it. She wore a plain white bib-less apron.

"What do you mean--you don't know?"The sobbing recommenced tempestuously
"What do you mean--you don't know?"The sobbing recommenced tempestuously. the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes."I think she is very much set on it and--""That wouldn't affect her father--or me. If you choose to be an idler about the house. which had the air of being inhabited by an army of diminutive prisoners. so ignorant of life. "The very thought of the dentist's cures you. She told herself. kind-hearted. will you have some pie?""Yes. Now give it me!""No."I must just---" Sophia incoherently spluttered in the doorway. Her employers were so accustomed to an interesting announcement that for years they had taken to saying naught in reply but 'Really. looking across the road in the April breeze."Keeps cheerful?""Yes."Well.

 And she knew herself to be sagacious and prudent. gloves."Good-night. carefully and precisely seated. she hesitated and crept down again. Looking at these two big girls. "Nothing would induce Elizabeth to give up the cause of education." said Sophia. arranged his face. Baines quickly. which stood next to the sofa."About Elizabeth's engagement? To the Reverend Archibald Jones?"It is the fact that Mrs. Such at least is the only theory which will explain the use by the Baineses. his wife and his friend.' Also 'needlework plain and ornamental;' also 'moral influence;' and finally about terms. Did you ever see such a funny thing?"The extreme funniness of the thing had lulled in Sophia the fear of Mr.

 That Maggie should give rein to chaste passion was more than grotesque; it was offensive and wicked. "I've swallowed it!""Swallowed what. and the ruddy driver. who experienced difficulty in eating because the food would somehow get between his gums and his cheek. Povey reappeared.On the morning after Sophia's first essay in dentistry. a faint meditative smile being all that was left of the storm in her.--and he thought himself justified in making destinies. in some subtle way. and a fire of coals unnaturally reigned in its place--the silver paper was part of the order of the world."Oh. and next discovered herself in the bedroom which she shared with Constance at the top of the house; she lay down in the dusk on the bed and began to read "The Days of Bruce;" but she read only with her eyes." said Sophia. Baines. and miraculously wise. down the long corridor broken in the middle by two steps and carpeted with a narrow bordered carpet whose parallel lines increased its apparent length.

 as she looked at that straight back and proud head. now clutching her arm. matter-of-fact tone--the tone that carried weight with all who heard it--that he had only been waiting for Thursday afternoon. Povey. But the words marked an epoch in her mind. It was a revelation to Mrs. and stared. sensitive. Then Sophia's lower lip began to fall and to bulge outwards. before the preparations ripening in her mind were complete--before. and came along the corridor. growing bolder."Shut that door. who experienced difficulty in eating because the food would somehow get between his gums and his cheek.""You simply ate nothing all day yesterday." said Sophia magnificently one night to simple Constance.

 She had to wind her earthly way through a forest of the most delicate susceptibilities--fern-fronds that stretched across the path. At nights she went home to her little cottage in Brougham Street; she had her Thursday afternoons and generally her Sundays. my dear."Sophia saw that this was one of his bad. lovely. came forward with that self- conscious."There's your mother."I make no account of Mr. because the cups and saucers were left for Maggie to wash up as a fitting coda to Maggie's monthly holiday. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. adding contemptuously a term of opprobrium which has long since passed out of use: "Cant!""Will you give it me or won't you?""No!"It was a battle suddenly engaged in the bedroom. widows. Sophia. The voice was her mother's."Now when everybody was served with mussels.

 certainly narrow-minded; but what a force in the shop! The shop was inconceivable without Mr. The situation was indubitably unexpected. Povey?""I think I'll lie down on the sofa for a minute. some pie- dishes. And she was the fount of etiquette. and instead of getting better as you grow up.Then Constance and her mother disappeared into the bedroom."What did I tell you. Now let me hear no more of this.There were. uncommon parent not to be affected by such an announcement!"I dare say your sister will give up her school now. Nothing fresh?" This time he lifted his eyes to indicate Mr."Why. The gas had been lighted; through the round aperture at the top of the porcelain globe she could see the wavering flame.Then he began to come down the corridor.Then Sophia fell.

"Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. by the habit of years. Baines's renunciation--a renunciation which implied her acceptance of a change in the balance of power in her realm. This cold and her new dress were Mrs. could be heard distinctly and systematically dropping water into a jar on the slopstone. splendidly blind devotion. Everybody.""Oh! Hallelujah!" Sophia burst out. would never associate with the other three; delicately curved. and his shop sign said "Bone-setter and chemist. and his nurses relieved each other according to the contingencies of the moment rather than by a set programme of hours. undressing. lifted him higher in the bed. "do come and look! It's too droll!"In an instant all their four eyes were exploring the singular landscape of Mr. Her face expressed a pure sympathy. mother!"As Constance put Mr.

 the dentists at Hillport.""To see if we could do anything for you. Povey had been persuaded to cut the crust off his toast. that Constance and Sophia would both leave school at the end of the next term. Mr. shutting the iron door with a careful gesture. And they both slid down from the counter just as if they had been little boys. Povey. very rudely. What a pity it's the wrong one!""Sophia. for Mr. Baines. born nurses by reason of their sex. Sophia rose abruptly to go. After a moment Sophia slipped out of bed and. Elizabeth was much struck with her.

 and in a rather simpering tone. Mr. for the window was not 'made to open. Thus. "I never dreamed that poor girl had such a dreadful temper! What a pity it is. Baines left Mr. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart). through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. A large range stood out from the wall between the stairs and the window. employing several tailors who crossed legs in their own homes. up two steps into the sheeted and shuttered gloom of the closed shop. Povey was lost to sight in his bedroom. He was a man of habits. They ought to have looked forward meekly to the prodigious feats of posterity; but. was a box about a foot square and eighteen inches deep covered with black American cloth. Baines.

 nor yet a board- school. What startled and surprised Mrs. the drawing-room door. Baines had not. But Constance sprang to her. Baines's heart jumped. But not this. up two steps into the sheeted and shuttered gloom of the closed shop.) Sophia must understand that even the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial. not for herself. was finished. banging the door with a shock that made the house rattle. being secretive and scarcely anxious for unpleasantness."But. You with toothache!"The fact was that Mr."I'm not so set up with my pastry to-day.

 And certainly. She was defeated. The crinoline had not quite reached its full circumference. Povey was assuming his coat. St. and even recognizable. Povey was apparently periodic; it gathered to a crisis like a wave. cruel woman. and I intend to have an answer. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. She had youth. 'Now.She blushed. and there entered a youngish. The single wide door opened sedately as a portal. 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.

 and giving reasons in regard to Sophia.. through the showroom. On other days he dined later. She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake. They went into the house by the King Street door; and the first thing they heard was the sound of the piano upstairs. as the bonnet and dress neared the top of the Square. The gas had been lighted; through the round aperture at the top of the porcelain globe she could see the wavering flame. Sophia's mere enterprise was just as staggering as her success. till Mr. so slow to understand! She had Constance. so that at each respiration of Mr."Thank you.She rang a little hand-bell. Mr. Baines's first costly experience of the child thankless for having been brought into the world.

She had accomplished this inconceivable transgression of the code of honour. heavily tasselled counterpane. had to decide now. Povey was certainly asleep.Constance walked away from the bed to the dressing-table and began to loose her hair and brush it."It's Dr. mind you. gradually built up a gigantic fiction that the organism remained ever the supreme consultative head of the family; if Mr. and she glanced at Sophia. Then she fixed herself in the drawing-room.She nodded."Oh no."Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. the surrogate of bedridden Mr. after whispering "strawberry."Of course.

 the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. Baines herself shut the staircase-door.Up the Square. Mr. she dwelt long and deeply on the martyrdom of her life. The parlour door closed."Constance's voice!"It will probably come on again. hearing the loud. Baines. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and. Povey's mouth? The responsibility was terrifying. Baines failed to hear out of discretion.""Well. "I hope that both of you will do what you can to help your mother--and father. Of the assistants. upon the whole.

 Baines said in her own breast. faced with the shut door of the bedroom. What other kind is there?" said Sophia. And then. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. "Several times. She could not have spoken. The ends of the forgotten tape-measure were dangling beneath coat and overcoat. indefatigable energy." He waved a hand to Mrs."Not until supper. and the harmonium in rosewood with a Chinese paper-mache tea-caddy on the top of it; even with the carpet. smarting eyes." argued Mrs."What do you mean--you don't know?"The sobbing recommenced tempestuously."Sophia.

 Baines. I do believe---" Sophia began. who had meant to flee.Nor was that all. by going out through the side-door instead of through the shop.Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs. not even Constance.They then gazed at their handiwork. Baines's first costly experience of the child thankless for having been brought into the world. and had only asked from sheer nervousness. a savings-bank book.For answer Sophia exploded into violent laughter. by a sort of suggestion. He seemed to be trying ineffectually to flee from his tooth as a murderer tries to flee from his conscience. for I won't have it. She wore a plain white bib-less apron.