' Here Mr. Swancourt
wiped from his face the perspiration his excitement had caused
him.
'Poor old tower!' said Elfride.
'Yes, I am sorry for it,' said Knight. 'It was an interesting
piece of antiquity--a local record of local art.'
'Ah, but my dear sir, we shall have a new one, expostulated Mr.
Swancourt; 'a splendid tower--designed by a first-rate London man--
in the newest style of Gothic art, and full of Christian
feeling.'
'Indeed!' said Knight.
'Oh yes. Not in the barbarous clumsy architecture of this
neighbourhood; you see nothing so rough and pagan anywhere else in
England. When the men are gone, I would advise you to go and see
the church before anything further is done to it. You can now sit
in the chancel, and look down the nave through the west arch, and
through that far out to sea. In fact,' said Mr. Swancourt
significantly, 'if a wedding were performed at the altar to-morrow
morning, it might be witnessed from the deck of a ship on a voyage
to the South Seas, with a good glass. However, after dinner, when
the moon has risen, go up and see for yourselves.'
Knight assented with feverish readiness. He had decided within
the last few minutes that he could not rest another night without
further talk with Elfride upon the subject which now divided them:
he was determined to know all, and relieve his disquiet in some
way. Elfride would gladly have escaped further converse alone
with him that night, but it seemed inevitable.
Pages:
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430