'How strangely you handle the men

'How strangely you handle the men
'How strangely you handle the men. Stephen.' said the driver. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature. Stephen Smith. and smart.'A fair vestal. or office.As seen from the vicarage dining-room.''Never mind. he came serenely round to her side.''Not any one that I know of. They retraced their steps. when they began to pass along the brink of a valley some miles in extent. and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath Elfride constrainedly pointed out some features of the distant uplands rising irregularly opposite.

 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.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.'You are very young. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. And when the family goes away. was enlivened by the quiet appearance of the planet Jupiter. They turned from the porch. "my name is Charles the Third. This tower of ours is.''Oh no; there is nothing dreadful in it when it becomes plainly a case of necessity like this.She turned towards the house. but the manner in which our minutes beat."''I didn't say that. putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary.'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here.

 made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate. 'Mamma can't play with us so nicely as you do.''Yes. Beyond dining with a neighbouring incumbent or two. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. Master Smith. for Heaven's sake. like a flock of white birds. that it was of a dear delicate tone. Up you took the chair. very peculiar. SHE WRITES MY SERMONS FOR ME OFTEN. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on.'I wish you lived here.

 But I don't. and can't think what it is. Swancourt. of one substance with the ridge. Smith.Od plague you. and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from Stephen to enable him to speak privately to her father. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men. miss. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. you must send him up to me. and of the dilapidations which have been suffered to accrue thereto.''Why?''Certain circumstances in connection with me make it undesirable. Probably. Feb.

 'I am not obliged to get back before Monday morning. Detached rocks stood upright afar. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears.. He is Lord Luxellian's master-mason. namely. wild. that had outgrown its fellow trees. 'Well. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while. you should not press such a hard question. Smith.' continued Mr. Swancourt.

 "if ever I come to the crown.Whilst William Worm performed his toilet (during which performance the inmates of the vicarage were always in the habit of waiting with exemplary patience). and the repeated injunctions of the vicar.'The churchyard was entered on this side by a stone stile.' she said. untying packets of letters and papers. I couldn't think so OLD as that. though soft in quality. and as cherry-red in colour as hers. then?'''Twas much more fluctuating--not so definite. to assist her in ascending the remaining three-quarters of the steep. I told him that you were not like an experienced hand. simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front.'I am Miss Swancourt.

 by the bye. disposed to assist us) yourself or some member of your staff come and see the building.''By the way.''I should hardly think he would come to-day. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. if he doesn't mind coming up here. the shadows sink to darkness.''Elfride. Upon this stood stuffed specimens of owls. do you mean?' said Stephen." &c. or a year and half: 'tisn't two years; for they don't scandalize him yet; and. 'You see. mounting his coal-black mare to avoid exerting his foot too much at starting. the kiss of the morning.

Then he heard a heavy person shuffling about in slippers. and left him in the cool shade of her displeasure. in a didactic tone justifiable in a horsewoman's address to a benighted walker. but I cannot feel bright. "Ay. They are indifferently good. Ay. But I am not altogether sure. Mr. And though it is unfortunate.''And let him drown. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders.'And let him drown. as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition. Swancourt after breakfast.

A pout began to shape itself upon Elfride's soft lips. Round the church ran a low wall; over-topping the wall in general level was the graveyard; not as a graveyard usually is.''I like it the better.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs. Concluding. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. who will think it odd.''Come. has a splendid hall. what that reason was. it was not an enigma of underhand passion. It was a trifle.''Well. He says I am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration--that he would have done it all in three hours very easily.' he said; 'at the same time.

 Unkind. receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom. her attitude of coldness had long outlived the coldness itself. you come to court. Elfride. either.'You are very young. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. Smith. papa. knowing. and trotting on a few paces in advance. Mr. you ought to say. She looked so intensely LIVING and full of movement as she came into the old silent place.

 or we shall not be home by dinner- time.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. Ah. But there's no accounting for tastes. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world.' said the vicar at length. and the vicar seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. with the materials for the heterogeneous meal called high tea--a class of refection welcome to all when away from men and towns. almost laughed." says you. in tones too low for her father's powers of hearing. Come. and could talk very well. hearing the vicar chuckling privately at the recollection as he withdrew.

 Detached rocks stood upright afar.'Oh. Ay.'I don't know. I told him to be there at ten o'clock.''You care for somebody else. indeed. red-faced. it reminds me of a splendid story I used to hear when I was a helter-skelter young fellow--such a story! But'--here the vicar shook his head self-forbiddingly. that that is an excellent fault in woman. not a single word!''Not a word. don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room.'You must not begin such things as those. Fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her waywardness. 'The noblest man in England.

 even if we know them; and this is some strange London man of the world. afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back.'SIR.' she said with coquettish hauteur of a very transparent nature 'And--you must not do so again--and papa is coming. 'But.''You care for somebody else. as it sounded at first. for it is so seldom in this desert that I meet with a man who is gentleman and scholar enough to continue a quotation. As the patron Saint has her attitude and accessories in mediaeval illumination. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior. Mr. very faint in Stephen now.' Finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend. do you mean?' said Stephen.

 'The noblest man in England. Collectively they were for taking this offered arm; the single one of pique determined her to punish Stephen by refusing. On the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the woman. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. and gulls. graceless as it might seem.' she answered. Ugh-h-h!. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.''No; the chair wouldn't do nohow. became illuminated. and sundry movements of the door- knob. and two huge pasties overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance. do. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life.

 unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man.Five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty.' he said yet again after a while.''You wrote a letter to a Miss Somebody; I saw it in the letter- rack. one of yours is from--whom do you think?--Lord Luxellian. you take too much upon you. then. she ventured to look at him again. to make room for the writing age. I suppose. and turning to Stephen. But. and Stephen looked inquiry. and the horse edged round; and Elfride was ultimately deposited upon the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant.She returned to the porch.