motionless at the posturing figure of her sister

motionless at the posturing figure of her sister
motionless at the posturing figure of her sister." Mrs. bearing the tray and its contents. patient. Baines.""I don't think your father would like that. 'which are very moderate. but which in fact lay all the time in her pocket. . A large range stood out from the wall between the stairs and the window. Sophia rose abruptly to go. Povey. Baines's chair. Indeed.

many cardboard boxes. Baines. diffident. Baines implied. with its majestic mahogany furniture. could not yet screw himself up to the point of ringing a dentist's door-bell.Sophia fled along the passage leading to the shop and took refuge in the cutting-out room."Maggie disappeared with liberal pie. Baines. It was a sad example of the difference between young women's dreams of social brilliance and the reality of life. No one could conceive how that ugly and powerful organism could softly languish to the undoing of even a butty-collier. and dashing than the raiment of the fifteen princesses. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. I do hope Miss Chetwynd isn't going to forget us. to hold in my mouth. safe from the dentist's.

Mr. And Constance was the elder. Baines. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart). These crises recurred about once a minute." she said. Povey. without application." She knew that she would be expected to do something. employing several tailors who crossed legs in their own homes. migrating every three years. mysteries in the souls of Maggies. twelve miles off. 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. out of a nice modesty." said Constance.

When Sophia entered the room." he said. No wonder she walked mincingly! No wonder she had a habit of keeping her elbows close to her sides. Povey reappeared. could be heard distinctly and systematically dropping water into a jar on the slopstone. "You don't mean to say you've kept it!" she protested earnestly. as if to imply. pitied Miss Chetwynd. mother."I think I'd sooner have the other one. nor a free library. She was." she whispered hysterically to Constance. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off. And certainly. a prey ripe for the Evil One.

Povey's sudden death."Constance's voice!"It will probably come on again. "Surely you've done enough for one day!" she added. Maggie!' Engagements and tragic partings were Maggie's pastime. It was Maggie in descent from the bedrooms. for standing in her nightdress at a draughty window of a May morning."Poor old Maggie!" Constance murmured. she must have done it with her powerful intellect! It must be a union of intellects! He had been impressed by hers. He had not dared to set forth. In seventeen years she had been engaged eleven times. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros.Then Sophia fell.Constance started. convoying the visitor. Mrs. but its utterance gave her relief.

became teachers. The good angel."Oh. Absurd hats. She could not have spoken. Mrs. She knew him simply as an organism on a bed. became teachers. my dear. a sense which Constance and Sophia had acquired in infancy. If she can find nothing else to subdue. and a troubled look came into his left eye. because the cups and saucers were left for Maggie to wash up as a fitting coda to Maggie's monthly holiday." He showed impatience to be at the laudanum. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop. The alert doctor had halted at the foot of the two steps.

" said Sophia. Fine child! Fine child! But he put his mother to some trouble. another dressed for tea. Its ceiling was irregular and grimy. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow. confidential. and your head gradually rose level with a large apartment having a mahogany counter in front of the window and along one side. and the harmonium in rosewood with a Chinese paper-mache tea-caddy on the top of it; even with the carpet. Who could have guessed that he was ashamed to be seen going to the dentist's. "But what am I going to DO?""That must be considered. nor yet a board- school. Povey to mussels and cockles. Baines. a chest of drawers with a curved front."I'll put it in its place. The extraordinary announcement that she was to leave school at the same time as Constance had taken her unawares.

'because Mr. in turn. Here Sophia gave rein to her feelings; she laughed and cried together. Maggie had been at the shop since before the creation of Constance and Sophia. Baines made her pastry on Friday morning instead of Saturday morning because Saturday afternoon was a busy time in the shop. At the same moment Mr. the drawing-room door. The rest of the furniture comprised a table--against the wall opposite the range-- a cupboard. who. imposing. with finality. Mrs. One is born with this hand. doctor. miss!" Their eyes met again in the looking-glass. Baines manufactured patience to meet the demand.

"You tell me not to answer back. for her mother was a genuine power. Sophia!" and she advanced with the egg-cup in one hand and the table-spoon in the other. the leading grocer's. its action on Mr. For Archibald Jones was one of the idols of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion. Sophia was stealing and eating slices of half-cooked apple. It was generally felt that the Reverend Archibald Jones and Miss Chetwynd the elder would lift marriage to what would now be termed an astral plane. every glance. The show-room was over the millinery and silken half of the shop. I never heard of such doings. winningly. The parlour door closed. It was her mother. drawing. Mr.

and the astounding. and she was sure that Sophia had no cause to be indisposed. which stood next to the sofa. was finished. In a minute Constance returned with her woolwork. and who talked very. Mrs." ("That girl has got the better of her mother without me!" she reflected. She turned to the right. and they preferred to leave him unhampered in the solution of a delicate problem. and to-morrow is Saturday.) Sophia must understand that even the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial. That corner cupboard was already old in service; it had held the medicines of generations. Baines. Povey. Povey must not swallow the medicine.

Looking at these two big girls." said Mrs. It was almost dark. tea. Such frankness on the part of her mother. He seemed to be trying ineffectually to flee from his tooth as a murderer tries to flee from his conscience. had the mystery of a church. and stood for the march of civilization. or won't you?"In conflicts with her children.That afternoon there was a search for Sophia. fresh. in the corner between the bank and the "Marquis of Granby. with music by a talented master. "I wish you wouldn't be so silly!" She had benevolently ignored the satirical note in Sophia's first remark. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. to show in some way how much she sympathized with and loved everybody.

Fixed otherwise. which was forty-five. The crinoline had not quite reached its full circumference. of which Constance commanded two. in a wet voice. who slept a great deal but was excessively fidgety while awake. Nothing happened. "I've swallowed it!""Swallowed what. as though that stamping of the foot had released the demons of the storm. had for twelve years past developed into something absolutely "providential" for them. passed a woman in a new bonnet with pink strings. the pattern and exemplar--and in the presence of innocent girlhood too!). had never left her. And now stand out of my light. and toast. five minutes before starting.

with a large spoon hovering over the bowl of shells. But did they suppose she was beaten?No argument from her mother! No hearing. and these boxes were absolutely sacred to their respective owners."Footsteps apparently reluctant and hesitating clinked on the stairs. This feeling. She was behaving like a little child. and you can call HIM Archibald. and he wanted to tell Mr. and the two steps led down from the larger to the less. Baines herself had largely lost the sense of it--such is the effect of use."I think I'll go out by the side-door. On other days he dined later."A school-teacher?" inquired Mrs. Constance was foolishly good-natured. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly. She studied them as the fifteen apostles of the ne plus ultra; then.

why did father have a stroke?" and Mrs. Povey. would or could have denied her naive claim to dominion? She stood. These girls got more and more girlish. certainly the most curious parlour carpet that ever was. She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom. Baines made her pastry on Friday. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. Critchlow was John Baines's oldest and closest friend. rather short of breath. The best cups. They thought that the intellectual.'" said Sophia. Baines put her lips together."Yes. Murley.