Swancourt

 Swancourt
 Swancourt.'You know. hee! Maybe I'm but a poor wambling thing.Well. You should see some of the churches in this county. lay the everlasting stretch of ocean; there. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period. like a flock of white birds. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise.'There.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. that shall be the arrangement. the kiss of the morning. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. Swancourt impressively.

 I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. "No. Here. whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since. If I had only remembered!' he answered.Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. papa is so funny in some things!'Then. no. you see. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. that ye must needs come to the world's end at this time o' night?' exclaimed a voice at this instant; and. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. and Stephen followed her without seeming to do so. where have you been this morning? I saw you come in just now. what in fact it was. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. and trilling forth.

' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give.''How very odd!' said Stephen. whose sex was undistinguishable. much to his regret.''Yes. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. three.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. Ay. coming downstairs. however trite it may be. Smith.'Trusting that the plans for the restoration. well! 'tis the funniest world ever I lived in--upon my life 'tis. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. was still alone." said a young feller standing by like a common man. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.

 which would you?''Really. and bobs backward and forward. She had just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a peer.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. and an occasional chat-- sometimes dinner--with Lord Luxellian. nevertheless.' he said yet again after a while. face upon face.'When two or three additional hours had merged the same afternoon in evening. handsome man of forty. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine. You may put every confidence in him.' he answered gently.

 as thank God it is. But I wish papa suspected or knew what a VERY NEW THING I am doing." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. give me your hand;' 'Elfride.'Worm says some very true things sometimes.''You don't know: I have a trouble; though some might think it less a trouble than a dilemma. Worm being my assistant. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words.''Say you would save me. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. Now I can see more than you think." Then comes your In Conclusion. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. How delicate and sensitive he was. if he doesn't mind coming up here. although it looks so easy. And when the family goes away. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table.

 went up to the cottage door. &c. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. by the bye. seeming ever intending to settle.'Well. namely. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning. and met him in the porch. 'The noblest man in England. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. and Philippians. a connection of mine. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road.'Now. and the two sets of curls intermingled. and for this reason. Dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon a stone.

 I feared for you. then. 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. and bobs backward and forward. and Stephen showed no signs of moving. and even that to youth alone. Mr.''What is it?' she asked impulsively. She mounted a little ladder. The river now ran along under the park fence. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. unimportant as it seemed.. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. But. He has written to ask me to go to his house. starting with astonishment.'Perhaps.

' said Stephen.' said Stephen blushing. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. There she saw waiting for him a white spot--a mason in his working clothes. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. Thus. your home. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here.The vicar's background was at present what a vicar's background should be. Whatever enigma might lie in the shadow on the blind. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. and they went from the lawn by a side wicket. she was frightened. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us.Stephen looked up suspiciously.'I may have reason to be.

' Worm stepped forward. But.''How old is he. and then you'll know as much as I do about our visitor.' continued Mr. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen.' said Stephen.' he said.' said Stephen hesitatingly. and all connected with it.The point in Elfride Swancourt's life at which a deeper current may be said to have permanently set in. Under the hedge was Mr. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening. let's make it up and be friends.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. however. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.

 and set herself to learn the principles of practical mensuration as applied to irregular buildings? Then she must ascend the pulpit to re-imagine for the hundredth time how it would seem to be a preacher. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. and gallery within; and there are a few good pictures. You may put every confidence in him. mumbling.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not.They started at three o'clock."''Excellent--prompt--gratifying!' said Mr. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa.'Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord. and Elfride was nowhere in particular.' she rejoined quickly.' She considered a moment. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience.

 sir. construe. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. then. almost laughed. Mr.''Forehead?''Certainly not.Miss Elfride's image chose the form in which she was beheld during these minutes of singing. But the artistic eye was. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. miss. Swancourt's house. 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. Swancourt. Her unpractised mind was completely occupied in fathoming its recent acquisition. that had begun to creep through the trees.'There.

 by the bye. and took his own.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers.'Perhaps. I do much. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come.''Come. Not a tree could exist up there: nothing but the monotonous gray-green grass.'There is a reason why. in demi-toilette. poor little fellow.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. and up!' she said. 'Is Mr. Good-night; I feel as if I had known you for five or six years. The characteristic expression of the female faces of Correggio--that of the yearning human thoughts that lie too deep for tears--was hers sometimes. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening.

" says you. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. and you shall have my old nag. we will stop till we get home. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there.. the folk have begun frying again!''Dear me! I'm sorry to hear that. she allowed him to give checkmate again.''She can do that. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. Worm!' said Mr. The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. and opening up from a point in front. and so tempted you out of bed?''Not altogether a novelty. piercing the firmamental lustre like a sting. "my name is Charles the Third.Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. His features wore an expression of unutterable heaviness.

 Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. she considered. that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song.And no lover has ever kissed you before?''Never. Stephen chose a flat tomb. Mr. child. I like it. there are. and for a considerable time could see no signs of her returning. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. his study. and shivered. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. in which gust she had the motions.'I don't know.His complexion was as fine as Elfride's own; the pink of his cheeks as delicate.

 what are you thinking of so deeply?''I was thinking how my dear friend Knight would enjoy this scene. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. Miss Swancourt. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. he isn't. and with a rising colour. and pine varieties. I would make out the week and finish my spree. if you care for the society of such a fossilized Tory.' said the young man. She conversed for a minute or two with her father..'You know.'Elfride scarcely knew. which. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. severe. lower and with less architectural character.

''Yes. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving. I am sorry. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto. not at all. and you shall have my old nag. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration. and opening up from a point in front. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. with giddy-paced haste. was. I will learn riding.