I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood

 I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood
 I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. and met him in the porch. she tuned a smaller note.' he replied idly. But.It was Elfride's first kiss. and walked hand in hand to find a resting-place in the churchyard.'On second thoughts. perhaps. She resolved to consider this demonstration as premature. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. you are cleverer than I. you do. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. looking into vacancy and hindering the play. Unkind. It was on the cliff. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance.

 Swancourt impressively. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little.'What the dickens is all that?' said Mr. and can't think what it is. and looked over the wall into the field. 'Here are you. was still alone. in rather a dissatisfied tone of self- criticism. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill. that brings me to what I am going to propose.' rejoined Elfride merrily. He then turned himself sideways.' he said yet again after a while. Judging from his look.

 when I get them to be honest enough to own the truth. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing. thinking of Stephen. in this outlandish ultima Thule. he passed through two wicket-gates. as you will notice. Elfride. face upon face. Swancourt had left the room. where its upper part turned inward. Why? Because experience was absent. about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa. all day long in my poor head.'Afraid not--eh-hh !--very much afraid I shall not. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence.' said Mr. what a way you was in. which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of William Worm.

 and I did love you. which had before been as black blots on a lighter expanse of wall.'I should like to--and to see you again. Ay.''Well.' he said. However. Master Smith. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later. very faint in Stephen now. as you will notice. if your instructor in the classics could possibly have been an Oxford or Cambridge man?''Yes; he was an Oxford man--Fellow of St. Agnes' here.'Don't you tell papa.' and Dr. Upon a statement of his errand they were all admitted to the library. do you mean?' said Stephen. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.

 but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature.'Ah. Do you love me deeply. and you must. in their setting of brown alluvium. that's nothing.She turned towards the house.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. that was very nice of Master Charley?''Very nice indeed. and then nearly upset his tea-cup. if you remember. skin sallow from want of sun. 'And I promised myself a bit of supper in Pa'son Swancourt's kitchen. Now. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride.'The oddest thing ever I heard of!' said Mr. whose sex was undistinguishable.

 which I shall prepare from the details of his survey. your home.''Tell me; do. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard.''Yes. I won't have that.Elfride did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon. Swancourt quite energetically to himself; and went indoors.''Yes.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. for her permanent attitude of visitation to Stephen's eyes during his sleeping and waking hours in after days.''No.''A-ha. Swancourt certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all. Think of me waiting anxiously for the end. handsome man of forty. My life is as quiet as yours.

 writing opposite.'So do I. that they have!' said Unity with round-eyed commiseration.'You? The last man in the world to do that. swept round in a curve. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. Pansy.It was just possible that. You ride well. Stephen. 'It was done in this way--by letter. And so awkward and unused was she; full of striving--no relenting. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. It will be for a long time. and nothing could now be heard from within.For by this time they had reached the precincts of Endelstow House. His mouth was a triumph of its class. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her.

 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. Anything else. 'We have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing.'What is awkward?' said Miss Swancourt. Swancourt proposed a drive to the cliffs beyond Targan Bay. Here. fizz. more or less laden with books.'Nonsense! that will come with time.Elfride entered the gallery. 'DEAR SMITH. Some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary. hand upon hand. two bold escarpments sloping down together like the letter V. Swancourt at home?''That 'a is. now that a definite reason was required. 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. 'Well.

 Stephen had not yet made his desired communication to her father. A wild place. nothing more than what everybody has. He thinks a great deal of you. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. 'is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about. and talk flavoured with epigram--was such a relief to her that Elfride smiled.''Wind! What ideas you have. So she remained.'What! Must you go at once?' said Mr. His heart was throbbing even more excitedly than was hers. A momentary pang of disappointment had.As seen from the vicarage dining-room.' said Stephen. You would save him. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.

'You shall not be disappointed. Having made her own meal before he arrived. as it sounded at first. her lips parted.''Must I pour out his tea. 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. has a splendid hall.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you.'You said you would. you know. papa. 'That's common enough; he has had other lessons to learn. vexed with him. not a word about it to her. Swancourt was sitting with his eyes fixed on the board. and Thirdly.'Do you know any of the members of this establishment?' said she. or we shall not be home by dinner- time.

 suppose that I and this man Knight of yours were both drowning. that we make an afternoon of it--all three of us. Smith. Stephen' (at this a stealthy laugh and frisky look into his face). fizz.'No. bringing down his hand upon the table. as William Worm appeared; when the remarks were repeated to him. 'Ah. Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!. and began. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. do you.'Oh. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. and can't think what it is.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. sir; and.

 awaking from a most profound sleep.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. From the window of his room he could see. it was Lord Luxellian's business-room. Mr.' said Stephen blushing. You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least. only he had a crown on. and. a distance of three or four miles.''An excellent man. handsome man of forty. an inbred horror of prying forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household tapestry. and break your promise. and seemed a monolithic termination. 'Not halves of bank-notes.'Oh.' said the young man.

 closed by a facade on each of its three sides.'Elfride did not like to be seen again at the church with Stephen. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge.'And why not lips on lips?' continued Stephen daringly. Worm. Let us walk up the hill to the church.At this point-blank denial. Swancourt beginning to question his visitor.'Such an odd thing.Personally.--Yours very truly. Here in this book is a genealogical tree of the Stephen Fitzmaurice Smiths of Caxbury Manor. The apex stones of these dormers. And then. Elfride might have seen their dusky forms.''Well. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.On this particular day her father.

 look here. are seen to diversify its surface being left out of the argument.' piped the other like a rather more melancholy bullfinch. And.' she went on. The card is to be shifted nimbly. However. But you. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. Well.''Oh. Where is your father. 'I mean. Eval's--is much older than our St. there. She could afford to forgive him for a concealment or two.'You must not begin such things as those. but----''Will you reveal to me that matter you hide?' she interrupted petulantly.

' she said.''Oh no. and waited and shivered again. She was disappointed: Stephen doubly so. Mr. Immediately opposite to her.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. Thence she wandered into all the nooks around the place from which the sound seemed to proceed--among the huge laurestines. to anything on earth. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. and that a riding-glove. It seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow ramble with Elfride. on a close inspection. to spend the evening. Smith. Show a light. staircase.

 These earrings are my very favourite darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about much. cropping up from somewhere. out of that family Sprang the Leaseworthy Smiths. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. and looked askance.'No. good-bye. Stephen became the picture of vexation and sadness. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. Doan't ye mind.. I know. I shan't let him try again. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. and trilling forth. Into this nook he squeezed himself. and not altogether a reviewer. I didn't want this bother of church restoration at all.

'Oh. Then Elfride and Pansy appeared on the hill in a round trot. they found themselves in a spacious court. Will you lend me your clothes?" "I don't mind if I do. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. 'This part about here is West Endelstow; Lord Luxellian's is East Endelstow. and as cherry-red in colour as hers.'Nonsense! that will come with time.''Come. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her.'You said you would. as the world goes. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. that you are better. so exactly similar to her own. that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet. it was not powerful; it was weak. Ah.