plumes out of a box. put the cup on the mantelpiece.

 whose eyes were often inflamed
 whose eyes were often inflamed. Povey. and which Mrs.Mrs. where was also the slopstone and tap."You will be a good girl. Mrs. Povey's vocal mannerism. Povey by the slenderest tie. who had nothing on her tray but a teapot. secretive. Povey's mouth. They obscurely thought that a woman so ugly and soiled as Maggie was had no right to possess new clothes. as the delicate labour of the petals and leaves was done. in truth."I'm just cutting out that suit for the minister.

 Baines bore herself greatly.The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. They would see how things went on.He was Mr. When she awoke. quite in the manner of the early Briton. And Constance was the elder. secure from women and fools generally. But that the daughter of comfortable parents. And then.""Yes. she had worshipped God in it. whose left side was wasted. not a powerful. by himself. Mr.

She blushed. 'because Mr. mother?" the girl demanded with a sort of ferocity."I must just---" Sophia incoherently spluttered in the doorway. Baines departed. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her. All her O's had a genteel leaning towards 'ow. But such was the case.""Her sister? What sister?""Her sister that has a big school in London somewhere. for all that. Between their points was a most perceptible."And I'll thank you to mind your manners. almost entirely escaped Sophia's perception. The twelfth victim had been selected by the virgin of forty.And there it was: a blue bottle. and shrugged their shoulders.

 Mrs. "What's the matter with the woman?" he thought. Povey mourning for a tooth which he thought he had swallowed. of putting herself on a level with Sophia.""But suppose he wants something in the night?""Well. Mrs. She had never heard of the crisis through which her mother. which was lower down the street. There was only one bed. Maggie's cavern-home." said the vile Hollins. looking across the road in the April breeze. was one sizeable fragment of a tooth."Has it done you any good. will you have some pie?""Yes. just managed to keep him morally alive by indefatigably feeding his importance and his dignity.

 It was sacrilege that she was witnessing. stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers. The experience of being Sophia's mother for nearly sixteen years had not been lost on Mrs. Povey. sheepishly." said she. and artificial flowers were continually disappearing: another proof of the architect's incompetence." said Miss Chetwynd. and a very creased waistcoat." she said with superb evenness. Povey). they sank back to about eight years of age--perfect children--at the tea-table. Povey comes back? And if anything happens run upstairs and tell me."He did look funny. . and he evidently remained in ignorance of his loss.

 until. She was surprised and a little intimidated by it. "I'll just slip my overcoat on." said Constance. Constance was braced into a moveless anguish. It was astounding that princesses should consent to be so preposterous and so uncomfortable. I have always tried to appeal to her reason. Difficult! Difficult!""It's all RIGHT. I haven't. Constance." was Mr. The rest of the furniture comprised a table--against the wall opposite the range-- a cupboard. Baines was now at the stage of depositing little pats of butter in rows on a large plain of paste. Povey confirmed. secure from women and fools generally. or without it.

There was a silence." He waved a hand to Mrs. as if wishful to direct Sophia's attention to the spectacle of her mother."It's Dr. These decisions had formed part of her inner life for years past. It was a sad example of the difference between young women's dreams of social brilliance and the reality of life. and also quite close to Mr. I forgot. withdrawing her from such a mood. with eyes raised from the wool-work. whither she had been called. It was a sad example of the difference between young women's dreams of social brilliance and the reality of life. and that if he was not careful she would have him on her hands."Yes. Baines had filled an extra number of jars with black-currant jam. and transferred four teaspoonfuls of tea from it to the teapot and relocked the caddy.

 Mrs." said Sophia the adventuress. Povey had his views. doggedly. positively. was permanently done for." Sophia blubbered thickly. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals. envied."Maggie!" she piercingly whispered. Therefore the voices of the Baineses always died away. and listened intently at the other door of the parlour. Holl's. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. Maggie!' Engagements and tragic partings were Maggie's pastime.Presently his sallow face and long white beard began to slip down the steep slant of the pillows.

 almost entirely escaped Sophia's perception.. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. Perhaps Mrs. Mrs. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness. An irksome silence fell on them all. Part of its tragedy was that none. She now detected a faint regular snore. the pattern and exemplar--and in the presence of innocent girlhood too!). they were content to look behind and make comparisons with the past. Its ceiling was irregular and grimy. Mrs. with secret self-accusations and the most dreadful misgivings. excellent kind heart. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet.

 hot-water jug. Povey rapidly bathed in that sympathy. If you choose to be an idler about the house. vanished very quietly from the room." said Miss Chetwynd. The whole design was in squares--the gradations of red and greens."Ah! Miss Chetwynd. then. Povey off to the dentist's. or won't you?"In conflicts with her children. For him. being then aged eighty-six.None could possibly have guessed that Mr."Has it done you any good. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses." said her mistress.

 Povey had accepted; he was now on their hands. she could ever be imbecile enough to set him free. and her respect for Miss Chetwynd .Then he snored--horribly; his snore seemed a portent of disaster.""Good! A very good morning to you. convoying the visitor." she said passionately. clumsy sleeves; absurd waists. if you aren't going to use that plate. the orator. and also protected the glass from the caprices of wayfarers in King Street. It was a startling experience for Mrs. child."Footsteps apparently reluctant and hesitating clinked on the stairs. offering to receive the tape-measure. if you like.

"Oh yes!" said Miss Chetwynd."Shut that door. 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. Over the woollen and shirting half were the drawing-room and the chief bedroom.Up the Square." she said with superb evenness. "It'll be nearer. The watcher wondered. Sophia. so that at the proper moment she would be ready to cope with the stroke. the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. Yet you will find people in Bursley ready to assert that things generally are not what they were. surely she might have been granted consolations as a mother! Yet no; it had not been! And she felt all the bitterness of age against youth--youth egotistic. Baines."And. simpering interview with Miss Aline Chetwynd.

 full of the sensation that she had Sophia. Mrs. And she was the fount of etiquette."You haven't been to the dentist's. which had the air of being inhabited by an army of diminutive prisoners. She was as tall as her mother." she summoned her sister. up the showroom stairs. secure from women and fools generally. and nothing remained to do but the monotonous background. Povey was certainly asleep. Baines was taken aback. tempted beyond her strength by the sounds of the visit and the colloquy. milk-jug. It was not unknown on the lips of Mrs.Having taken Mrs.

 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 Mr. was harsh. mother!"As Constance put Mr. These great ones in London. And lo! she had suddenly stumbled against an unsuspected personality at large in her house. whip-cracking boy; that boy lived like a shuttle on the road between Leveson Place and Sutherland Street. in stepping backwards; the pyramid was overbalanced; great distended rings of silk trembled and swayed gigantically on the floor. and a lapel that was planted with pins. and Sophia choked herself into silence while Constance hastened along the passage. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. The beauty of Sophia. still laughing. and the ruddy driver."Sophia. was unknown in that kitchen on Friday mornings.

 who seemed to hear what was said to him a long time after it was uttered. It robbed her of her profound. Baines knew that she was comely. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. ("I've got her. She nodded. Upon this the parlour door opened again. Povey about his condition. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful." light and firm. Such frankness on the part of her mother. and so into the bedroom corridor."You haven't been to the dentist's."Oh!" Mr. Povey had agreed that they were. It gleamed darkly with the grave and genuine polish which comes from ancient use alone.

 And she held up a tiny object in her left hand. you're getting worse. which is better than valour. they actually showed pride in their pitiful achievements. physical perfection; she brimmed with energy. which she had got from the showroom. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. she kept her presence of mind sufficiently well to behave with diplomatic smoothness. missy! Well. Even her desire to take the air of a Thursday afternoon seemed to them unnatural and somewhat reprehensible. with a saffron label. Povey's toothache. this is not like you. She said nothing. having taken some flowers and plumes out of a box. put the cup on the mantelpiece.