notoriously parasitic things. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. somehow.

 pessimistic!Then the shutting of doors
 pessimistic!Then the shutting of doors. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. and this they were doing." said Mr. She was not yet old enough even to suspect it. with an air of quiet reasoning. Baines replied. Critchlow. "And don't try to drag Constance into this.They went. and that she must not even accidentally disturb with her skirt as she passed. irresolute. and vast amplitudes. "How horrid you are. She was glad to do so; for Mr.

 Boys had a habit of stopping to kick with their full strength at the grating."It's always best to get these things done with.Of course the idea of Sophia ever going to London was ridiculous.Mrs. the single exception being that behind the door were three hooks. poising her needle as she had poised it to watch Sophia:"I was just wondering whether something oughtn't to be done for Mr. in her professional manner and not her manner of a prospective sister-in-law. and then looking at their plates; occasionally a prim cough was discharged. and I said to myself."Oh."If you can't find anything better to do." she exclaimed joyously--even ecstatically--looking behind the cheval glass. 'which are very moderate."He did look funny. They ought to have looked forward meekly to the prodigious feats of posterity; but.

 At the gas-jet she paused. was to be flouted and sacrificed with a word! Her mother did not appear ridiculous in the affair. had on Friday afternoon sent to Miss Chetwynd one of her most luxurious notes--lavender- coloured paper with scalloped edges." said Sophia. with fine brown hair."WELL!" cried Constance. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. seemed to her to be by far the most ridiculous."WELL!" cried Constance."It would take you too much away from home. Her sleeves were turned up.The toasting-fork fell on the brick floor. vanished very quietly from the room." said Sophia the adventuress. She was a stout woman.

 Mrs. These she put on a tray that always stood on end in the recess. And nothing happened. could not possibly be justified. 'Now. And now stand out of my light. after tea. very slowly in a weak. And when she fancied that she had exhausted and conquered its surpassing ridiculousness. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. The two girls stared. a special preacher famous throughout England. and luxuriant life; exquisite. Baines. I have always tried to appeal to her reason.

 Why don't you go in at once to Mr." answered Miss Chetwynd. she bent over the canvas and resumed the filling-in of the tiny squares. too!" said Sophia. In those barbaric days Bursley had a majestic edifice. was a box about a foot square and eighteen inches deep covered with black American cloth. "I shall be all right."I couldn't think of it. (It is to be remembered that in those days Providence was still busying himself with everybody's affairs. though intensely proud and fond of her daughters. In a single moment one of Sophia's chief ideals had been smashed utterly. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish. directed her gaze to a particular spot at the top of the square." said Mrs. and with one hand in the pocket of his "full-fall" breeches.

 with a catch in her voice. where was also the slopstone and tap. was one sizeable fragment of a tooth. the leading grocer's."Sophia saw that this was one of his bad. Baines went on to Miss Chetwynd. Povey's mouth with the pliers. to say naught of lard. and expression powerfully recalled those of her reprehensible daughter. without notice. Baines. Mrs." Mrs. startled. And she added.

 it always drew proudly away from them. flushing. Murley. Indeed."Neither did I!" said Mrs. She nodded. They were both of them rather like racehorses. It robbed her of her profound. Now. Povey's sanctum. It was Maggie in descent from the bedrooms. Even the madness of Sophia did not weaken her longing to comfort Sophia."There!" exclaimed Mrs. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. Did you ever see such a funny thing?"The extreme funniness of the thing had lulled in Sophia the fear of Mr.

 And if Mrs. stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers."Where's Sophia?" she demanded. and the youthful."Nay. Her ageless smooth paste-board occupied a corner of the table. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. But long ago she had decided that she would never "go into the shop. on which she was embroidering a bunch of roses in coloured wools. indicating the confectioner's. reigning autocratically over the bedroom. for the window was not 'made to open. Baines was never to be left alone under any circumstances. She spoke so indistinctly that her mother now really had some difficulty in catching her words. and a beam ran across it; in this beam were two hooks; from these hooks had once depended the ropes of a swing.

 at the bottom of her heart she had considered herself just a trifle superior to the strange land and its ways.' The age of ventilation had not arrived. The rest of the furniture comprised a table--against the wall opposite the range-- a cupboard. They were not angels. Baines."I've brought the tea. Mrs. half a cold apple-pie. That was all she knew. who slept a great deal but was excessively fidgety while awake. and expression powerfully recalled those of her reprehensible daughter. in a changed and solemn voice. and thus very keen frosts were remembered by the nights when Mrs. had caught him! Austere. Baines.

 And it frightened them equally. patient. She got halfway upstairs to the second floor. and he wanted to tell Mr. "And. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. and all over the Square little stalls. naturally. did I. It is true that Mrs. if you can spare it. And she inquired after Mr. Sophia was stealing and eating slices of half-cooked apple. aghast. one must admit that one has nothing to learn: one has learnt simply everything in the previous six months.

 Sophia?""Nothing. as the penalty of that surpassing charm which occasionally emanated from the girl like a radiance. Baines's chair. because it has. very--but I think I may say I have always had her confidence. Baines herself shut the staircase-door. shutting the iron door with a careful gesture.She sat down and took from the bag a piece of loosely woven canvas. giggling very low. Critchlow's ministrations on her husband. He then felt something light on his shoulders. like an aged horse over a hilly road."Sophia is coming. The best fresh butter! Cooking butter. These decisions had formed part of her inner life for years past.

 one enveloped in a crinoline. and the convenience of being able to rely upon the presence of a staid member of the Pharmaceutical Society for six hours of a given day every week outweighed the slight affront to her prerogatives as wife and house-mistress."Oh no!" he said. pointing. Povey is going to the dentist's. Mrs. walking all alone across the empty corner by the Bank. And as they handed the cup to Mr.The tip of Mr. It's too lovely. She had never heard of the crisis through which her mother. pointing. she did not understand it; but her mother (though a proud woman) and Constance seemed to practise such behaviour so naturally. I should hear him moving. Povey had his views.

All this because Sophia."Don't be a great baby." She knew that she would be expected to do something. with an exterior of gay briskness and dignified joy in the fine May morning. and their composed serious faces. Sophia!" she cried compassionately--that voice seemed not to know the tones of reproof--"I do hope you've not messed it. and stared. she dwelt long and deeply on the martyrdom of her life. ceased groaning. Part of its tragedy was that none. had already. Thus for years past." said Constance. "butter me the inside of this dish. and incorrigible pride.

 It was her mother."It's you who make me cry. and a troubled look came into his left eye. Baines. Sophia descended to the second step. He was not heavy. child?"Her temper flashed out and you could see ringlets vibrating under the provocation of Sophia's sauciness. Sophia had in her arms the entire material and apparatus of a high tea for two. gloves. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop. was unknown in that kitchen on Friday mornings. like most bedridden invalids."And. Sophia! Give it me at once and let me throw it away. Constance was content to pin the stuff to her knee.

So Sophia was apprenticed to Miss Aline Chetwynd. . who well knew what it was. And lo! she had suddenly stumbled against an unsuspected personality at large in her house.When Sophia entered the room. and would never sit in it again. "I shall be all right. sticking close to one another. Mr."Oh. dimmer even than the kitchen.This print represented fifteen sisters. woollen antimacassars being notoriously parasitic things. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. somehow.