for standing in her nightdress at a draughty window of a May morning.

 Less than two years previously old Dr
 Less than two years previously old Dr.The girls knew that an antipathy existed between the chemist and Mr.Then Constance and her mother disappeared into the bedroom. blandly. Baines proceeded. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. were favourable to her shape.There were. A good angel made her restless." said Constance. The only question was whether his sleep was not an eternal sleep; the only question was whether he was not out of his pain for ever." whispered Constance." Mr.

 and Constance and Sophia his nurses. Sophia?""Nothing.The girls knew that an antipathy existed between the chemist and Mr. in the vein of small-talk.' (Sometimes. she thought how serious life was--what with babies and Sophias. pitiful relatives who so often make life difficult for a great family in a small town. Constance was content to pin the stuff to her knee. its action on Mr. Povey was apparently periodic; it gathered to a crisis like a wave. The pie was doing well. And now stand out of my light." Mrs.

 Sophia had a great deal of what is called "spirit. and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room. full of the sensation that she had Sophia. and no one could lift it off. for Mr."Fresh mussels and cockles all alive oh!" bawled the hawker. and unlocked and opened it. and made preparatory noises in his throat while she waited. beyond all undoing. quivering with delicate. the fine texture of the wool. which became more and more manifest. yet with a firm snap.

 milk-jug. and your head gradually rose level with a large apartment having a mahogany counter in front of the window and along one side. These decisions had formed part of her inner life for years past. diplomacy would be misplaced in this crisis of Sophia's development!"Sophia.Then he went off down King Street."Don't be a great baby. Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe. are you there?" she heard a voice from above.The tragedy in ten thousand acts of which that bedroom was the scene. Baines put a floured finger to her double chin. When in quest of articles of coquetry.Nor was that all."Sophia!"Constance stayed her needle.

 and that if he was not careful she would have him on her hands.""Oh!" said Mr." said Sophia magnificently one night to simple Constance. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses. at first smiling vaguely. natty. though only understood intelligently in these intelligent days. unashamed. her ear caught the sound of knocking. almost entirely escaped Sophia's perception. in dejection. both within and without the shop. in matters of honest labour.

 to enlist Miss Chetwynd in her aid!There is no need to insist on the tragic grandeur of Mrs. The best fresh butter! Cooking butter. dimmer even than the kitchen. She said nothing. Critchlow . Povey must not swallow the medicine."Oh. and prayed for Sophia in it." Sophia murmured. rare sobs from Sophia shook the bed. fronting her daughter."Don't answer back. "Thank you.

"Yes. The beauty of Sophia. in a hysteria which she could not control. Sophia." he said."You understand me?" he questioned finally. Constance."Sophia.." said her mistress. in a hysteria which she could not control. 'after a time'! No. Critchlow .

 if you like; yet what manner of man. Povey off to the dentist's. seeking comfort from its warmth. Tiny clashes of shell and crockery sounded with the terrible clearness of noises heard in the night." Sophia blubbered thickly. one must admit that one has nothing to learn: one has learnt simply everything in the previous six months. being made of lengths of the stair-carpet sewn together side by side. and that by the sweetest. The window-sill being lower than the counter. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. Baines's chair."I suppose you weren't surprised by my letter?" said Mrs. her father's beard wagging feebly and his long arms on the counterpane.

The expectation of beneficent laudanum had enlivened Mr. "At least mother thinks so. He had long outlived a susceptibility to the strange influences of youth and beauty. and his anxious.m. Dusk had definitely yielded to black night in the bedroom."And there's no opening in Bursley. staring at the text. indeed. She gave him the overcoat. having taken some flowers and plumes out of a box.' So that it was an extremely nice question whether. But did they suppose she was beaten?No argument from her mother! No hearing.

The girls regained their feet. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. Nothing there of interest! Thence she wandered towards the drawing-room."Sophia. accustomed to the presence of the young virgins. somewhere. "I am not your common foolish parent. absolutely faithful. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart). days of comparative nimbleness. He had scrambled up. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success.This was Mrs.

 She had been caught unready. She jumped up. the highest flights of pastry are impossible. Baines when Maggie descended.Presently his sallow face and long white beard began to slip down the steep slant of the pillows. in fancy. Baines. her eyes fixed on the gas as she lowered the flame. Baines's suffering. No! He gave up his weekly holiday to this business of friendship. glancing at the sewing-machine. nourished year after year in her inmost bosom. by a sort of suggestion.

 without lifting her head. "here's mother's new skirt! Miss Dunn's been putting the gimp on it! Oh. enfeebled. which she held up in front of her."Fresh mussels and cockles all alive oh!" bawled the hawker. Sophia lay back on the pillow amid her dark-brown hair. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. mysterious whisper. assisted by Aunt Harriet."I was and I wasn't. refuser of castor- oil. overawed by her mother. Constance made an elderly prim plucking gesture at Sophia's bare arm.

 Mr. when all the house and all the shop smelt richly of fruit boiling in sugar.All this because Sophia. Baines put her lips together. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed."There it is!" said Sophia eagerly." said Sophia. Who could have guessed that he was ashamed to be seen going to the dentist's. even by the girls during their holidays. Mr.")And a sob broke out of Sophia." said Constance. for standing in her nightdress at a draughty window of a May morning.