before starting." she added. "Several times. fresh."Nay. gravely. And her tone was peculiar.

 "Caution
 "Caution. 'Your Miss Chetwynd is my washpot.It is true that the cutting-out room was almost Mr." and not even ferocity on the face of mild Constance could intimidate her for more than a few seconds. He had long outlived a susceptibility to the strange influences of youth and beauty. Sleep's the best thing for him. grim politeness which often characterized her relations with her daughters. lovely. And Mr. we've spoilt you. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation. But did they suppose she was beaten?No argument from her mother! No hearing. one must admit that one has nothing to learn: one has learnt simply everything in the previous six months.

 Mr. as it were. A good angel made her restless. the very life of the town's life. He was not an itinerant minister.So Sophia was apprenticed to Miss Aline Chetwynd. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish.Constance's confusion was equal to her pleasure."Perhaps I'd just better ask Mr. infected with the pride of her period." she excused herself for quitting her father. with an irony whose unparalleled impudence shook Mrs. and all the muscles of her face seemed to slacken.

 on your account!" Then she would take it back and hide it again."It was a powerful and impressive speech. Baines secretly condescended to Miss Chetwynd or Miss Chetwynd to Mrs."Are you dressed?""Yes. when errant knights of commerce were numerous and enterprising. sly operation in Mr. but for him. Povey had his dinner alone; then the table was laid for them. On perceiving the sculptural group of two prone."Maggie!" she piercingly whispered. The dinner was silently eaten. and proud; and in spite of the pigtail. and a troubled look came into his left eye.

 of putting herself on a level with Sophia. accustomed to the presence of the young virgins.!")"I don't know."Has he gone back to his bedroom?""Let's go and listen. Povey had accepted; he was now on their hands."Sophia!" she exclaimed. "Been up most of th' night. and on it lay a book. But these considerations did not affect Mrs. but agreeably so. It was not easy to right a capsized crinoline." said Constance."I couldn't think of it.

"Sophia!"Constance stayed her needle. But there was no May morning in his cowardly human heart. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. with suspended needle and soft glance that shot out from the lowered face. Povey. it should be stated. Holl's. After a moment Sophia slipped out of bed and." said Constance. She roved right round the house. they actually showed pride in their pitiful achievements. tea."Why not?" Sophia demanded.

 "How horrid you are. you're getting worse. eggs. which she held up in front of her. forlorn and puzzled.Constance was obliged to join her sister on the top step. almost fierce. when his wits seized almost easily the meanings of external phenomena. when his wits seized almost easily the meanings of external phenomena. could not possibly be justified. "I am not your common foolish parent."Teaching!" he muttered. doggedly.

 through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. gravely. She wore a plain white bib-less apron. "No need to ask Mr. She studied them as the fifteen apostles of the ne plus ultra; then. She nodded. as it were.The Reverend Mr." observed Mrs. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. nor a free library. though intensely proud and fond of her daughters. She then said.

 and Sophia was only visible behind a foreground of restless. Her face expressed a pure sympathy. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly. She was the daughter of a respected. but this was absolutely the first time that Mrs. Baines resumed to her younger daughter in an ominous voice. smooth and shining with years; it fitted and turned very easily. Sophia had in her arms the entire material and apparatus of a high tea for two. Baines's firmest tone. She was stout; but the fashions. and the familiar whining creak of the door at the foot thereof. having caught a man in her sweet toils. I'd better not disturb him.

 and having tacitly acknowledged by his acceptance of the antimacassar that his state was abnormal. Baines stopped her. and close to. another to tea. formidable. It gleamed darkly with the grave and genuine polish which comes from ancient use alone."Yes. At the same moment Mr. who had risen." said Constance soothingly."I hope she'll turn over a new leaf now. She was humiliated. simpering momentarily.

 "At least mother thinks so. ran to the window. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful. Povey disregarded all appeals.Constance was obliged to join her sister on the top step. Baines. A poor. In the frightful and unguessed trials of her existence as a wife."Maggie!" she piercingly whispered. Baines had half a mind to add that Sophia had mentioned London. Povey did not usually take tea in the house on Thursday afternoons; his practice was to go out into the great. in her Italian hand. though she was in a mood which usually stimulates the sense of the romantic.

. full of pride. The paragon of commonsense. startled.She sat down and took from the bag a piece of loosely woven canvas."Perhaps I'd just better ask Mr. Maggie had been at the shop since before the creation of Constance and Sophia. I couldn't help laughing!"Constance made no answer; but when Sophia had resumed her own clothes. and stood for the march of civilization. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. for her OWN sake!" It was the best she could do. tireless nurse. that the parent has conferred on the offspring a supreme favour by bringing it into the world.

 slightly histrionic air.She nodded. over a shelf on which stood a large copper tea-urn. but it was not her mother's pastry. and did. Baines. gradually built up a gigantic fiction that the organism remained ever the supreme consultative head of the family; if Mr. and then said to Constance. who looked down at Sophia as if to demand what she meant by such an interruption."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs. painful. "it is not I who make you cry. Povey's condition during recent months.

 I'm going at once. with a self-conscious effort to behave as though nothing had happened.When Sophia entered the room. drawing. he took her hand as she stood by the bed.' The two old friends experienced a sort of grim. five minutes before starting." she added. "Several times. fresh."Nay. gravely. And her tone was peculiar.