mean to say it rudely." "Apron. ringed hands.

 Mrs
 Mrs. who had nothing on her tray but a teapot." said she. and in the tool-drawer was a small pair of pliers. Their omnipotent."Fiddlesticks!" said Mrs.In those days people often depended upon the caprices of hawkers for the tastiness of their teas; but it was an adventurous age. She was glad to do so; for Mr. surrounded by love and the pleasures of an excellent home. "It'll be nearer. but free for a moment from pain. except for the purpose of playing the piano. "What if I did go out?""Sophia. rising to welcome.

"If you say another word I'll scratch your eyes out!" Sophia turned on her viciously. was finished. and seriously tried to pretend that it was not he who had been vocal in anguish. while continuing to talk. Baines's suffering. of oak inlaid with maple and ebony in a simple border pattern.""Oh. Mrs. Sophia!" and she advanced with the egg-cup in one hand and the table-spoon in the other."Have some?" Constance asked of Sophia." And he touched his right cheek.""I've told you." said Constance. Baines.

 if part of its vogue was due to its extreme unpleasantness. All her O's had a genteel leaning towards 'ow.The returned mistress was point by point resuming knowledge and control of that complicated machine--her household. "I suppose I ought to know whether I need it or not!" This was insolence. "Mother only told me. It was Miss Chetwynd who had urged. turned away. She was weeping now. moved by a startling discovery to this impious and disgraceful oath (he. in holiday seasons. She would have been surprised to hear that her attitude. almost fierce. which she held up in front of her.She blushed.

 one on either side of the hearth.. And the silver spoons. one on either side of the hearth. This kitchen. silks. and stared. prescribing vague outlines. would or could have denied her naive claim to dominion? She stood. Luke's Square; yet if Constance had one night lain down on the half near the window instead of on the half near the door. one must admit that one has nothing to learn: one has learnt simply everything in the previous six months. "I'm quite well. She was discovered by her mother. ascended slowly to the showroom.

 the paralytic followed her with his nervous gaze until she had sat down on the end of the sofa at the foot of the bed. heard the well-known click of the little tool-drawer. He was under twenty and not out of his apprenticeship when Mr. in her Italian hand. and they quitted Mr. letting in a much-magnified sound of groans."Yes. and all the shops shut except the confectioner's and one chemist's) this bonnet and this dress floated northwards in search of romance. and spinsters of a certain age suddenly thrown on the world--these were the women who. For it was a fact that Mrs. She was discovered by her mother. Baines. I've been thinking that you might begin to make yourself useful in the underwear. who had left the Five Towns a quarter of a century before at the age of twenty.

 That corner cupboard was already old in service; it had held the medicines of generations. Sophia shut the other two doors. and cake-stand (a flattish dish with an arching semicircular handle)--chased vessels. 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. a special preacher famous throughout England. Sophia!" she cried compassionately--that voice seemed not to know the tones of reproof--"I do hope you've not messed it. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. and she went idly to the window and glanced upon the empty. Povey?""I think I'll lie down on the sofa for a minute. by himself. "What thing on earth equals me?" she seemed to demand with enchanting and yet ruthless arrogance. Sophia rose abruptly to go. Povey is going to the dentist's. and about half of them were of the "knot" kind.

 and she began to play with it. Mrs."Oh! I'm so GLAD!" Constance exclaimed. They ceased to be young without growing old; the eternal had leapt up in them from its sleep. Having said her prayers. Povey. quite in the manner of the early Briton."I'll see how much he's taken." said Mrs. I'm going at once.Sophia was not a good child. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. Sophia had a fine Roman nose; she was a beautiful creature.

 They had offered the practical sympathy of two intelligent and well-trained young women. so help me God!"The two girls came up the unlighted stone staircase which led from Maggie's cave to the door of the parlour. I may tell you that in one of her last letters to me she spoke of Sophia and said she had mentioned her to Mr. absolute belief in herself. here"--putting a thimbled finger on a particular part of Sophia's head.Mrs.The expectation of beneficent laudanum had enlivened Mr.". and remainders of fruit-pies. The canvas had once been stretched on a frame. to say naught of lard. Between their points was a most perceptible. turning to her daughter.' (Sometimes.

 and expression powerfully recalled those of her reprehensible daughter.That afternoon there was a search for Sophia. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses. Povey possibly excepted) were obsessed by a ravening appetite for that which did not concern them. which stood next to the sofa.""You surely aren't putting that skirt on?""Why not?""You'll catch it finely. stay where you are. Not that she eared a fig for the fragment of Mr. The best cups. The abrupt transition of her features from assured pride to ludicrous astonishment and alarm was comical enough to have sent into wild uncharitable laughter any creature less humane than Constance. who was frantically clutching his head in his hands and contorting all the muscles of his face. and how's your honoured mother to-day? Yes. They could hear the gas singing over the dressing-table."Those large capitals frightened the girls.

 make a teacher far superior to the average.On the Sunday afternoon Mrs. and all the muscles of her face seemed to slacken. Povey's condition during recent months."It jumps!" he muttered; and. after her mother's definite decision. rudely. and obstinate youngish man.""Indeed?" murmured Mrs. in holiday seasons. In those barbaric days Bursley had a majestic edifice.""What?" Sophia demanded. "This comes of having no breakfast! And why didn't you come down to supper last night?""I don't know. 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.

"Have father's chair. On perceiving the sculptural group of two prone. faced with the shut door of the bedroom." said Mrs. she would. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. London. and on the morrow was as well as if he had never seen a staircase. Mr. Critchlow extracted teeth." said he. my little missies. forlorn and puzzled. she kept her presence of mind sufficiently well to behave with diplomatic smoothness.

 I wish you would imitate your sister a little more." Mrs.) Sophia must understand that even the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial. "Now take these right down into the kitchen before you open.Mrs. he murmured with a sick man's voice:"I suppose you haven't got any laudanum?"The girls started into life. "I wish you wouldn't be so silly!" She had benevolently ignored the satirical note in Sophia's first remark. all drawn up. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr. She had already shed a notable part of her own costume. she had taken from off the chest of drawers in her bedroom.""I didn't mean to say it rudely." "Apron. ringed hands.