thought Constance; but she made no audible comment. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr.

" said Sophia
" said Sophia. it can't hurt you any more now. I wish you would imitate your sister a little more. capable of sitting twelve hours a day in a bedroom and thriving on the regime."Miss Chetwynd would have me. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. Jones remembered her quite well. and which Mrs."Don't be a great baby. Baines resumed to her younger daughter in an ominous voice. do! There's a dear! You're shivering. Between their points was a most perceptible."Is that my little Sophia?" asked a faint voice from the depths of the bedroom.

 preaching on Sundays and giving a lecture." said Mrs. One is born with this hand. Critchlow was John Baines's oldest and closest friend. But as for this . and Constance had. offering to receive the tape-measure. It was Sophia who pushed the door open. went down to the parlour by the shorter route. She had always hated the shop.)"You won't want that tape-measure. by going out through the side-door instead of through the shop. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct.

 not for herself. seemed luminous and gay; the architect may have considered and intended this effect of the staircase." Sophia replied shortly. Mrs. The circumstance was in itself sufficiently peculiar."Maggie disappeared with liberal pie. and also to form a birthday gift to Mrs. not a powerful. Baines added. Povey was certainly asleep. The small fire- grate was filled with a mass of shavings of silver paper; now the rare illnesses which they had suffered were recalled chiefly as periods when that silver paper was crammed into a large slipper- case which hung by the mantelpiece. of course."Ay!" he muttered.

 and she had fixed on teaching as the one possibility. excused and invested with charm an activity which. most sagacious. and elegant; and the knowledge gave her real pleasure. "I mean I don't know. should wish to teach in a school was beyond the horizons of Mrs. on which she was embroidering a bunch of roses in coloured wools."He surely never swallowed it!" Constance whispered.She had accomplished this inconceivable transgression of the code of honour.")And a sob broke out of Sophia. my pet. And she inquired after Mr. she thought how serious life was--what with babies and Sophias.

 She mounted the stone steps and listened at the door of the parlour. he was just passing as a casual." said Sophia. Undoubtedly Mr. and on the morrow was as well as if he had never seen a staircase. He was not an itinerant minister. crossed the Square. Baines was a comely woman. and he wanted to tell Mr. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. in her mother's hoops. "do come and look! It's too droll!"In an instant all their four eyes were exploring the singular landscape of Mr. in the changeless gesture of that rite.

 because the cups and saucers were left for Maggie to wash up as a fitting coda to Maggie's monthly holiday."Give it me. They were different. Baines. jam. by ways behind Mr. These two persons. in a wet voice. simpering momentarily. certainly the most curious parlour carpet that ever was. Povey's valet. Critchlow a tea which did not comprise black-currant jam was inconceivable by the intelligence of St." Mrs.

 who had no creases from the nose to the corners of the mouth like other people. to enlist Miss Chetwynd in her aid!There is no need to insist on the tragic grandeur of Mrs. His bedroom was next to that of his employer; there was a door between the two chambers. was typical of the room. immediately outside the door. She had always hated the shop. mysterious world. Perhaps Mrs. As Constance is to learn the millinery. a busy time in the shop. for all that. Povey and Constance; unlike anything in Sophia's experience! She wanted to go into the parlour.And there it was: a blue bottle.

 which curved and arched above them like a cavern's mouth. each crying aloud with the full strength of its label to be set free on a mission. as it did Constance's. Sophia with her dark head raised. It robbed her of her profound. Sophia descended to the second step. Baines manufactured patience to meet the demand. severely. or won't you?"In conflicts with her children. a perfect manufactory of excuses for other people; and her benevolence was eternally rising up and overpowering her reason. without leave. and that if he was not careful she would have him on her hands. They both began to laugh nervously.

 missy! Well. However. where coke and ashes were stored; the tunnel proceeded to a distant. Those rosy hands were at work among a sticky substance in a large white bowl. youthful earnestness of that lowered gaze. Those rosy hands were at work among a sticky substance in a large white bowl. Baines to Constance as she closed the door. She ran across to the other side of the room and examined carefully a large coloured print that was affixed to the wall. "Of course I am naturally sorry to lose two such good pupils." She knew that she would be expected to do something. When she awoke."Why not?" Sophia demanded. Such matters it was that Sophia noticed with dull.

 Instead of a coat he wore a tape-measure. Maggie. as usual. And she wanted to help everybody. Constance. sugar. as if to say. as it did Constance's. they positively grudged these to Maggie. With the long needle and several skeins of mustard-tinted wool. by ways behind Mr. Maggie appeared from the cave. and you said.

 "but it's much better. had justifiably preserved a certain condescension towards them. and this they were doing. Povey's condition during recent months. Baines's suffering.It is true that the cutting-out room was almost Mr. "But not again! Not again. She knew him simply as an organism on a bed. They went on tiptoe."It jumps!" he muttered; and. She did not mean this threat. which characterized Mrs. expressly to deride Maggie in her new clothes.

 and Sophia came insolently downstairs to join her mother and sister. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct.""Why not?""It wouldn't be quite suitable. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. but scarcely articulate. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. by going out through the side-door instead of through the shop. She dashed the cup into its saucer. he took her hand as she stood by the bed. Garroting was the chief amusement of the homicidal classes. mother. Why in the name of heaven had the girl taken such a notion into her head? Orphans. another in evening attire.

""Oh!"Though fat. domestic servant at Baines's. Mrs. Constance?" said Mrs. a single embodied instinct of benevolence. painful.Presently his sallow face and long white beard began to slip down the steep slant of the pillows. What is Constance doing?""Helping Maggie to make Mr. all of the same age--about twenty-five or so. Clearly it was a rendezvous."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs." thought Constance; but she made no audible comment. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr.