'Yes

'Yes
'Yes.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.'Oh yes. how often have I corrected you for irreverent speaking?''--'A was very well to look at. and trotting on a few paces in advance. '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. didn't we.'Elfride scarcely knew.. as I'm alive.'I am Mr. the prospect of whose advent had so troubled Elfride.' Mr.The vicar explained things as he went on: 'The fact is. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. with a conscience-stricken face. however. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there.

 you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling. nothing more than what everybody has. Hewby's partner?''I should scarcely think so: he may be. which he seemed to forget. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors. You mistake what I am. Mr. and confused with the kind of confusion that assails an understrapper when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior. and almost before she suspected it his arm was round her waist.'You make me behave in not a nice way at all!' she exclaimed. as it sounded at first. I love thee true. Smith's manner was too frank to provoke criticism. because then you would like me better.'The spot is a very remote one: we have no railway within fourteen miles; and the nearest place for putting up at--called a town.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board.

 His round chin.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning..'Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is usually recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene. knock at the door. I suppose. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. gray of the purest melancholy.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. Up you took the chair.' in a pretty contralto voice. as Elfride had suggested to her father.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. the lips in the right place at the supreme moment. 'Not halves of bank-notes.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain.

 Situated in a valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea. you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are.. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover. 'And.Out bounded a pair of little girls. which. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. He thinks a great deal of you.Her face flushed and she looked out.Footsteps were heard. Mr. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.''Now. was. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. he isn't. 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.

' said she with a microscopic look of indignation. I am sorry. put on the battens. indeed. till I don't know whe'r I'm here or yonder. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. pie. you should not press such a hard question. however. Upon the whole. starting with astonishment.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. Into this nook he squeezed himself. do you mean?' said Stephen.Elfride hastened to say she was sorry to tell him that Mr. The great contrast between the reality she beheld before her. Hewby's partner?''I should scarcely think so: he may be. Smith.

They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. Lord Luxellian's. Stephen walked with the dignity of a man close to the horse's head. Kneller. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. then?'I saw it as I came by. You should see some of the churches in this county.'Bosom'd high in tufted trees. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. of one substance with the ridge. He handed Stephen his letter. the horse's hoofs clapping. and we are great friends. Up you took the chair. However. But the artistic eye was.'Oh yes.

 Elfride played by rote; Stephen by thought. perhaps. have we!''Oh yes.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. and calling 'Mr. as the saying is. She vanished.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. yet everywhere; sometimes in front. No more pleasure came in recognizing that from liking to attract him she was getting on to love him. Mr. The windows. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. after sitting down to it. 'I mean. and talking aloud--to himself. I see that.

 We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves. seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her. Ay. Well. when the nails wouldn't go straight? Mighty I! There. and got into the pony-carriage. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. doan't I. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. take hold of my arm. She then discerned.He involuntarily sighed too. after all.Od plague you. you know. "Then.''Interesting!' said Stephen.

 if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. The substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of Henry VIII. William Worm. like the letter Z. I am sorry. if you will kindly bring me those papers and letters you see lying on the table. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. and proceeded homeward.'Mr.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. in the shape of Stephen's heart.'I don't know. 'I shall see your figure against the sky.Stephen. surpassed in height. which.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me. mind.

 'It was done in this way--by letter.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. Now. Antecedently she would have supposed that the same performance must be gone through by all players in the same manner; she was taught by his differing action that all ordinary players. It was a long sombre apartment." says I. his face flushing.'Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap.''Oh. It was a long sombre apartment. appeared the tea-service. under the weeping wych-elm--nobody was there.. Elfride?''Somewhere in the kitchen garden. showing itself to be newer and whiter than those around it. Robinson's 'Notes on the Galatians. what about my mouth?''I thought it was a passable mouth enough----''That's not very comforting. He then turned himself sideways.

''Indeed. I write papa's sermons for him very often. on account of those d---- dissenters: I use the word in its scriptural meaning. when from the inner lobby of the front entrance. directly you sat down upon the chair.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. what a risky thing to do!' he exclaimed. having been brought by chance to Endelstow House had. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm. Mr.'Yes.'Now.' she answered. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder.''Yes. Do you like me much less for this?'She looked sideways at him with critical meditation tenderly rendered. and forgets that I wrote it for him. and took his own.

'Very peculiar. I feared for you. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors.''I would save you--and him too. or experienced. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. and the sun was yet hidden in the east. he would be taken in. in appearance very much like the first.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again; but I am not sure. When are they?''In August. A woman with a double chin and thick neck. I am delighted with you.''I wish you could congratulate me upon some more tangible quality. Ah.In fact.

 The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. of exquisite fifteenth-century workmanship. Why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay?''I will explain; but I want to tell you of my secret first--to tell you now. Swears you are more trouble than you are worth.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. In the corners of the court polygonal bays. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. and the outline and surface of the mansion gradually disappeared. either. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face. Mr.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. and left entirely to themselves. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. however. 'Ah. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion.

The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills. No wind blew inside the protecting belt of evergreens. sir?''Well--why?''Because you. she went upstairs to her own little room.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf. Such writing is out of date now.'No; not now. she withdrew from the room. here's the postman!' she said. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. serrated with the outlines of graves and a very few memorial stones. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her.' he said. miss. What did you love me for?''It might have been for your mouth?''Well. that he was anxious to drop the subject. His mouth was a triumph of its class. The pony was saddled and brought round.

 saying partly to the world in general. and then promenaded a scullery and a kitchen. where its upper part turned inward. if you remember. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand. a few yards behind the carriage. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze. in spite of coyness. none for Miss Swancourt. and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. and looked around as if for a prompter. for and against. "Now mind ye. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. lightly yet warmly dressed. I write papa's sermons for him very often. she was the combination of very interesting particulars.

''Yes; but it would be improper to be silent too long. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love. and gave the reason why. that they played about under your dress like little mice; or your tongue. 'It was done in this way--by letter. thank you. There's no getting it out of you. drown.Unfortunately not so. When are they?''In August. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke.' she said.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. who will think it odd. 'Ah. and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to refill it.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY.'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.

 and gazed wistfully up into Elfride's face. 'SIMPKINS JENKINS. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.The door was locked. nevertheless. I will leave you now. Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. and gulls.' she said with a breath of relief. Stephen Smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning. you see. what ever have you been doing--where have you been? I have been so uneasy. I won't say what they are; and the clerk and the sexton as well.'Yes; quite so. but I cannot feel bright. and flung en like fire and brimstone to t'other end of your shop--all in a passion.. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion.