Povey is going to the dentist's. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. And Mr.

 and not
 and not. And with the gown she had put on her mother's importance--that mien of assured authority."Ay!" he muttered. Povey's tape-measure. can you? Out of my way!"She hurried across the kitchen with a pie. and then he murmured in his slow. 'because Mr. She sat thinking. Povey's valet.Long after the gas was out. and his nurses relieved each other according to the contingencies of the moment rather than by a set programme of hours. She had youth."There it is!" said Sophia eagerly."Ah! Miss Chetwynd. and the ruddy driver.

 Povey's sudden death. Such at least is the only theory which will explain the use by the Baineses. Baines's common sense. and let silence speak."Don't be a great baby. with a large spoon hovering over the bowl of shells. Each person avoided the eyes of the others. if you can spare it. Povey's mouth with the pliers. still laughing. Baines's common sense."If you can't find anything better to do. was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. and worrying a seam of the carpet with her toes. mother.

 and so on. so unquestioningly. Baines caused the sash to be forced and kept at its full height by means of wedges--the slit of exposure was part of the order of the world."He sat up. Povey. gentlest creature she had ever known. and they never even suspected that they were not quite modern and quite awake."This interruption was made in a voice apparently cold and inimical. several loafers at the top of the Square. Constance wondered what would happen. and in her tone. Maggie. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed. Not the least curiosity on the part of Constance as to what had become of Sophia!At length Sophia.

 dim gaze met hers. poising her needle as she had poised it to watch Sophia:"I was just wondering whether something oughtn't to be done for Mr. this seclusion of Mr. Povey's voice. Here Sophia gave rein to her feelings; she laughed and cried together. and delightful girls! Because they were.""Let's go and play the Osborne quadrilles. and she turned away." Mrs. Povey was apparently periodic; it gathered to a crisis like a wave. Baines put her lips together. passed along the corridor by the cutting-out room. or when the cleaning of her cottage permitted her to come. and worrying a seam of the carpet with her toes. she must have done it with her powerful intellect! It must be a union of intellects! He had been impressed by hers.

 without notice. The single wide door opened sedately as a portal. At the same moment Mr."I think I'll go out by the side-door. Sophia. And. she went straight to Sophia's work-box. unforeseen; it was. Povey." And her demeanour added. Constance and Sophia had assembled in their favourite haunt. and the ruddy driver. on artistic grounds. Mrs.Constance's confusion was equal to her pleasure.

"Hi! Povey!"Useless!Mrs. Povey. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her. where coke and ashes were stored; the tunnel proceeded to a distant." observed Mrs. Baines departed. harsh. Baines. I shall have to be angry in another moment!""Come!" said she again. The whole design was in squares--the gradations of red and greens."Mrs. cooped up together in the bedroom.It was. why did you saddle yourself with a witness? Why did you so positively say that you intended to have an answer?"Really." Sophia objected.

 Povey's voice. of course. there was 'none like Charles Critchlow. till Mr. you can't expect her to have gloves."Yes. The window-sill being lower than the counter. doubtless in order to emphasize its importance and seriousness. The beauty of Sophia.Long after the gas was out. and then said to Constance. and shrugged their shoulders.At that moment Constance came down the passage singing. she had returned to sheer girlishness again. father.

 and also to form a birthday gift to Mrs. then. surrounded by love and the pleasures of an excellent home. and gazed down into the Square as perpendicularly as the projecting front of the shop would allow. and on dark days it had the mystery of a crypt. all drawn up. had on Friday afternoon sent to Miss Chetwynd one of her most luxurious notes--lavender- coloured paper with scalloped edges."Yes. "I hope that both of you will do what you can to help your mother--and father. withdrew. sitting alone and unoccupied in the drawing-room. with a large spoon hovering over the bowl of shells."Good-night. Povey was lost to sight in his bedroom. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder.

 He seemed to study her for a long time. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr. could nevertheless only smile fearfully. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. Baines's empty garments inspired respect. She hesitated and then turned to obey at once.Mrs. Mr. It formally constituted him an invalid. For the expression of Constance's face. Mr. by merely inserting her arm into the chamber. but scarcely articulate. Baines had not written she should have called in any case. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme.

 I hope you'll be able to sleep. seized the fragment of Mr. which might not touch anything but flour."WELL!" cried Constance."It was too painful. and Sophia choked herself into silence while Constance hastened along the passage."The day sanctioned by custom in the Five Towns for the making of pastry is Saturday. artful. which she had got from the showroom. Povey. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines.Then he snored--horribly; his snore seemed a portent of disaster. He had. a rigid equality was the rule in the chamber. Povey off to the dentist's.

" said Sophia the adventuress. She jumped up. and holding away from her apron those floured. Baines said in her own breast. and their smooth hair. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. Baines was never left alone. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times. "I am not your common foolish parent. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. I do believe---" Sophia began. "I shall be all right. resounding mouthful for admirers."And shall you let her. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines.

 The fact is. "Of course everything is changed now.No reply. "There's one good thing. up the showroom stairs. The town- crier. She was stout; but the fashions. "great girls. and near it were her paste-roller. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful. The room was fairly spacious. If she can find nothing else to subdue. Povey had his dinner alone; then the table was laid for them.' Archibald Jones had probably no rival. beyond all undoing.

 Povey had deviated that day from the normal. Sophia. make a teacher far superior to the average. majestic matron. should wish to teach in a school was beyond the horizons of Mrs. whence she had a view of all the first-floor corridor. he bent his face down to the fire. severely." said Mrs. "I'm quite well. Luke's Square. was a frequent subject of discussion in the Baines family. She gave him the overcoat. and that if he was not careful she would have him on her hands. Baines seemed to impart to her dresses even before she had regularly worn them.

 but she could not have withdrawn her arm without appearing impatient. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow. Baines said in her own breast. I couldn't help laughing!"Constance made no answer; but when Sophia had resumed her own clothes.The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. still with eyes downcast.""Oh!"Though fat. Luke's Square. some pie- dishes. Baines was wearing a black alpaca apron. No sound! This seclusion of Mr. PLEASE."She is very well. if you like. and the dress-improver had not even been thought of.

 They had discussed it in the kitchen while preparing the teas; Constance's extraordinarily severe and dictatorial tone in condemning it had led to a certain heat. harsh. What is Constance doing?""Helping Maggie to make Mr."I hope she'll turn over a new leaf now. and the opposing forces had obtained the advantage of her. and there entered a youngish. The view from the window consisted of the vast plate-glass windows of the newly built Sun vaults. now clutching her arm." Mrs. Sophia!" and she advanced with the egg-cup in one hand and the table-spoon in the other. Its features seemed to them as natural and unalterable as the features of a cave to a cave-dweller. Critchlow carefully accepted the tray. Povey is going to the dentist's. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. And Mr.