embarrassment that there was nothing left for
her to do but talk when not assisting him. She asked him if he would
excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side-table, and,
after sitting down to it, tingled with a sense of being grossly rude.
However, seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her, and
that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to
refill it, Elfride became better at ease; and when furthermore he
accidentally kicked the leg of the table, and then nearly upset his
tea-cup, just as schoolboys did, she felt herself mistress of the
situation, and could talk very well. In a few minutes ingenuousness
and a common term of years obliterated all recollection that they were
strangers just met. Stephen began to wax eloquent on extremely slight
experiences connected with his professional pursuits; and she, having
no experiences to fall back upon, recounted with much animation stories
that had been related to her by her father, which would have astonished
him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were
rendered. Upon the whole, a very interesting picture of Sweet-and-Twenty
was on view that evening in Mr. Swancourt's house.

Ultimately Stephen had to go upstairs and talk loud to the vicar,
receiving from him between his puffs a great many apologies for calling
him so unceremoniously to a stranger's bedroom. 'But,' continued Mr.
Swancourt, 'I felt that I wanted to say a few words to you before the
morning, on the business of your visit. One's patience gets exhausted
by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's
enemy--new to me, though--for I have known very little of gout as yet.
However, he's gone to my other toe in a very mild manner, and I expect
he'll slink off altogether by the morning. I hope you have been well
attended to downstairs?'

'Perfectly. And though it is unfortunate, and I am sorry to see you
laid up, I beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the
house the while.'

'I will not. But I shall be down to-morrow. My daughter is an excellent
doctor. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker
than all the drug stuff in the world. Well, now about the church
business. Take a seat, do. We can't afford to stand upon ceremony in
these parts as you see, and for this reason, that a civilized human
being seldom stays long with us; and so we cannot waste time in
approaching him, or he will be