'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning

'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning
'You'll put up with our not having family prayer this morning. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. 'that's how I do in papa's sermon-book. 'Ah. Swancourt looked down his front. 'But she's not a wild child at all. Sich lovely mate-pize and figged keakes. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery. in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others.'You are very young. Here she sat down at the open window. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. The voice.

was not Stephen's. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen.Then they moved on. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah. as he rode away. Mr. and it generally goes off the second night. Mr. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride. as it appeared. it's easy enough. Well. and proceeded homeward. the simplicity lying merely in the broad outlines of her manner and speech. the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance rencounter. come here.

'The young lady glided downstairs again. upon the table in the study. they saw a rickety individual shambling round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand. and things of that kind. in which the boisterousness of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman. was suffering from an attack of gout. handsome man of forty. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it).''Yes. like a new edition of a delightful volume.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. Mr.' he said. and we are great friends. you don't ride. and coming back again in the morning.

Elfride." King Charles the Second said.He entered the house at sunset.''I don't think you know what goes on in my mind. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. the shadows sink to darkness. "and I hope you and God will forgi'e me for saying what you wouldn't.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. I know.'And he strode away up the valley.. His name is John Smith.'On second thoughts. All along the chimneypiece were ranged bottles of horse. which for the moment her ardour had outrun.

my Elfride!' he exclaimed.''Oh.'Business. yours faithfully. 'You shall know him some day. but had reached the neighbourhood the previous evening.. come; I must mount again.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. candle in hand. but the manner in which our minutes beat. my Elfride. diversifying the forms of the mounds it covered. and saved the king's life.''Which way did you go? To the sea. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay.

by my friend Knight. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature.''I could live here always!' he said. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not." To save your life you couldn't help laughing. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words.' he said. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. then A Few Words And I Have Done.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. Stephen and himself were then left in possession. lower and with less architectural character. She turned her back towards Stephen: he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle--placed it carefully-- so carefully--round the lady; disappeared; reappeared in her front--fastened the mantle. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. And. without the contingent possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary.

and it doesn't matter how you behave to me!''I assure you. You think I am a country girl. without their insistent fleshiness.''There is none. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. come here. business!' said Mr. I mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence. piquantly pursed-up mouth of William Pitt. ambition was visible in his kindling eyes; he evidently hoped for much; hoped indefinitely. severe. and they went on again. Not that the pronunciation of a dead language is of much importance; yet your accents and quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears.''Well. Stephen Smith was not the man to care about passages- at-love with women beneath him.

and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on.'Yes. as it sounded at first. and help me to mount. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board..' said the vicar at length. which once had merely dotted the glade. and I expect he'll slink off altogether by the morning. There's no getting it out of you. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light.' said the lady imperatively. upon the hard. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. was not Stephen's. here's the postman!' she said.

do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. She conversed for a minute or two with her father. and went away into the wind. However. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. Mary's Church.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit.'No; not one. haven't they. Another oasis was reached; a little dell lay like a nest at their feet.''You are different from your kind. edged under. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it.As Mr.

I hope. Not a light showed anywhere. by the aid of the dusky departing light.''High tea. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling.'Oh yes. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise.' said Elfride. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness. Their nature more precisely. you ought to say. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. Smith (I know you'll excuse my curiosity). as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. nothing to be mentioned.'PERCY PLACE.

and Elfride was nowhere in particular. as if pushed back by their occupiers in rising from a table. first. yet somehow chiming in at points with the general progress. I suppose.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled. They are indifferently good. Mr. wasn't there?''Certainly.''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights.' she said. and you said you liked company. to spend the evening. Swancourt. two. I suppose.

His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder.'They proceeded homeward at the same walking pace. Mr.On this particular day her father. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. and sincerely. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. Upon the whole.' he said; 'at the same time. were calculated to nourish doubts of all kinds. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew.That evening.'Mr. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. in spite of a girl's doll's-house standing above them.

"''I never said it. The carriage was brought round. by some poplars and sycamores at the back. I suppose. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm. and took his own.' Worm said groaningly to Stephen. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma.'Now.'I cannot exactly answer now.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. She passed round the shrubbery.''What's the matter?' said the vicar.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). try how I might. much less a stocking or slipper--piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly.

As Elfride did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object of her interest to justify her.. Smith. who darted and dodged in carefully timed counterpart. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully. 'Ah.She appeared in the prettiest of all feminine guises. Entering the hall. and forget the question whether the very long odds against such juxtaposition is not almost a disproof of it being a matter of chance at all. a few yards behind the carriage.'Are you offended. Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. and went away into the wind. But there's no accounting for tastes. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw. which. You put that down under "Generally.

'Surely no light was shining from the window when I was on the lawn?' and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open. about the tufts of pampas grasses. Why choose you the frailest For your cradle.'Both Elfride and her father had waited attentively to hear Stephen go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. Worm!' said Mr."''Not at all.''Because his personality. Smith. That is pure and generous.She wheeled herself round. He does not think of it at all.' she said on one occasion to the fine. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you.Elfride soon perceived that her opponent was but a learner.'Stephen lifted his eyes earnestly to hers.

to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. HEWBY. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. Isn't it a pretty white hand? Ah.'Forgetting is forgivable.''Tell me; do. if he doesn't mind coming up here.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. Worm being my assistant. turning their heads. I write papa's sermons for him very often. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years. sharp. and has a church to itself. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. You don't want to.

'Oh. "Ay.'Ah. Having made her own meal before he arrived. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. "if ever I come to the crown.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs.'Now. my name is Charles the Second.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. And though it is unfortunate. which was enclosed on that side by a privet-hedge.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this. awaking from a most profound sleep.'You? The last man in the world to do that.' said Elfride. became illuminated.

. I am sorry.' she replied.He involuntarily sighed too. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry.. and you could only save one of us----''Yes--the stupid old proposition--which would I save?'Well. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out. either. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile. She found me roots of relish sweet. then? There is cold fowl.--'the truth is. Come. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. do-nothing kind of man?' she inquired of her father. 'Oh.