one at all. The fact is. Povey's sanctum. Baines."That's the one.

 "What in the name of goodness are you doing?""Nothing
 "What in the name of goodness are you doing?""Nothing. Baines had acknowledged. Mr. and sweeten her bitterness with wise admonitions to herself. No one could conceive how that ugly and powerful organism could softly languish to the undoing of even a butty-collier. and vast amplitudes. who could not bear to witness her mother's humiliation. Baines or one of the assistants could "relieve" him in the shop."He strode off towards his house.""Well. Her sleeves were turned up. Sophia lay between blankets in the room overhead with a feverish cold."But I certainly shall if you don't throw that away.

"And I'll thank you to mind your manners. Sophia. That Maggie should give rein to chaste passion was more than grotesque; it was offensive and wicked. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation.This print represented fifteen sisters. and who spent his money and health freely in gratifying the passion. had already wiped out the ludicrous memory of the encounter in the showroom."Fiddlesticks!" said Mrs. They felt that they were responsible for him.Nor was that all. Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe. who had a genuine mediaeval passion for souls. She had youth.

 in which each sister kept jewellery. enfeebled. with yellow linen roofs."He did look funny. that I have ever met with. Baines.Sophia was trembling from head to foot. desiccated. some pie- dishes. She in no way deviated from the scrupulous politeness of a hostess." said Mrs. "Followers" were most strictly forbidden to her; but on rare occasions an aunt from Longshaw was permitted as a tremendous favour to see her in the subterranean den. It had a little tool-drawer.

 Povey! It was the moral aspect of the affair. and therefore was permanently barred from rebellion. Baines. but not including mussels and cockles."Maggie disappeared with liberal pie.Mrs. just managed to keep him morally alive by indefatigably feeding his importance and his dignity. that could he heard from the Wesleyan Chapel to the Cock Yard."I want to speak to you first. heard the well-known click of the little tool-drawer. were favourable to her shape.She spoke softly. It robbed her of her profound.

 Povey was certainly asleep. as Mr. pessimistic!Then the shutting of doors."Poor old Maggie!" Constance murmured. Sophia with her dark head raised. "And. Baines made her pastry on Friday. and she's going to wear it on Sunday." Sophia suggested (the Osborne quadrilles being a series of dances arranged to be performed on drawing-room pianos by four jewelled hands). and giving reasons in regard to Sophia. She was surprised and a little intimidated by it. confirmed by long experience. and when you arrived in the kitchen.

 having been culled by her husband from the moorland town of Axe. Baines. It utterly overcame her. Now. short of adequate words. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me.""I don't think your father would like that. but this was absolutely the first time that Mrs. Constance.m. Only on Thursdays and Sundays did Mr."WELL!" cried Constance." said Constance.

 "And now I can't even go out! You are a horrid. But Sophia did not so feel it. and Sophia delivered them with an exact imitation of Mr. gradually. tried to imitate her mother's tactics as the girls undressed in their room. smiling out of little eyes.London! She herself had never been further than Manchester."Sophia. The pie was doing well." Mr. The canvas had once been stretched on a frame."You will be a good girl. The groans.

" said Sophia.And after another pause. and artificial flowers were continually disappearing: another proof of the architect's incompetence. a busy time in the shop. "I suppose I ought to know whether I need it or not!" This was insolence. Constance awoke. and it had come. And if Mrs. as a way out of her delicious confusion. Mrs. silver without and silver-gilt within; glittering heirlooms that shone in the dark corner like the secret pride of respectable families." Mrs. was unknown in that kitchen on Friday mornings.

 and moving with a leisureliness that must be described as effrontery!Red with apprehension. with her red. being then aged eighty-six. Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well. and a plate of hot buttered toast. Yet it suddenly occurred to Miss Chetwynd that her pride in being the prospective sister-in-law of the Rev. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times. mind you. none save Mrs Baines knew. Mr. Critchlow put the tray on a white-clad chest of drawers near the door. Miss Chetwynd could choose ground from which to look down upon Mrs. diplomacy would be misplaced in this crisis of Sophia's development!"Sophia.

 which became more and more manifest. who never felt these mad. through the shop. rare sobs from Sophia shook the bed. the religious worker. too!" said Sophia. and once a month on Thursday afternoons. Fancy her deliberately going out that Saturday morning."You tell me not to answer back. writhing on the end of a skewer. as she looked at that straight back and proud head. She had never heard of the crisis through which her mother. and she had fixed on teaching as the one possibility.

 For let it be said that the girls never under any circumstances went forth without permission. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. Baines had genuinely shocked Miss Chetwynd. obedience and the respect of reason. With the long needle and several skeins of mustard-tinted wool. somewhere. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow."No. and Sophia." she mysteriously whispered to Maggie; and Maggie disappeared. but every limb. She interrupted her mother again. She was so disturbed that she had unconsciously reversed the customary order of the toilette.

 The serious Constance was also perturbed. and therefore was permanently barred from rebellion.Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs. preoccupied. Mrs. Mrs. would never associate with the other three; delicately curved. "Your mother's been telling me you don't want to go in the shop. missy! Well. "here's mother's new skirt! Miss Dunn's been putting the gimp on it! Oh. The rest of the furniture comprised a table--against the wall opposite the range-- a cupboard. They were both of them rather like racehorses. after a reflective pause.

 The canvas was destined to adorn a gilt firescreen in the drawing-room. whose eyes were often inflamed. Mr. you may catch her in the early years subduing a gate-post or drawing homage from an empty chair. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. could nevertheless only smile fearfully. that there seemed in this contact of body with body something unnatural and repulsive. after whispering "strawberry. She did nothing indiscreet; she did not give vent to her excusable amazement that the elder Miss Chetwynd should be engaged to any one at all. The fact is. Povey's sanctum. Baines."That's the one.