Knight had none of those light familiarities of speech which, by judicious touches of epigrammatic flattery, obliterate a womanвАЩs recollection of the speakerвАЩs abstract opinions. So no more was said by either on the subject of hair, eyes, or development. ElfrideвАЩs mind had been impregnated with sentiments of her own smallness to an uncomfortable degree of distinctness, and her discomfort was visible in her face. The whole tendency of the conversation latterly had been to quietly but surely disparage her; and she was fain to take Stephen into favour in self-defence. He would not have been so unloving, she said, as to admire an idiosyncrasy and features different from her own. True, Stephen had declared he loved her: Mr.¬†Knight had never done anything of the sort. Somehow this did not mend matters, and the sensation of her smallness in KnightвАЩs eyes still remained. Had the position been reversedвБ†вАФhad Stephen loved her in spite of a differing taste, and had Knight been indifferent in spite of her resemblance to his ideal, it would have engendered far happier thoughts. As matters stood, StephenвАЩs admiration might have its root in a blindness the result of passion. Perhaps any keen manвАЩs judgment was condemnatory of her. + 

During the remainder of Saturday they were more or less thrown with their seniors, and no conversation arose which was exclusively their own. When Elfride was in bed that night her thoughts recurred to the same subject. At one moment she insisted that it was ill-natured of him to speak so decisively as he had done; the next, that it was sterling honesty. + 

вАЬAh, what a poor nobody I am!вАЭ she said, sighing. вАЬPeople like him, who go about the great world, donвАЩt care in the least what I am like either in mood or feature.вАЭ + 

Perhaps a man who has got thoroughly into a womanвАЩs mind in this manner, is halfway to her heart; the distance between those two stations is proverbially short. + 

вАЬAnd are you really going away this week?вАЭ said Mrs.¬†Swancourt to Knight on the following evening, which was Sunday. + 

They were all leisurely climbing the hill to the church, where a last service was now to be held at the rather exceptional time of evening instead of in the afternoon, previous to the demolition of the ruinous portions. + 

вАЬI am intending to cross to Cork from Bristol,вАЭ returned Knight; вАЬand then I go on to Dublin.вАЭ + 

вАЬReturn this way, and stay a little longer with us,вАЭ said the vicar. вАЬA week is nothing. We have hardly been able to realize your presence yet. I remember a story whichвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

The vicar suddenly stopped. He had forgotten it was Sunday, and would probably have gone on in his weekday mode of thought had not a turn in the breeze blown the skirt of his college gown within the range of his vision, and so reminded him. He at once diverted the current of his narrative with the dexterity the occasion demanded. + 

вАЬThe story of the Levite who journeyed to Bethlehem-judah, from which I took my text the Sunday before last, is quite to the point,вАЭ he continued, with the pronunciation of a man who, far from having intended to tell a weekday story a moment earlier, had thought of nothing but Sabbath matters for several weeks. вАЬWhat did he gain after all by his restlessness? Had he remained in the city of the Jebusites, and not been so anxious for Gibeah, none of his troubles would have arisen.вАЭ + 

вАЬBut he had wasted five days already,вАЭ said Knight, closing his eyes to the vicarвАЩs commendable diversion. вАЬHis fault lay in beginning the tarrying system originally.вАЭ + 

вАЬTrue, true; my illustration fails.вАЭ + 

вАЬBut not the hospitality which prompted the story.вАЭ + 

вАЬSo you are to come just the same,вАЭ urged Mrs.¬†Swancourt, for she had seen an almost imperceptible fall of countenance in her stepdaughter at KnightвАЩs announcement. + 

Knight half promised to call on his return journey; but the uncertainty with which he spoke was quite enough to fill Elfride with a regretful interest in all he did during the few remaining hours. The curate having already officiated twice that day in the two churches, Mr.¬†Swancourt had undertaken the whole of the evening service, and Knight read the lessons for him. The sun streamed across from the dilapidated west window, and lighted all the assembled worshippers with a golden glow, Knight as he read being illuminated by the same mellow lustre. Elfride at the organ regarded him with a throbbing sadness of mood which was fed by a sense of being far removed from his sphere. As he went deliberately through the chapter appointedвБ†вАФa portion of the history of ElijahвБ†вАФand ascended that magnificent climax of the wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the still small voice, his deep tones echoed past with such apparent disregard of her existence, that his presence inspired her with a forlorn sense of unapproachableness, which his absence would hardly have been able to cause. + 

At the same time, turning her face for a moment to catch the glory of the dying sun as it fell on his form, her eyes were arrested by the shape and aspect of a woman in the west gallery. It was the bleak barren countenance of the widow Jethway, whom Elfride had not seen much of since the morning of her return with Stephen Smith. Possessing the smallest of competencies, this unhappy woman appeared to spend her life in journeyings between Endelstow Churchyard and that of a village near Southampton, where her father and mother were laid. + 

She had not attended the service here for a considerable time, and she now seemed to have a reason for her choice of seat. From the gallery window the tomb of her son was plainly visibleвБ†вАФstanding as the nearest object in a prospect which was closed outwardly by the changeless horizon of the sea. + 

The streaming rays, too, flooded her face, now bent towards Elfride with a hard and bitter expression that the solemnity of the place raised to a tragic dignity it did not intrinsically possess. The girl resumed her normal attitude with an added disquiet. + 

ElfrideвАЩs emotion was cumulative, and after a while would assert itself on a sudden. A slight touch was enough to set it freeвБ†вАФa poem, a sunset, a cunningly contrived chord of music, a vague imagining, being the usual accidents of its exhibition. The longing for KnightвАЩs respect, which was leading up to an incipient yearning for his love, made the present conjuncture a sufficient one. Whilst kneeling down previous to leaving, when the sunny streaks had gone upward to the roof, and the lower part of the church was in soft shadow, she could not help thinking of ColeridgeвАЩs morbid poem вАЬThe Three Graves,вАЭ and shuddering as she wondered if Mrs.¬†Jethway were cursing her, she wept as if her heart would break. + 

They came out of church just as the sun went down, leaving the landscape like a platform from which an eloquent speaker has retired, and nothing remains for the audience to do but to rise and go home. Mr.¬†and Mrs.¬†Swancourt went off in the carriage, Knight and Elfride preferring to walk, as the skilful old matchmaker had imagined. They descended the hill together. + 

вАЬI liked your reading, Mr.¬†Knight,вАЭ Elfride presently found herself saying. вАЬYou read better than papa.вАЭ + 

вАЬI will praise anybody that will praise me. You played excellently, Miss Swancourt, and very correctly.вАЭ + 

вАЬCorrectlyвБ†вАФyes.вАЭ + 

вАЬIt must be a great pleasure to you to take an active part in the service.вАЭ + 

вАЬI want to be able to play with more feeling. But I have not a good selection of music, sacred or secular. I wish I had a nice little music-libraryвБ†вАФwell chosen, and that the only new pieces sent me were those of genuine merit.вАЭ + 

вАЬI am glad to hear such a wish from you. It is extraordinary how many women have no honest love of music as an end and not as a means, even leaving out those who have nothing in them. They mostly like it for its accessories. I have never met a woman who loves music as do ten or a dozen men I know.вАЭ + 

вАЬHow would you draw the line between women with something and women with nothing in them?вАЭ + 

вАЬWell,вАЭ said Knight, reflecting a moment, вАЬI mean by nothing in them those who donвАЩt care about anything solid. This is an instance: I knew a man who had a young friend in whom he was much interested; in fact, they were going to be married. She was seemingly poetical, and he offered her a choice of two editions of the British poets, which she pretended to want badly. He said, вАШWhich of them would you like best for me to send?вАЩ She said, вАШA pair of the prettiest earrings in Bond Street, if you donвАЩt mind, would be nicer than either.вАЩ Now I call her a girl with not much in her but vanity; and so do you, I daresay.вАЭ + 

вАЬOh yes,вАЭ replied Elfride with an effort. + 

Happening to catch a glimpse of her face as she was speaking, and noticing that her attempt at heartiness was a miserable failure, he appeared to have misgivings. + 

вАЬYou, Miss Swancourt, would not, under such circumstances, have preferred the knickknacks?вАЭ + 

вАЬNo, I donвАЩt think I should, indeed,вАЭ she stammered. + 

вАЬIвАЩll put it to you,вАЭ said the inflexible Knight. вАЬWhich will you have of these two things of about equal valueвБ†вАФthe well-chosen little library of the best music you spoke ofвБ†вАФbound in morocco, walnut case, lock and keyвБ†вАФor a pair of the very prettiest earrings in Bond Street windows?вАЭ + 

вАЬOf course the music,вАЭ Elfride replied with forced earnestness. + 

вАЬYou are quite certain?вАЭ he said emphatically. + 

вАЬQuite,вАЭ she faltered; вАЬif I could for certain buy the earrings afterwards.вАЭ + 

Knight, somewhat blamably, keenly enjoyed sparring with the palpitating mobile creature, whose excitable nature made any such thing a species of cruelty. + 

He looked at her rather oddly, and said, вАЬFie!вАЭ + 

вАЬForgive me,вАЭ she said, laughing a little, a little frightened, and blushing very deeply. + 

вАЬAh, Miss Elfie, why didnвАЩt you say at first, as any firm woman would have said, I am as bad as she, and shall choose the same?вАЭ + 

вАЬI donвАЩt know,вАЭ said Elfride woefully, and with a distressful smile. + 

вАЬI thought you were exceptionally musical?вАЭ + 

вАЬSo I am, I think. But the test is so severeвБ†вАФquite painful.вАЭ + 

вАЬI donвАЩt understand.вАЭ + 

вАЬMusic doesnвАЩt do any real good, or ratherвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬThat is a thing to say, Miss Swancourt! Why, whatвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬYou donвАЩt understand! you donвАЩt understand!вАЭ + 

вАЬWhy, what conceivable use is there in jimcrack jewellery?вАЭ + 

вАЬNo, no, no, no!вАЭ she cried petulantly; вАЬI didnвАЩt mean what you think. I like the music best, only I likeвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬEarrings betterвБ†вАФown it!вАЭ he said in a teasing tone. вАЬWell, I think I should have had the moral courage to own it at once, without pretending to an elevation I could not reach.вАЭ + 

Like the French soldiery, Elfride was not brave when on the defensive. So it was almost with tears in her eyes that she answered desperately: + 

вАЬMy meaning is, that I like earrings best just now, because I lost one of my prettiest pair last year, and papa said he would not buy any more, or allow me to myself, because I was careless; and now I wish I had some like themвБ†вАФthatвАЩs what my meaning isвБ†вАФindeed it is, Mr.¬†Knight.вАЭ + 

вАЬI am afraid I have been very harsh and rude,вАЭ said Knight, with a look of regret at seeing how disturbed she was. вАЬBut seriously, if women only knew how they ruin their good looks by such appurtenances, I am sure they would never want them.вАЭ + 

вАЬThey were lovely, and became me so!вАЭ + 

вАЬNot if they were like the ordinary hideous things women stuff their ears with nowadaysвБ†вАФlike the governor of a steam-engine, or a pair of scales, or gold gibbets and chains, and artistsвАЩ palettes, and compensation pendulums, and Heaven knows what besides.вАЭ + 

вАЬNo; they were not one of those things. So prettyвБ†вАФlike this,вАЭ she said with eager animation. And she drew with the point of her parasol an enlarged view of one of the lamented darlings, to a scale that would have suited a giantess half-a-mile high. + 

вАЬYes, very prettyвБ†вАФvery,вАЭ said Knight dryly. вАЬHow did you come to lose such a precious pair of articles?вАЭ + 

вАЬI only lost oneвБ†вАФnobody ever loses both at the same time.вАЭ + 

She made this remark with embarrassment, and a nervous movement of the fingers. Seeing that the loss occurred whilst Stephen Smith was attempting to kiss her for the first time on the cliff, her confusion was hardly to be wondered at. The question had been awkward, and received no direct answer. + 

Knight seemed not to notice her manner. + 

вАЬOh, nobody ever loses bothвБ†вАФI see. And certainly the fact that it was a case of loss takes away all odour of vanity from your choice.вАЭ + 

вАЬAs I never know whether you are in earnest, I donвАЩt now,вАЭ she said, looking up inquiringly at the hairy face of the oracle. And coming gallantly to her own rescue, вАЬIf I really seem vain, it is that I am only vain in my waysвБ†вАФnot in my heart. The worst women are those vain in their hearts, and not in their ways.вАЭ + 

вАЬAn adroit distinction. Well, they are certainly the more objectionable of the two,вАЭ said Knight. + 

вАЬIs vanity a mortal or a venial sin? You know what life is: tell me.вАЭ + 

вАЬI am very far from knowing what life is. A just conception of life is too large a thing to grasp during the short interval of passing through it.вАЭ + 

вАЬWill the fact of a woman being fond of jewellery be likely to make her life, in its higher sense, a failure?вАЭ + 

вАЬNobodyвАЩs life is altogether a failure.вАЭ + 

вАЬWell, you know what I mean, even though my words are badly selected and commonplace,вАЭ she said impatiently. вАЬBecause I utter commonplace words, you must not suppose I think only commonplace thoughts. My poor stock of words are like a limited number of rough moulds I have to cast all my materials in, good and bad; and the novelty or delicacy of the substance is often lost in the coarse triteness of the form.вАЭ + 

вАЬVery well; IвАЩll believe that ingenious representation. As to the subject in handвБ†вАФlives which are failuresвБ†вАФyou need not trouble yourself. AnybodyвАЩs life may be just as romantic and strange and interesting if he or she fails as if he or she succeed. All the difference is, that the last chapter is wanting in the story. If a man of power tries to do a great deed, and just falls short of it by an accident not his fault, up to that time his history had as much in it as that of a great man who has done his great deed. It is whimsical of the world to hold that particulars of how a lad went to school and so on should be as an interesting romance or as nothing to them, precisely in proportion to his after renown.вАЭ + 

They were walking between the sunset and the moonrise. With the dropping of the sun a nearly full moon had begun to raise itself. Their shadows, as cast by the western glare, showed signs of becoming obliterated in the interest of a rival pair in the opposite direction which the moon was bringing to distinctness. + 

вАЬI consider my life to some extent a failure,вАЭ said Knight again after a pause, during which he had noticed the antagonistic shadows. + 

вАЬYou! How?вАЭ + 

вАЬI donвАЩt precisely know. But in some way I have missed the mark.вАЭ + 

вАЬReally? To have done it is not much to be sad about, but to feel that you have done it must be a cause of sorrow. Am I right?вАЭ + 

вАЬPartly, though not quite. For a sensation of being profoundly experienced serves as a sort of consolation to people who are conscious of having taken wrong turnings. Contradictory as it seems, there is nothing truer than that people who have always gone right donвАЩt know half as much about the nature and ways of going right as those do who have gone wrong. However, it is not desirable for me to chill your summertime by going into this.вАЭ + 

вАЬYou have not told me even now if I am really vain.вАЭ + 

вАЬIf I say Yes, I shall offend you; if I say No, youвАЩll think I donвАЩt mean it,вАЭ he replied, looking curiously into her face. + 

вАЬAh, well,вАЭ she replied, with a little breath of distress, вАЬвАКвАШThat which is exceeding deep, who will find it out?вАЩ I suppose I must take you as I do the BibleвБ†вАФfind out and understand all I can; and on the strength of that, swallow the rest in a lump, by simple faith. Think me vain, if you will. Worldly greatness requires so much littleness to grow up in, that an infirmity more or less is not a matter for regret.вАЭ + 

вАЬAs regards women, I canвАЩt say,вАЭ answered Knight carelessly; вАЬbut it is without doubt a misfortune for a man who has a living to get, to be born of a truly noble nature. A high soul will bring a man to the workhouse; so you may be right in sticking up for vanity.вАЭ + 

вАЬNo, no, I donвАЩt do that,вАЭ she said regretfully. вАЬMr.¬†Knight, when you are gone, will you send me something you have written? I think I should like to see whether you write as you have lately spoken, or in your better mood. Which is your true selfвБ†вАФthe cynic you have been this evening, or the nice philosopher you were up to tonight?вАЭ + 

вАЬAh, which? You know as well as I.вАЭ + 

Their conversation detained them on the lawn and in the portico till the stars blinked out. Elfride flung back her head, and said idlyвБ†вАФ + 

вАЬThereвАЩs a bright star exactly over me.вАЭ + 

вАЬEach bright star is overhead somewhere.вАЭ + 

вАЬIs it? Oh yes, of course. Where is that one?вАЭ and she pointed with her finger. + 

вАЬThat is poised like a white hawk over one of the Cape Verde Islands.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd that?вАЭ + 

вАЬLooking down upon the source of the Nile.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd that lonely quiet-looking one?вАЭ + 

вАЬHe watches the North Pole, and has no less than the whole equator for his horizon. And that idle one low down upon the ground, that we have almost rolled away from, is in IndiaвБ†вАФover the head of a young friend of mine, who very possibly looks at the star in our zenith, as it hangs low upon his horizon, and thinks of it as marking where his true love dwells.вАЭ + 

Elfride glanced at Knight with misgiving. Did he mean her? She could not see his features; but his attitude seemed to show unconsciousness. + 

вАЬThe star is over my head,вАЭ she said with hesitation. + 

вАЬOr anybody elseвАЩs in England.вАЭ + 

вАЬOh yes, I see,вАЭ she breathed her relief. + 

вАЬHis parents, I believe, are natives of this county. I donвАЩt know them, though I have been in correspondence with him for many years till lately. Fortunately or unfortunately for him he fell in love, and then went to Bombay. Since that time I have heard very little of him.вАЭ + 

Knight went no further in his volunteered statement, and though Elfride at one moment was inclined to profit by the lessons in honesty he had just been giving her, the flesh was weak, and the intention dispersed into silence. There seemed a reproach in KnightвАЩs blind words, and yet she was not able to clearly define any disloyalty that she had been guilty of. + 