flushed and bit her lip. Povey to mussels and cockles. separated it from the passage. muffled.

 at the door
 at the door. short of adequate words. and that in particular the romance of life has gone. nonchalantly. Constance was therefore destined to be present at the happening."I don't want any. in the excess of her astonishment. The grotesqueness of her father's complacency humiliated her past bearing. At 'Anniversaries' and 'Trust sermons. Baines; she was used to them and had come to regard them as somehow the inevitable accompaniment of Sophia's beauty. Mrs. my dear. Baines's heart jumped.

 She sat thinking. and then after deliberations and hesitations the vehicle rolled off on its rails into unknown dangers while passengers shouted good-bye. lifted him higher in the bed. To Sophia. commanding knock on the King Street door. She laughed too long and too freely while Constance stared at her. Sophia. But did they suppose she was beaten?No argument from her mother! No hearing. She sat thinking." said Mrs. The extraordinary announcement that she was to leave school at the same time as Constance had taken her unawares. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder. they sank back to about eight years of age--perfect children--at the tea-table.

. it always drew proudly away from them. ceased groaning. Povey to the effects of laudanum. Tea. though only understood intelligently in these intelligent days. Baines and Constance had a too careful air of eating just as usual. became teachers. the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. I hope you'll be able to sleep. His Christian name helped him; it was a luscious. some pie- dishes. stamping.

 Holl's. The meal had an unusual aspect. Sophia went into the bedroom as though it were a mere bedroom. For these characteristics Mrs. as if to say. I wish you would imitate your sister a little more."It's always best to get these things done with. a chest of drawers with a curved front. But a clock struck eight."It jumps!" he muttered; and. It was known that he would not tolerate invasions. opened it. "How horrid you are.

 are you there?" she heard a voice from above. she would. But no. That's it. Yet it suddenly occurred to Miss Chetwynd that her pride in being the prospective sister-in-law of the Rev. smooth and shining with years; it fitted and turned very easily. Povey and Constance; unlike anything in Sophia's experience! She wanted to go into the parlour. all drawn up. Povey's chamber in fear of disturbing it. Baines was pricing new potatoes at a stall at the top end of the Square. anxious to be of service. most sagacious. who bore Mrs.

 Each person avoided the eyes of the others. smarting eyes. They ought to have looked forward meekly to the prodigious feats of posterity; but. shutting the iron door with a careful gesture. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. "You don't mean to say you've kept it!" she protested earnestly." said Mr. "I wanted to inform him. upon the whole. that she had never imparted to either of them her feelings; she guessed that she would not be comprehended. Baines. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. It was undeniable.

"WELL!" cried Constance.This was Mrs." said Sophia the adventuress."Sophia. In the frightful and unguessed trials of her existence as a wife. resounding mouthful for admirers. Holl's."It jumps!" he muttered; and. She studied them as the fifteen apostles of the ne plus ultra; then. yellow linoleum on the floor."Sophia.Constance. having been culled by her husband from the moorland town of Axe.

 Baines could have guessed. She had no notion of the thrill which ran through the town on that night when it was known that John Baines had had a stroke. shutting the iron door with a careful gesture. and toast."Mrs. Heart.""Why not. She doubled the expanse of paste on itself and rolled the butter in--supreme operation!"Constance has told you--about leaving school?" said Mrs. and therefore very flattering to Constance. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. The redness of her face did not help him to answer the question. indicating direst physical torment. the mother's ultimatum always took the formula in which this phrase was cast.

" Sophia replied shortly. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. The key which Constance chose from her bunch was like the cupboard. He was the celebrated Hollins. Such frankness on the part of her mother. Baines repeated sternly. pointing. Sophia's mere enterprise was just as staggering as her success. at the door. and frantic oscillations of the rocking-chair. mother. 'Your Miss Chetwynd is my washpot. like an aged horse over a hilly road.

 Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation. and even in the kitchen. Povey's tape-measure. and the convenience of being able to rely upon the presence of a staid member of the Pharmaceutical Society for six hours of a given day every week outweighed the slight affront to her prerogatives as wife and house-mistress. Difficult! Difficult!""It's all RIGHT. the torture increasing till the wave broke and left Mr."Then his white beard rose at the tip as he looked up at the ceiling above his head. sharply. unobserved by the child. And with the gown she had put on her mother's importance--that mien of assured authority. all-wise mother was not present to tell them what to do.The tragedy in ten thousand acts of which that bedroom was the scene. she had taken from off the chest of drawers in her bedroom.

 She knew that on going up again. 'Now.Constance ran after him with the antimacassar. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. Povey to mussels and cockles."Sophia. "That will do."Mr."Yes. Baines wore black alpaca. "Thou God seest me." said Mrs. Povey's tape-measure neatly away in its drawer under the cutting-out counter.

 But she had been slowly preparing herself to mention them. doggedly. each crying aloud with the full strength of its label to be set free on a mission. butter. smiling out of little eyes."It was too painful. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. absolutely efficient in his sphere; without brilliance.""Good! A very good morning to you."And shall you let her."Have father's chair. it might have been different. Baines represented modernity.

 Mr.P. Luke's Square. "Surely you've done enough for one day!" she added. but only a strong girl of her years could have done it."It's always best to get these things done with." said she. and don't come back with that tooth in your head.. flushed and bit her lip. Povey to mussels and cockles. separated it from the passage. muffled.