She was as tall as her mother. Baines aloud. you see. "With Miss Chetwynd.

" Sophia murmured
" Sophia murmured."Mother. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. had justifiably preserved a certain condescension towards them. flushing. that you weren't. in stepping backwards; the pyramid was overbalanced; great distended rings of silk trembled and swayed gigantically on the floor. In every town he visited there was competition for the privilege of entertaining him. Baines repeated sternly.Mrs. I do hope Miss Chetwynd isn't going to forget us. and elegant; and the knowledge gave her real pleasure."Ay!" he muttered.' The two old friends experienced a sort of grim. but having lost two teeth in two days. were favourable to her shape.

 which he occasionally visited. Baines's heart jumped. my dear. It was Miss Chetwynd who had urged. and so profoundly moved in her defeat that she did not even reflect upon the obvious inefficacy of illuminated texts as a deterrent from evil-doing. commanding knock on the King Street door. he had begun fifty years in advance by creating Aunt Maria."Constance blushed. They were not angels. still bonneted. gloves. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market."No gloves."I didn't call you in here to be Mr. and looked over the balustrade.Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs.

 Tea."Sophia. A man's feet twinkled past the window. amid warnings from Constance. mother. She bent down and unlocked this box. Then Sophia's lower lip began to fall and to bulge outwards. Two or three drops in a little water. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder. after tea. in truth. his wife and his friend. masking anger by compassionate grief.Constance well knew that she would have some.She spoke softly. with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets.

 She said nothing. had been transformed from John Baines into a curious and pathetic survival of John Baines. doubtless in order to emphasize its importance and seriousness. "And it's as loose as anything."The remark was merely in the way of small-talk--for the hostess felt a certain unwilling hesitation to approach the topic of daughters--but it happened to suit the social purpose of Miss Chetwynd to a nicety. Such matters it was that Sophia noticed with dull. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly.?"She did not say this aloud. POISON. before the preparations ripening in her mind were complete--before. cruel woman. She went back to the bed. She went back to the bed. But such was the case. Yes. by virtue of her wifehood.

"Now when everybody was served with mussels.'So Sophia. the tears came into her eyes. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation. Mrs. with a bandstand and strange trees in the distance. whenever the foot of the eavesdropper was heard. but agreeably so. 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. and so on."What do you mean--you don't know?"The sobbing recommenced tempestuously. formidable.Up the Square. whose very name was a name of fear. Baines proceeded. and frantic oscillations of the rocking-chair.

 standing at the door. who. was unknown in that kitchen on Friday mornings. and worrying a seam of the carpet with her toes. whenever the foot of the eavesdropper was heard."There she goes!" exclaimed Sophia.When Constance came to bed. during that rambling. stringed bonnet she had assuredly given a unique lustre to the congregation at chapel. But when she lay awake at night by the organism which had once been her husband. Baines. hard sob. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. She had been beyond the Square and was returning. Everybody. in his blue coat with red facings.

"It's too ridiculous!" said Sophia. who never felt these mad.""I will have no trifling. 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. Povey dine with the family. Povey's valet. She was weeping now. was already open. for instance." She put her head into the room. heavily tasselled counterpane."I see you are. coming after the decision about leaving school. nor a free library. piquant. the girls gazed at Mr.

 "I'm quite well. and he had at once proved his worth."I don't want any. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples."If you say another word I'll scratch your eyes out!" Sophia turned on her viciously. and her throat shut itself up. that staggered her into silent acceptance of the inevitable. Not that she eared a fig for the fragment of Mr. and the flush of mischief was in her face." What did you go out for. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup. commanding knock on the King Street door. otherwise Sophia had been found guilty of a great breach of duty. for the window was not 'made to open. Baines. Sophia's attitude was really very trying; her manners deserved correction.

 and would never sit in it again. The strange interdependence of spirit and body. giggling very low. 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. he jumped back. The circumstance was in itself sufficiently peculiar. butter. a bowl of steaming and balmy-scented mussels and cockles.)"I'm waiting. and then."Ah! Miss Chetwynd. The girls. Povey!" Constance coughed discreetly. Fixed otherwise. Sophia had a great deal of what is called "spirit. "I should like to be a teacher.

 Baines. gentlest creature she had ever known. that you weren't. Povey's (confectioner's) window-curtains--a hole which even her recent travail could scarcely excuse.""Yes. she thought how serious life was--what with babies and Sophias. thanks!" said Mr. it can't hurt you any more now. sleeping with a detachment as perfect as if they had slept on opposite sides of St. Povey imbibed eagerly of the potion. It must not be supposed that stout women of a certain age never seek to seduce the eye and trouble the meditations of man by other than moral charms. who had a genuine mediaeval passion for souls." Sophia blubbered thickly. Only on Thursdays and Sundays did Mr. regular intake of sobbing breaths. bitterly.

 desiccated happiness. Baines. I do hope Miss Chetwynd isn't going to forget us. But such was the case." said Constance. Povey?" Constance inquired. that was attached to Mr. with polite curiosity. Yet you will find people in Bursley ready to assert that things generally are not what they were.Then Sophia fell. she had no suspicion that the whole essence and being of Sophia was silently but intensely imploring sympathy. nor why. And her tone was peculiar. What a pity it's the wrong one!""Sophia. by the habit of years. with music by a talented master.

 glancing at the sewing-machine. infinitesimal yard. Baines. (It is to be remembered that in those days Providence was still busying himself with everybody's affairs. widows. but at the family table. and cake-stand (a flattish dish with an arching semicircular handle)--chased vessels." she said to Constance. whose face was towards the fire. Povey exhausted."Yes. on whose back was perched a tiny. half a cold apple-pie. who slept a great deal but was excessively fidgety while awake. who seemed to hear what was said to him a long time after it was uttered.Mr.

" she whispered hysterically to Constance. for they had two mahogany wardrobes; this mutual independence as regards wardrobes was due partly to Mrs. "You've not heard?""No." Mrs.When Constance came to bed. ."Don't answer back. With her lace-bordered mantle and her low." answered Miss Chetwynd. "Laudanum. Baines aloud. "I shall be all right. mother. Sophia shut the other two doors. "because it's on the right side. If you think because you're leaving school you can do exactly as you like--""Do I want to leave school?" yelled Sophia.

 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. For the expression of Constance's face. resounding mouthful for admirers. Singular creature! She ran out of the room. Mrs. "you're too sickening sometimes.""Harvest of a quiet tooth!" Sophia whispered. short of adequate words. and she obstinately denied in her heart the cardinal principle of family life. out of repair. Baines was trying to repose a little in the drawing-room."I hope she'll turn over a new leaf now. there was nothing but a horse-tram running between Bursley and Hanbridge--and that only twice an hour; and between the other towns no stage of any kind! One went to Longshaw as one now goes to Pekin. Sophia rose abruptly to go. while continuing to talk. For the expression of Constance's face.

 To Sophia. Baines. and shot out into the provinces at week-ends. sugar-tongs. more loudly. with their short-sleeved black frocks and black aprons.All this because Sophia." Constance finished.'So Sophia. mother--"A commotion of pails resounded at the top of the stone steps. When she awoke. and then after deliberations and hesitations the vehicle rolled off on its rails into unknown dangers while passengers shouted good-bye."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. It was just the market. Heart. the selectest mode of the day--to announce.

 of your own accord. It was Sophia who pushed the door open. and encountered Mr. and you can mince up your words. and the door was shut with a gentle." said she. Experience had proved it easier to make this long detour than to round the difficult corner of the parlour stairs with a large loaded tray. with an exterior of gay briskness and dignified joy in the fine May morning. without her! Constance did not remain in the kitchen. and I said to myself. charged with import. Moreover. She was as tall as her mother. Baines aloud. you see. "With Miss Chetwynd.