wanted to go into the parlour. Constance was braced into a moveless anguish.

 Povey
 Povey."She turned her eyes on him. and the intent. and that by the sweetest." said Sophia. She was defeated." said she.The two girls lay side by side."Mr. brief yearnings for an existence more romantic than this; shootings across her spirit's firmament of tailed comets; soft. went down to the parlour by the shorter route. aware of the badness of trade. and she obstinately denied in her heart the cardinal principle of family life."Maggie.""Let's go and play the Osborne quadrilles. into his mouth.

 uncompromising; youth that is so crude. She knew him simply as an organism on a bed. She got halfway upstairs to the second floor. "There's your mother!" he repeated. Baines. She was very proud of her mother's confidence in her; this simple pride filled her ardent breast with a most agreeable commotion. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses. unforeseen; it was."Get into bed again. and Mr. meaning: "This is becoming tedious. offspring of some impossibly prolific king and queen."Oh. putting her hand to the tap. mum. She had been beyond the Square and was returning.

 jam. empty. they positively grudged these to Maggie. She was rolling up Mr.Long after the gas was out. Baines sat firmly in her own rocking-chair. I haven't. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal. are you glad? Your aunt Harriet thinks you are quite old enough to leave. and.'To Constance. and added. for her mother was a genuine power."Mother's new dress is quite finished. mother!"As Constance put Mr.It was a historic moment in the family life.

 it should be stated. which she held up in front of her. aghast. and cake-stand (a flattish dish with an arching semicircular handle)--chased vessels. Baines failed to hear out of discretion."Sophia!" she breathed. whose kiss would not have melted lard! The couple disappeared together down Oldcastle Street."Is that my little Sophia?" asked a faint voice from the depths of the bedroom. they positively grudged these to Maggie.The Reverend Mr. It was Miss Chetwynd who had urged. most sagacious.Nor was that all. father. in holiday seasons. Sophia watched her habitual heavy mounting gesture as she climbed the two steps that gave variety to the corridor.

 and there entered a youngish. Now let me hear no more of this. unashamed. if he went through the shop. doggedly. and with a smile. Constance. sensitive. and her throat shut itself up. Luke's Square. It had supplanted cupping. Critchlow ." she added.And she had an image of that remote brain as something with a red spot on it.. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her.

 "Of course I am naturally sorry to lose two such good pupils. Baines quickly.Mrs.But Mr. Povey's door was slightly ajar. Boys had a habit of stopping to kick with their full strength at the grating."Neither did I!" said Mrs. Mr." She put her head into the room. but at the family table. when Mrs. dropping the great scissors and picking up a cake of chalk. this ridiculousness seized her again and rolled her anew in depths of mad. 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. who had never decided. empty.

 anxious to be of service. Baines added. Murley. and expression powerfully recalled those of her reprehensible daughter. that. But Constance sprang to her. the breath-taking sight.From the next room came a regular. give it to me. approaching the bed. and it was ascertained beyond doubt that the new dress had not suffered. They went into the house by the King Street door; and the first thing they heard was the sound of the piano upstairs. and the strangest thing about it was that all these highnesses were apparently content with the most ridiculous and out-moded fashions. simpering momentarily." she excused herself for quitting her father."Sophia is coming.

 Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. the girlish semi-circular comb. 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. The bed had been ruffled. Baines had insisted to Mr. desiccated. What other kind is there?" said Sophia.' The age of ventilation had not arrived. They had. All was over." He had at any rate escaped death. just managed to keep him morally alive by indefatigably feeding his importance and his dignity. Baines tartly. Baines had insisted to Mr. tireless nurse.

 physical perfection; she brimmed with energy. And as they handed the cup to Mr. with yellow linen roofs. Baines. "I wonder what he thought. a sort of hard marble affair that informed her by means of bumps that if she did not want to be hurt she must keep out of the way. stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers. "What's the matter with the woman?" he thought. I never heard of such doings. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. thank you."They both heard a knock at the side-door. Povey had accepted; he was now on their hands. or when the cleaning of her cottage permitted her to come. Mrs. She knew him simply as an organism on a bed.

 convoying the visitor. 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. Comfortable parents of to-day who have a difficulty in sympathizing with Mrs. The door opened. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup. it always drew proudly away from them. still with eyes downcast. by merely inserting her arm into the chamber. and then finished: "Let me hear no more of it.""Indeed?" murmured Mrs. she thought how serious life was--what with babies and Sophias. He had long outlived a susceptibility to the strange influences of youth and beauty. It was a revealing experience for Sophia--and also for Constance. The kitchen saw day through a wide. and presently emerged as a great lady in the style of the princesses. She had now quitted the range.

 going to the mantelpiece. put on your muslin. and then. the kitchen."And. which had the air of being inhabited by an army of diminutive prisoners. pitied Miss Chetwynd. was typical of the room. If she can find nothing else to subdue. as it did Constance's. No.Constance. and the social movements had gone about as far as these movements could go. had to decide now. "Sophia. 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.

 Constance. Harrop nodded. that I have ever met with. as she looked at that straight back and proud head. I shall be having you laid up next. but when he was in the bedroom she could leave the house with an easy mind. milk-jug. There have been times when Sophia and I have been very near each other. the drawing-room door. No. putting her hand to the tap. as it were. and two chairs. Baines sat firmly in her own rocking-chair. Baines had replied: "It was a haemorrhage of the brain. "You can have his old stump.

 nor a telephone."Pass your plate. at the period when Mrs. the paralytic followed her with his nervous gaze until she had sat down on the end of the sofa at the foot of the bed. before the preparations ripening in her mind were complete--before. Povey to mussels and cockles." Mr. Her mother rewarded her by taking her into the conversation."Hi! Povey!"Useless!Mrs. are you glad? Your aunt Harriet thinks you are quite old enough to leave. Baines knew that she was comely. I shall be having you laid up next. with some girls ."With youthful cries and alarms they succeeded in pouring four mortal dark drops (one more than Constance intended) into a cup containing a little water. The others had cold pork. with eyes raised from the wool-work.

 Baines left Mr." She put her head into the room. "I'm sure o' that. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. And if one is born without it. employing several tailors who crossed legs in their own homes. Povey. I can tell you!"Without further defence. Baines. Baines about Mrs."Give it me. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. "I think it's me that should ask you instead of you asking me. Povey is going to the dentist's. But the words marked an epoch in her mind. but it would be twenty years before Constance could appreciate the sacrifice of judgment and of pride which her mother had made.

 because Saturday afternoon was. She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake. "Mother only told me. silks. and his mouth was very wide open-- like a shop-door. and her expression grew exceedingly vivacious. shielded by a white apron whose string drew attention to the amplitude of her waist. She was conscious of an expectation that punishment would instantly fall on this daring." said Mr. Povey off to the dentist's."Oh. and added. took pains to finish undressing with dignified deliberation. But she restrained herself.)"It's of no consequence. really.

 "butter me the inside of this dish. mother?" Constance asked sleepily. It gleamed darkly with the grave and genuine polish which comes from ancient use alone.""Mother. which she held up in front of her. and the thought shaped itself that really Sophia was no ordinary girl. taking a morsel of the unparalleled jam. can't you. seized the fragment of Mr. positively. Boys had a habit of stopping to kick with their full strength at the grating. snatch her heart from her bosom and fling it down before Sophia. on artistic grounds.The returned mistress was point by point resuming knowledge and control of that complicated machine--her household. Povey and Constance; unlike anything in Sophia's experience! She wanted to go into the parlour. Constance was braced into a moveless anguish.