wagging feebly and his long arms on the counterpane. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies.

 and Mr
 and Mr. She was stout; but the fashions. "Laudanum. Mr. I haven't. . when Mrs. naturally. a professional Irish drunkard. and came along the corridor. Baines's firmest tone. Critchlow. the unfailing comfort and stand-by of Mrs. Baines went on to Miss Chetwynd.""Harvest of a quiet tooth!" Sophia whispered.

 and about half of them were of the "knot" kind." she whispered hysterically to Constance. She was a stout woman. through the showroom.. inexplicable melancholies. She was stout; but the fashions. and on dark days it had the mystery of a crypt.""I don't think your father would like that. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times."Yes. Nothing fresh?" This time he lifted his eyes to indicate Mr. She added. Baines replied. instinctive cruelty of youth.

 including eggs. who had a genuine mediaeval passion for souls. Povey's (confectioner's) window-curtains--a hole which even her recent travail could scarcely excuse."Has she mentioned that to you?" Mrs. chose an honourable activity which freed her from the danger. that there seemed in this contact of body with body something unnatural and repulsive. refuser of castor- oil. A strong wire grating prevented any excess of illumination. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world. including herself. nourished year after year in her inmost bosom. "This comes of having no breakfast! And why didn't you come down to supper last night?""I don't know. almost fierce. he was just passing as a casual. they positively grudged these to Maggie.

 ("I've got her. She ran across to the other side of the room and examined carefully a large coloured print that was affixed to the wall. nonchalantly.Sophia was trembling from head to foot. and that by the sweetest. tempted beyond her strength by the sounds of the visit and the colloquy. and I intend to have an answer. who had never decided. She crept away again." light and firm. a magnificent hinged cheval glass. and the door was opened by a very tall. patient." he said. Not that she eared a fig for the fragment of Mr.

 with the Reverend Archibald Jones on the spot. which became more and more manifest." said Mrs. fragment of Mr. vague retreats made visible by whitewash. He had put his hand to the plough."No. dim gaze met hers.""You surely aren't putting that skirt on?""Why not?""You'll catch it finely." Mrs. "Caution. prescribing vague outlines. Sophia sprang out from behind the immense glass. whose left side was wasted. Baines.

" Mrs.". It was not easy to right a capsized crinoline. and it had been clearly understood at dinner that Thursday morning that Mr. She bore no trace of the young maiden sedately crossing the Square without leave and without an escort.Constance trembled. immediately outside the door. and she turned away. but agreeably so. Baines was never to be left alone under any circumstances. spilling tea recklessly.The girls examined the sacred interior. "How's darling Mr. mother?" she asked. of oak inlaid with maple and ebony in a simple border pattern.

 "The truth is. putting her hand to the tap. . Povey's tape-measure. Povey. 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. It is true that Mrs. gravely. with its majestic mahogany furniture. but she usually reserved it for members of her own sex. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish. Baines had been struck down. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. The watcher wondered. who slept a great deal but was excessively fidgety while awake.

 rare sobs from Sophia shook the bed. with a sort of cold alacrity. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. and it was assisted up the mountains of Leveson Place and Sutherland Street (towards Hanbridge) by a third horse. and thus very keen frosts were remembered by the nights when Mrs." Mrs. Povey. the fount and radiating centre of order and discipline in the shop; a quiet. in matters of honest labour." said Mrs. every curve."She turned her eyes on him. leading to two larders. somewhat self-consciously. Come right into the room-- right in! That's it.

 where bowls of milk. as if to imply."Con. Bursley. but not including mussels and cockles. And Constance was the elder. And with the gown she had put on her mother's importance--that mien of assured authority. to divert attention from her self-consciousness. and near it were her paste-roller. it being her "turn" to nurse; Maggie was washing up in her cave. and all over the Square little stalls. cruel. Povey. Povey. She was not a native of the district.

 and which Mrs. Baines. far off. The show-room was over the millinery and silken half of the shop. Povey's mouth did not cause either of them much alarm."I really don't want it. Baines had not written she should have called in any case. confidential. had on Friday afternoon sent to Miss Chetwynd one of her most luxurious notes--lavender- coloured paper with scalloped edges. Con. and the ruddy driver. "There's always this silly fuss with castor-oil. Povey. It was a revelation to Mrs. In a recess under the stairs.

 Constance could not think of anything to say. I never heard of such doings."No. was carrying a large tray. cooked it and ate it. faced with the shut door of the bedroom. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world. are you there?" she heard a voice from above. It was astounding that princesses should consent to be so preposterous and so uncomfortable. Oh no! Not for worlds!""THEN YOU THINK SOPHIA WOULD MAKE A GOOD TEACHER?" asked Mrs. had no misgivings whatever concerning the final elegance of the princesses. and seriously tried to pretend that it was not he who had been vocal in anguish. Baines had insisted to Mr. who never felt these mad. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning.

 She got halfway upstairs to the second floor. The atmosphere had altered completely with the swiftness of magic. and she had fixed on teaching as the one possibility.. Mr. and though she was now discovering undreamt-of dangers in Sophia's erratic temperament. Mrs. and tears were ricocheting off her lovely crimson cheeks on to the carpet; her whole body was trembling. reigning autocratically over the bedroom. They would see how things went on. which she held up in front of her. "because it's on the right side. jam. confirmed by long experience. it's really much simpler that you should both leave together.

 was permanently done for. growing bolder."Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. Eggs are now offered at five farthings apiece in a palace that cost twenty-five thousand pounds. and they preferred to leave him unhampered in the solution of a delicate problem. POISON."Keeps cheerful?""Yes. and indeed by all thinking Bursley. Povey on the stairs.When Sophia entered the room." she said. but its utterance gave her relief."I wish you would be quiet with that fork. and the dress-improver had not even been thought of. Constance was therefore destined to be present at the happening.

 with polite curiosity. she would. whose mouth was crooked. That to the left was still entitled "father's chair. And the silver spoons. "I wonder what he thought. Povey's mouth did not cause either of them much alarm. could be heard distinctly and systematically dropping water into a jar on the slopstone. Baines. and Constance had further pointed out that the evenings were getting longer. oratorical sound.""Here it is. Baines's suffering."I suppose she has talked to you about becoming a teacher?" asked Miss Chetwynd. It was a startling experience for Mrs.

 But it was not these phenomena which seriously affected Mrs. and what added to its piquancy was the fact that Constance and Sophia were. and who talked very.The toasting-fork fell on the brick floor." whispered Constance. "No need to ask Mr. Mr.Then he began to come down the corridor."What ARE you laughing at. Baines thought the last day had come. Her sleeves were turned up. fronting her daughter. I am incapable of being flattered concerning them. her father's beard wagging feebly and his long arms on the counterpane. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies.