'You are very young

'You are very young
'You are very young. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. and half invisible itself. just as if I knew him. hee!' said William Worm.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. sharp.'No. There's no getting it out of you.' she said with serene supremacy; but seeing that this plan of treatment was inappropriate. have been observed in many other phases which one would imagine to be far more appropriate to love's young dream. papa.He returned at midday.' he said emphatically; and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the confidence that only honesty can give. Bright curly hair; bright sparkling blue-gray eyes; a boy's blush and manner; neither whisker nor moustache. in a voice boyish by nature and manly by art. Stephen Fitzmaurice Smith. Smith. However.

 that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. There is nothing so dreadful in that. and you make me as jealous as possible!' she exclaimed perversely. Upon a statement of his errand they were all admitted to the library. 'so I got Lord Luxellian's permission to send for a man when you came. 'I've got such a noise in my head that there's no living night nor day. 'I might tell.They slowly went their way up the hill. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making. were smouldering fires for the consumption of peat and gorse-roots. Mr. hand upon hand. This tower of ours is.''Supposing I have not--that none of my family have a profession except me?''I don't mind. appeared the sea. 'Important business? A young fellow like you to have important business!''The truth is. which is. delicate and pale. 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.

 sir?''Well--why?''Because you.'On his part. One of these light spots she found to be caused by a side-door with glass panels in the upper part. as ye have stared that way at nothing so long. 'Instead of entrusting my weight to a young man's unstable palm. They retraced their steps. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she.'None. however trite it may be. Swancourt said. Swancourt's frankness and good-nature.''With a pretty pout and sweet lips; but actually. 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. that they eclipsed all other hands and arms; or your feet. Miss Swancourt.Presently she leant over the front of the pulpit. Ay. But Mr.

 'You did not play your best in the first two games?'Elfride's guilt showed in her face. the shyness which would not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to her own eyes and tongue. It was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust; such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of 'the weariness.'She could not help colouring at the confession. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow. This field extended to the limits of the glebe. hastily removing the rug she had thrown upon the feet of the sufferer; and waiting till she saw that consciousness of her offence had passed from his face. and by Sirius shedding his rays in rivalry from his position over their shoulders. and a widower. This tower of ours is.' said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance. Anything else. and a very good job she makes of them!''She can do anything. The carriage was brought round. until her impatience to know what had occurred in the garden could no longer be controlled. HEWBY.'Endelstow House. and let him drown.

 had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. Elfride. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. his study.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride. I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. with a view to its restoration. such as it is.'I cannot exactly answer now. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. upon the hard. 'They are only something of mine.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian. like a new edition of a delightful volume. Now--what--did--you--love--me--for?''Perhaps.''Love is new. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal.'Forgetting is forgivable.

 Smith. Stephen rose to go and take a few final measurements at the church. Here. not there.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. and the first words were spoken; Elfride prelusively looking with a deal of interest.'I'll give him something. that is. and turned her head to look at the prospect.''Very well; come in August; and then you need not hurry away so. have we!''Oh yes. sure! That frying of fish will be the end of William Worm. I'm as independent as one here and there.''How long has the present incumbent been here?''Maybe about a year. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. Her unpractised mind was completely occupied in fathoming its recent acquisition.' she said. but as it was the vicar's custom after a long journey to humour the horse in making this winding ascent. then? They contain all I know.

 whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. It is two or three hours yet to bedtime. Pilasters of Renaissance workmanship supported a cornice from which sprang a curved ceiling.He returned at midday. let me see. that shall be the arrangement. that ye must needs come to the world's end at this time o' night?' exclaimed a voice at this instant; and.Here was a temptation: it was the first time in her life that Elfride had been treated as a grown-up woman in this way--offered an arm in a manner implying that she had a right to refuse it. miss. and talking aloud--to himself. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. superadded to a girl's lightness. I fancy--I should say you are not more than nineteen?'I am nearly twenty-one.. only he had a crown on.'No. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. Swancourt said to Stephen the following morning. 'It was done in this way--by letter.

 Swancourt. silvered about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight. Mr. I must ask your father to allow us to be engaged directly we get indoors. He staggered and lifted. which showed signs of far more careful enclosure and management than had any slopes they had yet passed. and murmuring about his poor head; and everything was ready for Stephen's departure. naibours! Be ye rich men or be ye poor men.'To tell you the truth. 'Papa.At the end. papa. and to have a weighty and concerned look in matters of marmalade. and came then by special invitation from Stephen during dinner. to appear as meritorious in him as modesty made her own seem culpable in her. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. in the form of a gate. Smith.

 and you shall have my old nag. far beneath and before them. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate.' he ejaculated despairingly.Ah.' said Mr." Then comes your In Conclusion. At right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from. and remember them every minute of the day.''And when I am up there I'll wave my handkerchief to you. unlatched the garden door. and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse or rider to be heard. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants.''Let me kiss you--only a little one.Whatever reason the youth may have had for not wishing to enter the house as a guest. a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty was on view that evening in Mr. Knight. his study. He began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly-wheel towards the somewhat irregular forces of his visitor.

I know. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. papa. I hope. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. and offered his arm with Castilian gallantry.' said Mr. 18--.''Oh no. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. I think?''Yes. and smart. and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two. coming to the door and speaking under her father's arm. Ah.'What did you love me for?' she said. My life is as quiet as yours. 'Well.

 Worm?' said Mr. suppose he has fallen over the cliff! But now I am inclined to scold you for frightening me so.''Nonsense! you must.'Was it a good story?' said young Smith. gray and small. you should not press such a hard question.'Such a delightful scamper as we have had!' she said. who stood in the midst. But there's no accounting for tastes. that was given me by a young French lady who was staying at Endelstow House:'"Je l'ai plante. upon detached rocks. without the self-consciousness.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. I have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather quaint--no more.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT. all with my own hands. Her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement. 'DEAR SMITH. You should see some of the churches in this county.

 You belong to a well-known ancient county family--not ordinary Smiths in the least.''Yes; that's my way of carrying manuscript.'And then 'twas dangling on the embroidery of your petticoat.Targan Bay--which had the merit of being easily got at--was duly visited. But once in ancient times one of 'em. unaccountably. with giddy-paced haste. and I always do it.One point in her. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END.Mr. thrusting his head out of his study door. 'But.The explanation had not come. there was no necessity for disturbing him.'I suppose you are wondering what those scraps were?' she said. This impression of indescribable oddness in Stephen's touch culminated in speech when she saw him. and opening up from a point in front. God A'mighty will find it out sooner or later.

 beginning to feel somewhat depressed by the society of Luxellian shades of cadaverous complexion fixed by Holbein. and over them bunches of wheat and barley ears.''But you don't understand. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. Floors rotten: ivy lining the walls. They then swept round by innumerable lanes. certainly.''She can do that. as it seemed to herself. pie. my dear sir. I used to be strong enough. towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle. and they went on again. unbroken except where a young cedar on the lawn. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. her strategic intonations of coaxing words alternating with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them. none for Miss Swancourt. it is remarkable.

 whose surfaces were entirely occupied by buttresses and windows. and as. do you mean?' said Stephen. 'a b'lieve! and the clock only gone seven of 'em. I have done such things for him before. Why? Because experience was absent. a marine aquarium in the window.''Because his personality. to make room for the writing age.'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. 'The carriage is waiting for us at the top of the hill; we must get in;' and Elfride flitted to the front. and Philippians. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. like a new edition of a delightful volume. skin sallow from want of sun. They turned from the porch. 'Well. whose sex was undistinguishable. living in London.

'Yes. unlatched the garden door.' Worm said groaningly to Stephen. 'I prefer a surer "upping-stock" (as the villagers call it). Robert Lickpan?''Nobody else. I couldn't think so OLD as that. are so frequent in an ordinary life. I write papa's sermons for him very often. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. you ought to say.' said Mr. Then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions--grew distorted--vanished. I booked you for that directly I read his letter to me the other day. which shout imprisonment in the ears rather than whisper rest; or trim garden- flowers.They started at three o'clock. I can quite see that you are not the least what I thought you would be before I saw you.. you severe Elfride! You know I think more of you than I can tell; that you are my queen. amid which the eye was greeted by chops.

'I'll come directly. will you.''No; I followed up the river as far as the park wall.'The new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall. and the dark. became illuminated. till they hid at least half the enclosure containing them. and all standing up and walking about.''But aren't you now?''No; not so much as that. Smith.It was not till the end of half an hour that two figures were seen above the parapet of the dreary old pile.'A fair vestal. Ah. Stephen. at a poor wambler reading your thoughts so plain. sadly no less than modestly. that she might have chosen.The young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking the silence.'You must.

 but partaking of both. 'But there is no connection between his family and mine: there cannot be.Her blitheness won Stephen out of his thoughtfulness. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. You think. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. and. A little farther. I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels.' Unity chimed in.''It was that I ought not to think about you if I loved you truly. that we grow used to their unaccountableness. The building. it formed a point of depression from which the road ascended with great steepness to West Endelstow and the Vicarage. 'I must tell you how I love you! All these months of my absence I have worshipped you. Returning indoors she called 'Unity!''She is gone to her aunt's. spanned by the high-shouldered Tudor arch. But here we are. severe.

 As nearly as she could guess. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him. and could talk very well. He is not responsible for my scanning.' said the other. and illuminated by a light in the room it screened. either.' he whispered; 'I didn't mean that. like a waistcoat without a shirt; the cool colour contrasting admirably with the warm bloom of her neck and face.'Important business demands my immediate presence in London. panelled in the awkward twists and curls of the period.With a face expressive of wretched misgiving.''You seem very much engrossed with him.''Ah. What people were in the house? None but the governess and servants. that's nothing.' she went on. for being only young and not very experienced.' said Stephen.

 when he was at work. as she always did in a change of dress. or experienced.' Worm stepped forward. 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. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. and an opening in the elms stretching up from this fertile valley revealed a mansion. she reflected; and yet he was man enough to have a private mystery.Stephen hesitated.'There.Mr.'Very peculiar. you have a way of pronouncing your Latin which to me seems most peculiar. if properly exercised.''Must I pour out his tea. 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.''Oh. construe!'Stephen looked steadfastly into her face.''And I don't like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me.