Herfatherdidnotreply，andElfridelefttheroom。
Shebegantolookoutforthepostmanagain。ThreemorningslaterhebroughtaninlandletterfromStephen。Itcontainedverylittlematter，havingbeenwritteninhaste；butthemeaningwasbulkyenough。Stephensaidthat，havingexecutedacommissioninLiverpool，heshouldarriveathisfather\'shouse，EastEndelstow，atfiveorsixo\'clockthatsameevening；thathewouldafterduskwalkontothenextvillage，andmeether，ifshewould，inthechurchporch，asintheoldtime。Heproposedthisplanbecausehethoughtitunadvisabletocallformallyatherhousesolateintheevening；yethecouldnotsleepwithouthavingseenher。Theminuteswouldseemhourstillheclaspedherinhisarms。
Elfridewasstillsteadfastinheropinionthathonourcompelledhertomeethim。Probablytheverylongingtoavoidhimlentadditionalweighttotheconviction；forshewasmarkedlyoneofthosewhosighfortheunattainable——towhom，superlatively，ahopeispleasingbecausenotapossession。Andsheknewitsowellthatherintellectwasinclinedtoexaggeratethisdefectinherself。
Soduringthedayshelookedherdutysteadfastlyintheface；
readWordsworth\'sastringentyetdepressingodetothatDeity；