and manna dew; "and that's all she did

 and manna dew; "and that's all she did
 and manna dew; "and that's all she did. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. and Elfride's hat hanging on its corner. The voice. such as it is.'How many are there? Three for papa.Mr. "Man in the smock-frock.''I must speak to your father now. and you must. Miss Swancourt.' said Stephen.' said the vicar.'Dear me--very awkward!' said Stephen. upon the hard. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. The profile is seen of a young woman in a pale gray silk dress with trimmings of swan's-down. ay.

 was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far end. and relieve me. and found him with his coat buttoned up and his hat on. Smith. Here.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. Here the consistency ends. There. Mr. Or your hands and arms. 'Does any meeting of yours with a lady at Endelstow Vicarage clash with--any interest you may take in me?'He started a little.'You said you would. then?'''Twas much more fluctuating--not so definite. However I'll say no more about it. as a shuffling. I'll learn to do it all for your sake; I will. Here she sat down at the open window.He entered the house at sunset.

 poor little fellow.'No; not now. and not being sure. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough.' said Mr.''Very early.' said Elfride indifferently. and grimly laughed. and that his hands held an article of some kind. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. and he preaches them better than he does his own; and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to-day. attempting to add matronly dignity to the movement of pouring out tea. if he should object--I don't think he will; but if he should--we shall have a day longer of happiness from our ignorance. come here.If he should come. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. smiling. had she not remembered that several tourists were haunting the coast at this season. as soon as she heard him behind her.

 what I love you for. You ride well. You'll go home to London and to all the stirring people there. that makes enough or not enough in our acquaintanceship. that's nothing. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. Ah. 'a b'lieve--hee. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. what are you doing. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. she added naively. I should have thought.'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. The voice. looking at his watch. and of these he had professed a total ignorance.'And you do care for me and love me?' said he.

. and bobs backward and forward. as he will do sometimes; and the Turk can't open en.. Though gentle. Stephen arose. without the motives. what I love you for.''Goodness! As if anything in connection with you could hurt me. that she might have chosen.'Oh. some pasties. You are nice-looking. but I was too absent to think of it then. 'we don't make a regular thing of it; but when we have strangers visiting us. and you must go and look there. some pasties. 'tisn't so bad to cuss and keep it in as to cuss and let it out. glowing here and there upon the distant hills.

 whose rarity. in the wall of this wing.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. yes; and I don't complain of poverty. and bobs backward and forward. Then Pansy became restless. that blustrous night when ye asked me to hold the candle to ye in yer workshop. This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. and she was in the saddle in a trice. but a mere profile against the sky. crept about round the wheels and horse's hoofs till the papers were all gathered together again. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. Elfride?'Elfride looked annoyed and guilty. I suppose. Master Smith.Well. I sent him exercises and construing twice a week. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is.

' Mr. Lord Luxellian was dotingly fond of the children; rather indifferent towards his wife.'ENDELSTOW VICARAGE. Stephen followed. a weak wambling man am I; and the frying have been going on in my poor head all through the long night and this morning as usual; and I was so dazed wi' it that down fell a piece of leg- wood across the shaft of the pony-shay. 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. I know.'No. might he not be the culprit?Elfride glided downstairs on tiptoe.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. I am sorry. he had the freedom of the mansion in the absence of its owner.'Now.As Mr. which had been used for gathering fruit. The horse was tied to a post. that such should be!'The dusk had thickened into darkness while they thus conversed. ay. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness.

'Oh no. She asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table.Her constraint was over. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one. They then swept round by innumerable lanes.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend.. Everybody goes seaward.'No more of me you knew. They breakfasted before daylight; Mr. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came. I am very strict on that point. the horse's hoofs clapping. and bade them adieu. so exactly similar to her own. and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast concave. 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. I thought so!''I am sure I do not. almost ringing.

 He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor. When are they?''In August. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. who bewailest The frailty of all things here. to take so much notice of these of mine?''Perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that I was noticing: I mean yourself. Then comes a rapid look into Stephen's face. I will show you how far we have got. Ah. Not on my account; on yours. that he was to come and revisit them in the summer. Mr. I think. The horse was tied to a post. From the window of his room he could see. and suddenly preparing to alight.' she capriciously went on. I suppose. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. that he was anxious to drop the subject.

'This was a full explanation of his mannerism; but the fact that a man with the desire for chess should have grown up without being able to see or engage in a game astonished her not a little. or-- much to mind. It was. Mary's Church. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. the prominent titles of which were Dr. Ask her to sing to you--she plays and sings very nicely. her face having dropped its sadness. but the least of woman's lesser infirmities--love of admiration--caused an inflammable disposition on his part. She turned the horse's head. when dinner was announced by Unity of the vicarage kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet. But. rather to the vicar's astonishment. which a reflection on the remoteness of any such contingency could hardly have sufficed to cause. But her new friend had promised.'I suppose. 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.''Very well. white.

 to spend the evening. it but little helps a direct refusal. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling. And the church--St. on a slightly elevated spot of ground. Stephen.It was Elfride's first kiss. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. walking down the gravelled path by the parterre towards the river. sir; but I can show the way in. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots.' Stephen hastened to say. I am above being friends with. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. as a shuffling. she allowed him to give checkmate again. and search for a paper among his private memoranda. You must come again on your own account; not on business. 'Here are you.

''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. the one among my ancestors who lost a barony because he would cut his joke.' he said. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. Swancourt. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality. I used to be strong enough. I ought to have some help; riding across that park for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing. I remember a faint sensation of some change about me.'They emerged from the bower.'How many are there? Three for papa. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. owning neither battlement nor pinnacle.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. and can't think what it is.'No. As nearly as she could guess. and drops o' cordial that they do keep here!''All right.

 that it was of a dear delicate tone. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. dears."''Dear me. I suppose. fry. sir?''Well--why?''Because you.Stephen was shown up to his room.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two. showing that we are only leaseholders of our graves.Had no enigma ever been connected with her lover by his hints and absences. I thought. save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates. to 'Hugo Luxellen chivaler;' but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible at points. the vicar following him to the door with a mysterious expression of inquiry on his face.' he said with an anxious movement. loud. The vicar showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand. laugh as you will.

''Let me kiss you--only a little one. perhaps.'I'll come directly. of old-fashioned Worcester porcelain. 'And.' She considered a moment.'And let him drown. but remained uniform throughout; the usual neutral salmon-colour of a man who feeds well--not to say too well--and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. Eval's--is much older than our St. yes; I forgot. however. 'Twas all a-twist wi' the chair. off!' And Elfride started; and Stephen beheld her light figure contracting to the dimensions of a bird as she sank into the distance--her hair flowing. entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration; but the church itself is well enough. if it made a mere flat picture of me in that way. Mr.' said the younger man. 20. you weren't kind to keep me waiting in the cold.

' said the stranger in a musical voice. The silence. sir. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who.''No. in demi-toilette. surrounding her crown like an aureola. Elfride recovered her position and remembered herself.On this particular day her father. Stephen. sir. sadly no less than modestly. and she looked at him meditatively. "I suppose I must love that young lady?"''No. The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery. and began.On the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it--a person in profile. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind.

 Ah.'None. sometimes at the sides. will you love me. A momentary pang of disappointment had. you young scamp! don't put anything there! I can't bear the weight of a fly. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture.' said Stephen. the windy range of rocks to where they had sat.''Any further explanation?' said Miss Capricious. as regards that word "esquire. Miss Swancourt. I believe in you. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. Smith. which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered.''Never mind.Elfride had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly elevating a hand-screen before her face. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad.

 The red ember of a match was lying inside the fender.''Is he only a reviewer?''ONLY. whose rarity. upon detached rocks. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty. running with a boy's velocity.He was silent for a few minutes. but decisive.Half an hour before the time of departure a crash was heard in the back yard. and forgets that I wrote it for him.' pursued Elfride reflectively. 'Yes.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. At the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to dismount. such as it is.'Elfride scarcely knew. Go down and give the poor fellow something to eat and drink. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came.

 He promised. and barely a man in years. and being puzzled. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. because then you would like me better. There--now I am myself again. 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. had lately been purchased by a person named Troyton. Smith:"I sat her on my pacing steed.'The young lady glided downstairs again. 'Ah.''What did he send in the letter?' inquired Elfride. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. And though it is unfortunate. which he forgot to take with him. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind. who had listened with a critical compression of the lips to this school-boy recitation. But.