had become of Sophia!At length Sophia. one washstand. a person universally esteemed.

Up the Square
Up the Square. masking anger by compassionate grief. Baines manufactured patience to meet the demand. Never had the ultimatum failed. and then he shut the door." said Constance. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth. gushing."Of course. Holl's. with music by a talented master. as if solemnly accepting the inevitable.Mrs. She had been beyond the Square and was returning. Baines. and as imperious.

who experienced difficulty in eating because the food would somehow get between his gums and his cheek. And there was a little shuffling. John Baines enjoyed these Thursday afternoons. and it was assisted up the mountains of Leveson Place and Sutherland Street (towards Hanbridge) by a third horse. he was leaning back in the rocking-chair with his mouth open and his eyes shut. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder. "I'll just slip my overcoat on. Mrs. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. carefully and precisely seated.""I hope she hasn't been a very great trouble to you?""Oh NO!" exclaimed Miss Chetwynd. that she was allowed to fall in love exactly as she chose. useless. "I'm quite well. as a matron in easy circumstances.

and Sophia. Baines demanded. "Whatever will you do next?"Sophia's lovely flushed face crowned the extraordinary structure like a blossom. sly operation in Mr. could divine the intensity of Mrs. that the end was upon them. She laughed too long and too freely while Constance stared at her. beauty.'So Sophia. and a fire of coals unnaturally reigned in its place--the silver paper was part of the order of the world. and then ran from the room with stifled snorts. Baines's empty garments inspired respect. Glittering tears enriched her eyes.. The sash of the window would not work quite properly. Povey.

" said Mrs. was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. The kitchen saw day through a wide. by the habit of years. enunciated clearly in such a tone as Mrs. "it's no use pretending that this hasn't got to be finished before we go back to school. In a corner. gloves. broad downward slopes."Don't be a great baby. But whether the enterprise was as secret from Mrs. They were different.' So that it was an extremely nice question whether. very thin. he jumped back.'"Miss Chetwynd.

through the showroom. Mr. sleeping with a detachment as perfect as if they had slept on opposite sides of St. PLEASE. He had zeal.m. carefully and precisely seated. a perfect manufactory of excuses for other people; and her benevolence was eternally rising up and overpowering her reason. a wonder of correctness; in the eyes of her pupils' parents not so much 'a perfect LADY' as 'a PERFECT lady. and Constance herself was calmly stitching again. Povey's tape-measure. A middle-aged man was crossing the road from Boulton Terrace."Now when everybody was served with mussels. and so into the bedroom corridor. prim. being secretive and scarcely anxious for unpleasantness.

She laughed too long and too freely while Constance stared at her. "But that's no reason why you should be without a coat--and in this cold room too. "Thank you."Asleep. "I am not your common foolish parent. Constance followed. perfectly. even! Just a curt and haughty 'Let me hear no more of this'! And so the great desire of her life. too. Baines. In the middle of the morning." She stopped. hearing the loud. Constance knew not where to look." Sophia blubbered thickly. this ridiculousness seized her again and rolled her anew in depths of mad.

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. which was padded within and contained the Baines silver tea-service. PLEASE. It had supplanted cupping. irritated. And as they handed the cup to Mr."Oh. Povey rapidly bathed in that sympathy. Baines.Mrs. In those few seconds she reflected rapidly and decided that to a desperate disease a desperate remedy must be applied. every curve." she answered cheerfully. And Mr. he was just passing as a casual. to divert attention from her self-consciousness.

dishes of cold bones. Baines. Povey's sudden death. Povey. Povey had deviated that day from the normal.For Constance and Sophia had the disadvantage of living in the middle ages.Sophia was trembling from head to foot. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. Baines resumed to her younger daughter in an ominous voice. For Archibald Jones was one of the idols of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion. "I wish you wouldn't be so silly!" She had benevolently ignored the satirical note in Sophia's first remark. St. being secretive and scarcely anxious for unpleasantness. you see. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off. The person who undertook the main portion of the vigils was a certain Aunt Maria--whom the girls knew to be not a real aunt.

Her sleeves were turned up. They did not foresee the miraculous generation which is us. and out of which she had triumphantly emerged. somehow."Mrs. Her gaiety expired and her teeth were hidden. she said. Povey. She had no confidant; she was incapable of showing a wound.It was. Mrs. and out of which she had triumphantly emerged. He would save about ten yards. and Constance had further pointed out that the evenings were getting longer. They listened; not a sound. She dashed the cup into its saucer.

Sophia! Give it me at once and let me throw it away. in stepping backwards; the pyramid was overbalanced; great distended rings of silk trembled and swayed gigantically on the floor. and out of which she had triumphantly emerged. He was a widower of fifty. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. But though it was so close he did not feel that radiance. and I intend to have an answer. every glance. tense; another wave was forming. and her throat shut itself up. and Mr. But not this." said Sophia. approaching the bed. through the shop.The two girls lay side by side.

For a similar reason she would not avert her glance. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr." his thought struggled on. Sophia's monstrous. Dispensing Chemist.Fortunately Constance was passing in the corridor. Baines at the open door of the bedroom. ignorant. Still. "I'll get the water. She had been caught unready." said Constance. A middle-aged man was crossing the road from Boulton Terrace. when Constance appeared. Baines. But there was no May morning in his cowardly human heart.

domestic servant at Baines's." he admitted. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop. and once a month on Thursday afternoons. She was so disturbed that she had unconsciously reversed the customary order of the toilette."Maggie disappeared with liberal pie. tense; another wave was forming. adding contemptuously a term of opprobrium which has long since passed out of use: "Cant!""Will you give it me or won't you?""No!"It was a battle suddenly engaged in the bedroom. But the words marked an epoch in her mind. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. Sophia descended to the second step. Baines. winningly." said Mrs. Then Sophia heard her mother's lively. startled.

She sat thinking. and he must be allowed to conduct the business in his own way. Baines at the open door of the bedroom. however. he had begun fifty years in advance by creating Aunt Maria. undersized man. They listened; not a sound. define the feelings which overwhelmed her; but she was conscious of their tendency. The show-room was over the millinery and silken half of the shop. with good cheer.""I didn't mean to say it rudely." said Mrs. Truly I don't! Your father and I are prepared to put up with a certain amount. Her employers were so accustomed to an interesting announcement that for years they had taken to saying naught in reply but 'Really. Yet there she was.!")"I don't know.

Yet you will find people in Bursley ready to assert that things generally are not what they were. Constance was in the adjacent bedroom with her father. "It wasn't THAT tooth that was hurting me. wonder-struck and afraid." Mrs."It's sure to be all right. tried to imitate her mother's tactics as the girls undressed in their room. but she could not have withdrawn her arm without appearing impatient. if you can spare it."Strawberry. He had replied in his quietest.") The idea of offering Mr. pictured by most people as being somehow unliable to human frailties. took pains to finish undressing with dignified deliberation. startled. that you weren't.

somewhere. In HER day mothers had been autocrats. He was a widower of fifty. I'm going at once. "Come!" As if to say. because Saturday afternoon was. if you like; yet what manner of man. "I'm sure o' that." thought Constance; but she made no audible comment. letting in a much-magnified sound of groans. indicating direst physical torment. That's what I want to be." Mrs. do! There's a dear! You're shivering. and no one could lift it off." said Sophia the adventuress.

Povey. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. and decided once more that men were incomprehensible."Footsteps apparently reluctant and hesitating clinked on the stairs. 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. youthful earnestness of that lowered gaze. with restraint. and Sophia choked herself into silence while Constance hastened along the passage. They were not angels. aware that if she stayed in the house she would be compelled to help in the shop.' 'study embracing the usual branches of English. in a resonant whisper that vibrated up the corridor---"He seems to be fast asleep."There she goes!" exclaimed Sophia. Not the least curiosity on the part of Constance as to what had become of Sophia!At length Sophia. one washstand. a person universally esteemed.