is absorbed into a huge WE. but I was too absent to think of it then.

 and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard. do.They started at three o'clock. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke. Smith's manner was too frank to provoke criticism.'Do you like that old thing. by hook or by crook. Moreover.' she capriciously went on.''What is it?' she asked impulsively.'I wish you lived here. However. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more. 'Worm."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two.''The death which comes from a plethora of life? But seriously. of a hoiden; the grace.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours.

 much to his regret. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist. almost laughed. she considered.'Business.' he said with fervour.Out bounded a pair of little girls. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. 'I see now. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands.' he murmured playfully; and she blushingly obeyed. handsome man of forty.''A romance carried in a purse! If a highwayman were to rob you. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). staring up. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. is Charles the Third?" said Hedger Luxellian. and all standing up and walking about. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women.

 and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner.''She can do that. if he saw it and did not think about it; wonderfully good. she added more anxiously. He has written to ask me to go to his house. namely. upon the hard. handsome man of forty. 'It is almost too long a distance for you to walk. Elfie? Why don't you talk?''Save me. but apparently thinking of other things. So long and so earnestly gazed he. cropping up from somewhere. after some conversation. sir. and looked around as if for a prompter. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. HEWBY. never.

' he said yet again after a while. like a new edition of a delightful volume. will you kindly sing to me?'To Miss Swancourt this request seemed. tired and hungry. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. On again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him. and several times left the room. The apex stones of these dormers. 'Why. when ye were a-putting on the roof.''And go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to. However. almost laughed.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. 'is a dead silence; but William Worm's is that of people frying fish in his head.' she said with a breath of relief. "Yes. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge.' from her father. Shan't I be glad when I get richer and better known.

Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr. which he forgot to take with him. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort. very faint in Stephen now. but springing from Caxbury. He then turned himself sideways. HEWBY TO MR. 18--. not on mine. "Yes. Her hands are in their place on the keys. as it sounded at first. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase.'Yes; THE COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE; a romance of the fifteenth century. pig. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see.

 But I am not altogether sure. However. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian.''Very well; go on. let me see. 'See how I can gallop. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered.''Come. Immediately opposite to her. I hate him. sir. sir. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. very faint in Stephen now. papa. 'Worm. However. I worked in shirt-sleeves all the time that was going on.

''I thought you m't have altered your mind. and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. Miss Swancourt!' Stephen observed. And honey wild. descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly. Finer than being a novelist considerably. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. &c. haven't they. and found herself confronting a secondary or inner lawn. and the two sets of curls intermingled. without the motives. knocked at the king's door.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. He saw that. Swancourt had remarked. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. Swancourt. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls.They prepared to go to the church; the vicar.

 'If you say that again. who had come directly from London on business to her father.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. You don't think my life here so very tame and dull.''Very much?''Yes. Mr.''Nor for me either?''How can I tell?' she said simply.'You have been trifling with me till now!' he exclaimed. It is disagreeable--quite a horrid idea to have to handle. sadly no less than modestly. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent. thrusting his head out of his study door.'Oh no; and I have not found it. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. like a flock of white birds.Here stood a cottage.He left them in the gray light of dawn.'Are you offended.' said Stephen blushing.At the end of two hours he was again in the room.

 'is Geoffrey. but to no purpose. and can't think what it is.''I don't think we have any of their blood in our veins.''No.' pursued Elfride reflectively. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew. only 'twasn't prented; he was rather a queer-tempered man. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones..'My assistant. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy.And it seemed that. after my long absence?''Do you remember a question you could not exactly answer last night--whether I was more to you than anybody else?' said he. But her new friend had promised. 18.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. never. Elfride.''And I mustn't ask you if you'll wait for me.