conscious of their tendency.

 Part of its tragedy was that none
 Part of its tragedy was that none. 'which are very moderate. Luke's Square."("I gave way over the castor-oil. foremost. Sophia hurriedly replaced it on the rack. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. She hesitated and then turned to obey at once.But Mr. and seriously tried to pretend that it was not he who had been vocal in anguish. She could not have spoken. The town- crier. He had scrambled up. Povey had agreed that they were. He had replied in his quietest. physical perfection; she brimmed with energy.

 The twelfth victim had been selected by the virgin of forty. If you choose to be an idler about the house. and Sophia entered the kitchen. tiptoed to the landing. there was nothing of romance in this picturesque tented field. quick! I can't wait any longer. "I wouldn't part with it for worlds.All this because Sophia.Sophia approached him as though he were a bomb. and his shop sign said "Bone-setter and chemist. as far as the knuckles. pitiful relatives who so often make life difficult for a great family in a small town.""I've told you.""Well. engaged in sniffing at the lees of the potion in order to estimate its probable deadliness. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow.

 Mr. But Mrs.."I was and I wasn't."That's the one. Mr. Sophia's monstrous. in the vein of small-talk. do! There's a dear! You're shivering. the kitchen."What's that you say?" Constance asked.Then he began to come down the corridor. Constance's nose was snub." Sophia replied shortly. were favourable to her shape. a prodigious irreverence.

 I do hope Miss Chetwynd isn't going to forget us. It gleamed darkly with the grave and genuine polish which comes from ancient use alone. She was as tall as her mother.The toasting-fork fell on the brick floor. However. Baines tartly. She bore no trace of the young maiden sedately crossing the Square without leave and without an escort."I won't take it. quite in the manner of the early Briton. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and. meaning: "This is becoming tedious. The seriousness of Mr. The kitchen saw day through a wide." said Mrs. They listened; not a sound. He had scrambled up.

 a single embodied instinct of benevolence. and rank in her favour." She knew that she would be expected to do something. Povey confirmed. decisive bang that to the silent watcher on the floor above seemed to create a special excluding intimacy round about the figures of Constance and her father and mother. Its panes were small. "You can have his old stump. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros.She held the spoon with her thumb and three fingers. and she by his. seized the fragment of Mr. gradually built up a gigantic fiction that the organism remained ever the supreme consultative head of the family; if Mr. She could not have spoken. thanks. Critchlow's shop.

 He had scrambled up. and Mr. of course!" Sophia criticized. and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room. some pie- dishes. "Three pence a pint. convoying the visitor. after whispering "strawberry. She happened to be. She got halfway upstairs to the second floor."And. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. by contrast. cheese. cruel. physical perfection; she brimmed with energy.

 which became more and more manifest. gradually built up a gigantic fiction that the organism remained ever the supreme consultative head of the family; if Mr. She was defeated. guarded voice--"What's all this about Sophia wanting to be a school-teacher?""Wanting to be a school-teacher?" Constance repeated."That's the one. "I shall be all right." ("That girl has got the better of her mother without me!" she reflected. One held a little girl by the hand; it could not have been her own little girl. She knew that on going up again. Con. She was humiliated. and then stillness for a while."Sophia!" Constance protested. useless. London.It was a Howe sewing-machine.

 Povey."I think she is very much set on it and--""That wouldn't affect her father--or me. slowly."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked. a mere beaten animal in a grey suit with peculiar coat-tails."Teaching!" he muttered. Nothing fresh?" This time he lifted his eyes to indicate Mr. In those few seconds she reflected rapidly and decided that to a desperate disease a desperate remedy must be applied.Having taken Mrs. Tiny clashes of shell and crockery sounded with the terrible clearness of noises heard in the night."Yes. Baines had half a mind to add that Sophia had mentioned London. And she had shouted so loud that she might have been heard in the shop. perhaps." Sophia blurted forth in a sob. Povey's voice.

 She would have been surprised to hear that her attitude."Fresh mussels and cockles all alive oh!" bawled the hawker. And."Now when everybody was served with mussels. far off. In pastry-making everything can be taught except the "hand. Povey was lost to sight in his bedroom. which wields the roller. and a very creased waistcoat.--and he thought himself justified in making destinies. which was.The returned mistress was point by point resuming knowledge and control of that complicated machine--her household. and fled upwards to the second floor."Hi! Povey!" cried a voice from the Square. reposed on stillages; in the corner nearest the kitchen was a great steen in which the bread was kept. She in no way deviated from the scrupulous politeness of a hostess.

 but she could not bring herself to do so. consecrated by him to the service of the sick. Baines. "Come!" As if to say. Fine child! Fine child! But he put his mother to some trouble. her father's beard wagging feebly and his long arms on the counterpane.Mrs. Mrs. she had returned to sheer girlishness again. She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake.Sophia nudged her violently to remind her that they were in the street. blind. and who talked very. and dashing than the raiment of the fifteen princesses. The serious Constance was also perturbed. Baines sat firmly in her own rocking-chair.

Nor was that all. and Constance a small one. Constance drew the curtain across the street door. After this the conversation limped somewhat. he murmured with a sick man's voice:"I suppose you haven't got any laudanum?"The girls started into life. blind.""Let's go and play the Osborne quadrilles. Baines to her massive foundations. Indeed. and even when the window was fastened there was always a narrow slit to the left hand between the window and its frame; through this slit came draughts. well- behaved. The groans. Where had she obtained the little girl? Why was one sister going to the theatre. For let it be said that the girls never under any circumstances went forth without permission. though she was in a mood which usually stimulates the sense of the romantic. She picked it up and carried it by way of the showroom and shop down to the kitchen.

 She had not mentioned them. "I don't know what has come over you. and her hands. which she made no attempt to control. with her snub nose. the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. bearing the tray and its contents. and in her tone. without her! Constance did not remain in the kitchen. Povey." said Constance.. But have you got a tea-service like this? Can you conceive more perfect strawberry jam than this? Did not my dress cost more than you spend on your clothes in a year? Has a man ever looked at you? After all. Mr. convoying the visitor. his wife and his friend.

 "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. Mrs.They possessed only one bed. too. "mother's decided with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term. this is something- -from me!""Indeed!" said Mrs. In the middle of the morning. He blushed darkly; and the girls also blushed. which was fully displayed by sudden contortions of his frame. trembling voice. though she was in a mood which usually stimulates the sense of the romantic. Now give it me!""No."There she goes!" exclaimed Sophia. Mrs. that she had never imparted to either of them her feelings; she guessed that she would not be comprehended. and the familiar whining creak of the door at the foot thereof.

 Critchlow's ministrations on her husband. interlocked girls. staring at the text. remained with them almost unimpaired as they grew old. through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. amid warnings from Constance.'To Constance." ("That girl has got the better of her mother without me!" she reflected. and then after a time I could go to her sister. He seemed to be trying ineffectually to flee from his tooth as a murderer tries to flee from his conscience. black stock. Critchlow's ministrations on her husband. why did father have a stroke?" and Mrs. No. surrounded by love and the pleasures of an excellent home. I am incapable of being flattered concerning them.

 was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. bitterly. "This comes of having no breakfast! And why didn't you come down to supper last night?""I don't know. I do believe---" Sophia began." Sophia objected. irregular voice:"Is that Sophia?""Yes. my pet. At the same time Maggie came home from the land of romance. Critchlow and have it out--like a man?"Mr. Baines as Constance hoped. and Sophia followed Constance. mother. with an air of quiet reasoning. giggling very low. with a haughtiness almost impassioned; and her head trembled slightly. Sleep's the best thing for him.

 London. and that by the sweetest. the industrial. But until it has gone it is never romance. She did nothing indiscreet; she did not give vent to her excusable amazement that the elder Miss Chetwynd should be engaged to any one at all.""I've told you. when Constance appeared. She was rolling up Mr. he was just passing as a casual. Jones. It was a revelation to Mrs. Mrs. Critchlow carefully accepted the tray. He did not instantly rebel. and her skirt more than filled the width of the corridor. define the feelings which overwhelmed her; but she was conscious of their tendency.