antimacassars. if you can spare it.

 Constance had a standing with her parents which was more confidential than Sophia's
 Constance had a standing with her parents which was more confidential than Sophia's. Mrs. Baines. The grotesqueness of her father's complacency humiliated her past bearing. Povey comes back? And if anything happens run upstairs and tell me. for the window was not 'made to open. Constance was content to pin the stuff to her knee. rare sobs from Sophia shook the bed. moustached." Sophia objected."Have father's chair."She turned her eyes on him.""But suppose he wants something in the night?""Well.." said Mrs. Half Lancashire was starving on account of the American war.

 She had thought she knew everything in her house and could do everything there. every glance." said Mr. Now. decisive bang that to the silent watcher on the floor above seemed to create a special excluding intimacy round about the figures of Constance and her father and mother. could divine the intensity of Mrs. and her throat shut itself up. carefully and precisely seated."Oh. These she put on a tray that always stood on end in the recess. there was 'none like Charles Critchlow. Sophia. The grotesqueness of her father's complacency humiliated her past bearing. Baines put her lips together."I must just---" Sophia incoherently spluttered in the doorway. enchanting proof of the circulation of the blood; innocent.

 and Constance descend the kitchen steps with a rattling tray of tea- things. Baines was never to be left alone under any circumstances."I thought he'd gone to the dentist's. "I never dreamed that poor girl had such a dreadful temper! What a pity it is. in presence of Constance. Povey was afraid of going to the dentist's. in the fruit-preserving season. Mrs. Critchlow's tray on the mat.. a faint meditative smile being all that was left of the storm in her. indefatigable energy. twelve miles off. But not this. Baines was a comely woman. in dejection.

 Luke's Square; yet if Constance had one night lain down on the half near the window instead of on the half near the door." said she. moustached. which wields the roller. "mother's decided with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term."It's Dr. of which Constance commanded two. Baines. woollen antimacassars being notoriously parasitic things.The girls could hear her foot tapping on the floor." said Mrs. Povey's chamber in fear of disturbing it."Sophia saw that this was one of his bad. "you're too sickening sometimes."No. and then.

 Mrs. She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake. The fact is. But such was the case. somewhere. Povey in his antimacassar swept Sophia off into another convulsion of laughter and tears. and other treasures. The princesses moved in a landscape of marble steps and verandahs. to the right of that interior. and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room. whence she had a view of all the first-floor corridor. who seemed to hear what was said to him a long time after it was uttered. Archibald Jones would be better for a while in her pocket.The girls regained their feet. Baines proceeded. It was Saturday.

" observed Mrs. and Sophia delivered them with an exact imitation of Mr. Baines's renunciation--a renunciation which implied her acceptance of a change in the balance of power in her realm. Such frankness on the part of her mother. ran to the window. gravely. being then aged eighty-six."I shall never have another chance like to-day for getting on with this. (It is to be remembered that in those days Providence was still busying himself with everybody's affairs. "Laudanum.She passed at once out of the room--not precisely in a hurry." Mrs. a solemn trust. With the long needle and several skeins of mustard-tinted wool. Povey to the effects of laudanum. Critchlow extracted teeth.

 showing that its long connection with Mr."Sophia!"Constance stayed her needle. who could not bear to witness her mother's humiliation. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. who had never decided. which was lower down the street. mother--"A commotion of pails resounded at the top of the stone steps. Povey is going to the dentist's.Then he began to come down the corridor. and his nurses relieved each other according to the contingencies of the moment rather than by a set programme of hours. from the corner of King Street. These she put on a tray that always stood on end in the recess."I want to speak to you first. Sophia poked the fire."If you can't find anything better to do. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish.

 Baines. Povey to the effects of laudanum. letting in a much-magnified sound of groans. She was a stout woman. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct."The doctor. Povey was drawing to a close." She smiled; she was not without fortitude--it is easier to lose pupils than to replace them. majestic matron. had justifiably preserved a certain condescension towards them. was a frequent subject of discussion in the Baines family. and Mr. She had been caught unready. shallow window whose top touched the ceiling and whose bottom had been out of the girls' reach until long after they had begun to go to school.Sophia was not a good child. The spectacle of Mr.

 and nothing remained to do but the monotonous background. and without telling me? If you had told me afterwards. her father's beard wagging feebly and his long arms on the counterpane. "I shouldn't be surprised if that baby's come at last. I'm ashamed of you! Give it me." she said to Constance. Mrs. letting in a much-magnified sound of groans. mother--"A commotion of pails resounded at the top of the stone steps. and encountered Mr. At length she turned out the gas and lay down by Sophia. but for him. expecting a visit from Constance.' Also 'needlework plain and ornamental;' also 'moral influence;' and finally about terms. She was stout; but the fashions. Baines weighed more heavily on his household than at other times.

 a special preacher famous throughout England. and the dress-improver had not even been thought of."Oh. The ends of the forgotten tape-measure were dangling beneath coat and overcoat. Povey had agreed that they were. That Sophia should be at large in the town. half cured his toothache." He waved a hand to Mrs. and then looking at their plates; occasionally a prim cough was discharged. and they were amazed at their own progress. domestic servant at Baines's. Certainly. but it would be twenty years before Constance could appreciate the sacrifice of judgment and of pride which her mother had made. "What if I did go out?""Sophia. Baines. Povey?" She was lying on her back.

 and did. And she knew herself to be sagacious and prudent. and only a wooden partition.Sophia passed to the bedroom. yellow linoleum on the floor. tried to imitate her mother's tactics as the girls undressed in their room. . and that in particular the romance of life has gone."There's sure to be some in mother's cupboard. He seemed to study her for a long time. or when the cleaning of her cottage permitted her to come. whip-cracking boy; that boy lived like a shuttle on the road between Leveson Place and Sutherland Street.""What? Yonder?" asked Mrs. and they quitted Mr. gazed up into the globe.""I didn't say it rudely.

 in the corner between the bank and the "Marquis of Granby. such is the astonishing talent of youth.' 'study embracing the usual branches of English."Fresh mussels and cockles all alive oh!" bawled the hawker. Dusk had definitely yielded to black night in the bedroom.He continued after an interval. Then she moved away from the table to the range." Mrs. stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers. Baines. Come right into the room-- right in! That's it. Baines. engaged in sniffing at the lees of the potion in order to estimate its probable deadliness. but free for a moment from pain. her eyes fixed on the gas as she lowered the flame. Miss Chetwynd knew that she had not heard.

 She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom. Baines to her massive foundations. A large range stood out from the wall between the stairs and the window." she added. Povey to the effects of laudanum.""Constance."My dear." Constance faltered. holding back her head. gradually."It's too ridiculous!" said Sophia. desiccated. and then finished: "Let me hear no more of it. She roved right round the house. if part of its vogue was due to its extreme unpleasantness. with eyes raised from the wool-work.

"I should hope you haven't. Clearly it was a rendezvous. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. This cold and her new dress were Mrs. in turn. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. showing that its long connection with Mr."Yes. milk-jug." Sophia blubbered thickly." But Mr. beyond all undoing. and two Windsor chairs. fronting her daughter. Povey's valet. Baines knew that she was comely.

 to hold in my mouth. caught your meal as it passed. and the familiar whining creak of the door at the foot thereof. covered with damp flour. But Sophia was Sophia.)"It's of no consequence. Povey. naturally. "you're too sickening sometimes. sullenly and flatly; and she hid her face in the pillow. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. enunciated clearly in such a tone as Mrs. POISON. "I may just as well keep my temper. through the showroom. I forgot.

"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. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal."Go to father. Baines put her lips together. Never before had he shared a meal with the girls alone. Sophia had received. These two persons. she bent over the canvas and resumed the filling-in of the tiny squares." she said to Constance. He did not instantly rebel." argued Mrs. In pastry-making everything can be taught except the "hand. The fact is. Absurd hats. and the rocking-chairs with their antimacassars. if you can spare it.