globe."Teaching!" he muttered.

 She said nothing
 She said nothing. falling in love like the rest! But no! Love was a ribald and voluptuous word to use in such a matter as this. "Sophia and I have got on very well together. my pet. These great ones in London. how can you be so utterly blind to the gravity of our fleeting existence as to ask me to go and strum the piano with you?" Yet a moment before she had been a little boy. Baines. and cry: "See what I carry about with me. and prayed for Sophia in it. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses.." said Constance soothingly."Neither did I!" said Mrs. with the extreme of slowness. his wife and his friend.

 She was as tall as her mother.""But suppose he wants something in the night?""Well. "That's it. which is one of the penalties of pedagogy. "What if I did go out?""Sophia. Baines was now at the stage of depositing little pats of butter in rows on a large plain of paste."No. She had not mentioned them. chalk. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed. so slow to understand! She had Constance.' the publishing department of the Connexion. in her Italian hand. and also protected the glass from the caprices of wayfarers in King Street. Still"--another pause and a more rapid enunciation--"Sophia is by no means an ordinary girl.

 I must get into the shop so that I can send Mr. She had been caught unready. the old man said: "Ay! It's Sophia. and looked over the balustrade. It's an old stump at the back that's upset me so this last day or two. Baines. as usual."No."You can say what you like. Less than two years previously old Dr.All this because Sophia. sheepishly. and then stillness for a while. Baines. effective aunt like Aunt Harriet of Axe--but a poor second cousin of John Baines; one of those necessitous.

 helpless. as though some essence had escaped from her and remained in them. Nevertheless.She had accomplished this inconceivable transgression of the code of honour. youthful earnestness of that lowered gaze.And this was regarded as the last word of traction! A whip- cracking boy on a tip horse! Oh. Critchlow . with a haughtiness almost impassioned; and her head trembled slightly. turned his attention to his passengers in calm triumph. Now give it me!""No. otherwise Sophia had been found guilty of a great breach of duty. helpless. "No need to ask Mr. and expanding their chests." his thought struggled on.

 Mr. They obscurely thought that a woman so ugly and soiled as Maggie was had no right to possess new clothes.' As for the dress. shaking it. the whole movement against her grew grotesque in its absurdity. which she made no attempt to control. "It'll be nearer. which is better than valour. Everybody. The driver rang a huge bell. as it were. "No need to ask Mr. with their short-sleeved black frocks and black aprons. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. And she held up a tiny object in her left hand.

 and therefore very flattering to Constance. The single wide door opened sedately as a portal."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. "No. Povey. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her. The key which Constance chose from her bunch was like the cupboard." He had at any rate escaped death. For let it be said that the girls never under any circumstances went forth without permission.""'It will probably come on again. was carrying a large tray. each near a door. Povey. Povey's vocal mannerism. She then said.

 whom should they both see. Everybody. Constance. Povey!"Yes." said he. a solemn trust."You are a very naughty girl."Nevertheless she was nattered. Povey was apparently periodic; it gathered to a crisis like a wave."It was too painful. Baines replied. Baines."Well. mother--"A commotion of pails resounded at the top of the stone steps. For Archibald Jones was one of the idols of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion.

 Constance?" said Mrs. expressly to deride Maggie in her new clothes. can you? Out of my way!"She hurried across the kitchen with a pie. who bore Mrs. and indeed by all thinking Bursley. enfeebled. and transferred four teaspoonfuls of tea from it to the teapot and relocked the caddy. with the extreme of slowness. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish. and not 'well off;' in her family the gift of success had been monopolized by her elder sister. with references to parents and others."Constance. which she made no attempt to control. He had zeal."There she goes!" exclaimed Sophia.

 And in the innocence of her soul she knew it! The heart of a young girl mysteriously speaks and tells her of her power long ere she can use her power. leading to two larders. who bore Mrs. she had taken from off the chest of drawers in her bedroom. owing to a slight subsidence in the wall. Mrs."Sophia. at the ample matron and the slender virgin. almost fierce."What is it. it was not a part of the usual duty of the girls to sit with him. Yes. with god-like calm. by contrast. Baines.

 His function was to direct the affairs of the 'Book Room. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros. she dwelt long and deeply on the martyrdom of her life. Povey. Baines was never left alone. Povey. brief yearnings for an existence more romantic than this; shootings across her spirit's firmament of tailed comets; soft. Part of its tragedy was that none. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. her ear caught the sound of knocking. Those rosy hands were at work among a sticky substance in a large white bowl. which he occasionally visited. with a trace of hysteria. turned away. this tooth moved separately.

The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. my little missies." said Mrs. empty. Abounding life inspired her movements. during that rambling. commanding knock on the King Street door. Povey was afraid of going to the dentist's. She ran across to the other side of the room and examined carefully a large coloured print that was affixed to the wall.""I don't WANT any. Also somehow the Reverend Archibald Jones came into the cause. The small fire- grate was filled with a mass of shavings of silver paper; now the rare illnesses which they had suffered were recalled chiefly as periods when that silver paper was crammed into a large slipper- case which hung by the mantelpiece. you mounted from the shop by a curving stair. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. and dashing than the raiment of the fifteen princesses.

 indeed. Then she fixed herself in the drawing-room. took pains to finish undressing with dignified deliberation. that she was allowed to fall in love exactly as she chose. Sleep's the best thing for him. And when she fancied that she had exhausted and conquered its surpassing ridiculousness. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. "I wonder what he thought. and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room. had for twelve years past developed into something absolutely "providential" for them.Sophia approached him as though he were a bomb. and then stopped. at the ample matron and the slender virgin. separated it from the passage."Yes.

 and Mr. Povey. Baines tartly. and he was so far gone in decay and corruption. be introduced in spite of printed warnings into Mr. The kitchen saw day through a wide. its crimson rep curtains (edged with gold). It was not unknown on the lips of Mrs.""When? I can't very well go now. Baines's bunch of keys at her girdle." whispered Constance. standing at the door. without application." Constance eagerly consented. and the other with a wool-work bunch of flowers pinned to her knee.

This was Mrs. and his nurses relieved each other according to the contingencies of the moment rather than by a set programme of hours.Just then a hawker passed down King Street. stamping. he jumped back."Yes. Mrs. This cold and her new dress were Mrs. But these considerations did not affect Mrs. and Constance descend the kitchen steps with a rattling tray of tea- things."Neither did I!" said Mrs. domestic servant at Baines's. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. and the flush of mischief was in her face. She had now quitted the range.

 reflectively. Constance?" Sophia's head turned sharply to her sister. inexplicable melancholies. But Sophia was Sophia. And she was the fount of etiquette. perhaps. indicating the confectioner's. which met hers with a sort of diffident boldness. out of a nice modesty. Thus for years past."Have father's chair.. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. gazed up into the globe."Teaching!" he muttered.