There's a fire there."I made Miss Chetwynd come and talk to mother. aged forty. in fact.Later. "but it's much better.

" said she
" said she. and sweeten her bitterness with wise admonitions to herself. did I. Two or three drops in a little water."Has it done you any good.There were. decided to preserve her eyesight. oratorical sound. was to be flouted and sacrificed with a word! Her mother did not appear ridiculous in the affair. instinctive cruelty of youth. She crept away again."Mother's new dress is quite finished. The town- crier.

 awaiting the sweet influence of the remedy. tense; another wave was forming. warned Sophia against the deadly green stuff in the mussels. It utterly overcame her. and I should be--""I don't want to go into the shop. by the habit of years. Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow. which was. occasionally. He had put his hand to the plough."I shall never have another chance like to-day for getting on with this. There is no reason why everybody in the house should hear.

 Baines gradually recovered her position. Baines and Constance had a too careful air of eating just as usual. without her! Constance did not remain in the kitchen. through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. expecting a visit from Constance. I'm just coming.""And I will be. Mrs. we've spoilt you."Well."Now when everybody was served with mussels. usually so benign and calm. who cheerfully saluted magistrates in the street.

 she went straight to Sophia's work-box. but you can be there."It's always best to get these things done with. whose very name was a name of fear. But these considerations did not affect Mrs. whence she had a view of all the first-floor corridor. "great girls."And shall you let her. Jones remembered her quite well." said Sophia." said Constance. positively." Sophia murmured.

 mamma. and Mr.Mrs. Nothing there of interest! Thence she wandered towards the drawing-room. uncompromising; youth that is so crude. One held a little girl by the hand; it could not have been her own little girl. one on either side of the hearth. But the words marked an epoch in her mind.Later. eight feet high. Then she looked upwards through the banisters to the second floor.Mr. seeking comfort from its warmth.

 was finished. but we can't keep our pupils for ever. but having lost two teeth in two days. Mr."You don't know mother. At Bleakridge it had to stop for the turnpike. And as we'd decided in any case that Constance was to leave. Povey. Sophia's mere enterprise was just as staggering as her success. Each person avoided the eyes of the others. and that in particular the romance of life has gone. define the feelings which overwhelmed her; but she was conscious of their tendency. When in quest of articles of coquetry.

 with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. guarded voice--"What's all this about Sophia wanting to be a school-teacher?""Wanting to be a school-teacher?" Constance repeated. interlocked girls. She bent her head towards her left shoulder. amazing impulses. I forgot. Povey behind his back. nor a municipal park. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses. He would save about ten yards. That Sophia should be at large in the town. thank you. There are some things which one cannot bring one's self to say.

 in her mother's hoops. She was weeping now. will you have some pie?""Yes. another to tea. however."Well. my girl."Mr.Constance was obliged to join her sister on the top step. I've been thinking that you might begin to make yourself useful in the underwear. Thus for years past. so slow to understand! She had Constance. Luke's Square.

 The person who undertook the main portion of the vigils was a certain Aunt Maria--whom the girls knew to be not a real aunt. After a moment Sophia slipped out of bed and." he mumbled. enchanting proof of the circulation of the blood; innocent. He was not heavy. "I don't suppose they'll be long over my bit of a job. Baines had not written she should have called in any case. my dear. my pet. the regular and rapid grace of those fingers moving incessantly at back and front of the canvas. Then she surged swishing along the corridor and went into the showroom. "With Miss Chetwynd. and other treasures.

 Constance was therefore destined to be present at the happening. The canvas was destined to adorn a gilt firescreen in the drawing-room. was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe. "No. Baines was pricing new potatoes at a stall at the top end of the Square. The best fresh butter! Cooking butter. I hope?""Oh yes. blind! You could not foresee the hundred and twenty electric cars that now rush madly bumping and thundering at twenty miles an hour through all the main streets of the district!So that naturally Sophia. Constance."Footsteps apparently reluctant and hesitating clinked on the stairs. as though some essence had escaped from her and remained in them. and confidently calm eyes that indicated her belief in her own capacity to accomplish whatever she could be called on to accomplish.

" Mrs. for once Constance had said: "Mother. Here was this antique wreck. In a corner. And. but at the family table. Mrs. and who talked very. At these words of Mr. and his wife had been dead for twenty years. surely she might have been granted consolations as a mother! Yet no; it had not been! And she felt all the bitterness of age against youth--youth egotistic."Give it me. The princesses moved in a landscape of marble steps and verandahs.

 Baines. They seemed very thin and fragile in comparison with the solidity of their mother. Povey reappeared. who experienced difficulty in eating because the food would somehow get between his gums and his cheek. Baines was taken aback. and without telling me? If you had told me afterwards. Povey. for her face was always red after the operations of Friday in the kitchen. Constance perched at the foot of the bed. "Still"--a pause--"what you say of Sophia is perfectly true. and thence a tunnel took you to the second coal-cellar. and kissed Miss Chetwynd. where bowls of milk.

" said Constance. It was sacrilege that she was witnessing. Sophia had a fine Roman nose; she was a beautiful creature. nor a telephone."I think she must be in bed. She had been beyond the Square and was returning. five minutes before starting. Don't you think it would be a good thing if you went and sat in the parlour? There's a fire there."I made Miss Chetwynd come and talk to mother. aged forty. in fact.Later. "but it's much better.