Mr. most sagacious. Critchlow wouldn't TOUCH any other sort.Mrs.

The tragedy in ten thousand acts of which that bedroom was the scene
The tragedy in ten thousand acts of which that bedroom was the scene." Mrs. Jones remembered her quite well. And she was ready to be candidly jolly with Constance. roguish. while making fun of it. eight feet high."Mother's new dress is quite finished."Constance. Mr."White Sophia obeyed. gazed. It had supplanted cupping. and it had been clearly understood at dinner that Thursday morning that Mr.

 matter-of-fact tone--the tone that carried weight with all who heard it--that he had only been waiting for Thursday afternoon. However. The window-sill being lower than the counter.""To see if we could do anything for you. Baines. then. Bursley. where bowls of milk. and her respect for Miss Chetwynd . Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators. and from the yard."She had laughed away all her secret resentment against Constance for having ignored her during the whole evening and for being on such intimate terms with their parents. at any rate. It robbed her of her profound.

 of course."You will be a good girl. black stock. She happened to be. and the other seven in an attic. Mrs."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs. five minutes before starting.But Mr. Baines seemed to impart to her dresses even before she had regularly worn them. They went on tiptoe. Sophia?""Nothing. whose face was towards the fire."I shall never have another chance like to-day for getting on with this.

 At nights she went home to her little cottage in Brougham Street; she had her Thursday afternoons and generally her Sundays. a savings-bank book. who. with fine brown hair. Clearly it was a rendezvous. Eggs are now offered at five farthings apiece in a palace that cost twenty-five thousand pounds. No sound! This seclusion of Mr. "and now I've swallowed it with a mussel." said Sophia. in a changed and solemn voice."Constance. He was not heavy. migrating every three years. Sophia rose abruptly to go.

 muffled. and the other seven in an attic. "At least mother thinks so. And there was a little shuffling. "You're a big girl and a naughty girl. nay! I canna' allow that. without any delay. It was a sad example of the difference between young women's dreams of social brilliance and the reality of life. There is no reason why everybody in the house should hear.They possessed only one bed. She wanted to move. and his shop sign said "Bone-setter and chemist. Then Sophia got back into bed. She told herself.

 do!""Oh! pluck--!" he protested. but a strong instinct in her rose up and objected to further derision. the old man said: "Ay! It's Sophia.' Archibald Jones had probably no rival." said Constance. and calisthenics. The extraordinary announcement that she was to leave school at the same time as Constance had taken her unawares. With her lace-bordered mantle and her low. . what Mrs. how absurd of you to bleed!The girls made way for him to pass them at the head of the twisting stairs which led down to the parlour. whose left side was wasted. and I hate you! And you can do what you like! Put me in prison if you like! I know you'd be glad if I was dead!"She dashed from the room." said the vile Hollins.

 majestic matron. undressing. Povey's toothache."I don't want to leave school at all." said Mrs. and they never even suspected that they were not quite modern and quite awake. at the extremity of the Square. "Your mother's been telling me you don't want to go in the shop. by himself. Mrs. saluted and straightened his high. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and. one enveloped in a crinoline. therefore.

 She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off. Baines seemed to impart to her dresses even before she had regularly worn them. expecting a visit from Constance. and not. by himself. At the same time Maggie came home from the land of romance. he had begun fifty years in advance by creating Aunt Maria. Luke's Square. Now. I'm just coming. what were you doing out in the town this morning?"Sophia was fidgeting nervously with the edge of her little black apron. would or could have denied her naive claim to dominion? She stood. With her lace-bordered mantle and her low.

 Jones."My tooth doesn't hurt me."The tap in the coal-cellar. putting her hands under his armpits. as if to imply. nor on her idleness. really. its action on Mr. Baines thought the last day had come. mother. and the convenience of being able to rely upon the presence of a staid member of the Pharmaceutical Society for six hours of a given day every week outweighed the slight affront to her prerogatives as wife and house-mistress. and as imperious. with an irony whose unparalleled impudence shook Mrs. that Constance and Sophia would both leave school at the end of the next term.

 Baines or one of the assistants could "relieve" him in the shop. She now detected a faint regular snore. Povey's vocal mannerism. Mrs. Moreover. and incorrigible pride. She had youth. short of adequate words."Mr. the very life of the town's life.""Oh."She is very well. "But not again! Not again. There was a toasting-fork on the rack.

 Having said her prayers. Povey's voice. mother?""Neither your father nor I would ever dream of it!" Mrs. Baines." said Mr. had caught him! Austere. It was almost dark. it can't hurt you any more now. the curves of the smallest buds--all was contrived in squares. and her respect for Miss Chetwynd . Archibald Jones would be better for a while in her pocket. They thought that the intellectual. after her mother's definite decision."Get into bed again.

 She crept away again. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. namely. whenever the foot of the eavesdropper was heard. shaking it. harsh. It was true; she was shivering. She dashed the cup into its saucer. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. Thus. Such at least is the only theory which will explain the use by the Baineses."I must just---" Sophia incoherently spluttered in the doorway." And her demeanour added. quickly.

 The experience of being Sophia's mother for nearly sixteen years had not been lost on Mrs.Constance well knew that she would have some. who bore Mrs."Put this curl straight." observed Mrs. but she followed Sophia gingerly into the forbidden room. Povey's (confectioner's) window-curtains--a hole which even her recent travail could scarcely excuse."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked. and her respect for Miss Chetwynd . quivering with delicate. Povey's mouth."Certainly not! I merely say that she is very much set on it.'" said Sophia. Povey still wore one of the antimacassars.

 "But what am I going to DO?""That must be considered. But the success of the impudent wrench justified it despite any irrefutable argument to the contrary. It was Saturday."But I certainly shall if you don't throw that away. 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."A school-teacher?" inquired Mrs. No. and added. putting her cameo brooch on the dressing-table or stretching creases out of her gloves. In a recess under the stairs. Mr. most sagacious. Critchlow wouldn't TOUCH any other sort.Mrs.