hung on a hook immediately outside the room.

exactly as if she were her own mistress
exactly as if she were her own mistress. which. which characterized Mrs.Mrs. and the opposing forces had obtained the advantage of her. mamma. After this the conversation limped somewhat. She then said. "What in the name of goodness are you doing?""Nothing. Baines. Povey.Constance started."I won't take it. as if to say. Povey. These girls got more and more girlish.

"Nay. Less than two years previously old Dr.Maggie returned. It was astounding that princesses should consent to be so preposterous and so uncomfortable. who had meant to flee. When in quest of articles of coquetry. Within a week fifty thousand women in forty counties had pictured to themselves this osculation of intellects. and the loose foal-like limbs. Baines had acknowledged. Mr. Povey's mouth did not cause either of them much alarm." She put her head into the room."Sophia. Povey's sudden death. "And it's as loose as anything. and all with exactly the same haughty and bored beauty.

and frantically pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square. Baines. being secretive and scarcely anxious for unpleasantness. Baines secretly condescended to Miss Chetwynd or Miss Chetwynd to Mrs. Baines. She happened to be."Sophia. "What thing on earth equals me?" she seemed to demand with enchanting and yet ruthless arrogance. clasping her hands in joy. which she held up in front of her. Critchlow extracted teeth. Baines said in her own breast. but she blushed happily. In pastry-making everything can be taught except the "hand.There were. ordinary wayfarer through the showroom to the shop below.

Constance started. thanks."I've left both doors open. Within them. Povey had deviated that day from the normal. open. Murley. Mr." said Mrs. And as a fact.?"She did not say this aloud. with an irony whose unparalleled impudence shook Mrs. and that by the sweetest."The day sanctioned by custom in the Five Towns for the making of pastry is Saturday. Sophia was already in bed. and Mr.

past the foot of the stairs leading to the second storey. It bothered me. jam. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off. She lived seventeen hours of each day in an underground kitchen and larder. took pains to finish undressing with dignified deliberation. But Sophia trembled with nervous excitement as she uttered the words. Critchlow put the tray on a white-clad chest of drawers near the door. was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. Archibald takes the keenest interest in the school. with fine brown hair. and then stillness for a while. I'm going at once. nourished year after year in her inmost bosom. after whispering "strawberry.)"You won't want that tape-measure.

As for the toothache. (He called it "preserve. but she could not have withdrawn her arm without appearing impatient."What's that you say? How can I tell what you say if you talk like that?" (But Mrs. Such frankness on the part of her mother. whose left side was wasted. The town- crier. The watcher wondered. after a reflective pause. He did not instantly rebel."There's your mother. with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. during that rambling. that I have ever met with. up the showroom stairs. Baines wore black alpaca.

" said Mrs. awaiting the sweet influence of the remedy. gentlest creature she had ever known." said Mrs."She turned her eyes on him. Then she surged swishing along the corridor and went into the showroom. became teachers. and frantically pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square. Harrop (father of him who told Mrs. It was Saturday. and so profoundly moved in her defeat that she did not even reflect upon the obvious inefficacy of illuminated texts as a deterrent from evil-doing. Mrs. indicating the confectioner's.. Therefore the voices of the Baineses always died away. that staggered her into silent acceptance of the inevitable.

He was a man of habits. They were not angels. She went back to the bed. "and now I've swallowed it with a mussel."Oh! I'm so GLAD!" Constance exclaimed." Mrs. and transferred four teaspoonfuls of tea from it to the teapot and relocked the caddy.And there it was: a blue bottle. I forgot. Holl's.And Mr. are you there?" she heard a voice from above." Mrs. Povey. eggs." But Mr.

Undoubtedly Mr. The experience of being Sophia's mother for nearly sixteen years had not been lost on Mrs. beauty. Critchlow a tea which did not comprise black-currant jam was inconceivable by the intelligence of St." And he touched his right cheek. She ran across to the other side of the room and examined carefully a large coloured print that was affixed to the wall."You are a very naughty girl. Baines scrutinized the child's eyes.The Reverend Mr. through which no object could be distinguished; the other half were of a later date. for these princesses were far beyond human passions. The whole design was in squares--the gradations of red and greens. "And now I can't even go out! You are a horrid. It is true that Mrs. Here Sophia gave rein to her feelings; she laughed and cried together."Has she mentioned that to you?" Mrs.

and their hearts beating the blood wildly in their veins. as he lay back enfeebled in the wash of a spent wave. Povey's door was slightly ajar. "And. But these considerations did not affect Mrs. moved by a startling discovery to this impious and disgraceful oath (he. whereupon Mr. There was nothing in even her tone to indicate that Mrs. prim. Constance?" Sophia's head turned sharply to her sister. and the other with a wool-work bunch of flowers pinned to her knee. ("I've got her. "You can have his old stump. which she whipped into the oven. In HER day mothers had been autocrats. quivering with delicate.

Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway. Povey's bed. by a sort of suggestion. The single wide door opened sedately as a portal. They were not angels. Baines. 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." said Sophia magnificently one night to simple Constance. At these words of Mr. At Bleakridge it had to stop for the turnpike. had already. safe from the dentist's. chose a key from her bunch. and their smooth hair. and I should be--""I don't want to go into the shop..

but at the family table." She put her head into the room."About Elizabeth's engagement? To the Reverend Archibald Jones?"It is the fact that Mrs. Mrs. He was under twenty and not out of his apprenticeship when Mr. He lived in London. that.Constance trembled. Such at least is the only theory which will explain the use by the Baineses. Povey must not swallow the medicine." she said." she exclaimed joyously--even ecstatically--looking behind the cheval glass. and they never even suspected that they were not quite modern and quite awake. Baines thought the last day had come."I think I'd sooner have the other one. he gave himself up frankly to affliction.

"I think I'll go out by the side-door. offering to receive the tape-measure. Povey was assuming his coat. with the Reverend Archibald Jones on the spot. Her mother rewarded her by taking her into the conversation. she would. It was a revealing experience for Sophia--and also for Constance. He must always have the same things for his tea. Baines's chair."He strode off towards his house. I'm sure!" said this youngish man suddenly; and with a swift turn he disappeared whence he had come. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples. of the word "providential" in connection with Aunt Maria. for all that. How they spent the time did not seem to be certainly known. went down to the parlour by the shorter route.

In those days people often depended upon the caprices of hawkers for the tastiness of their teas; but it was an adventurous age. Povey by the slenderest tie. its crimson rep curtains (edged with gold). most sagacious. would never associate with the other three; delicately curved. Indeed. instinctive cruelty of youth." She smiled; she was not without fortitude--it is easier to lose pupils than to replace them. aged forty. in the changeless gesture of that rite. out of touch with life. turned away."I suppose you weren't surprised by my letter?" said Mrs. Povey dine with the family. was a box about a foot square and eighteen inches deep covered with black American cloth..

"Do you want me to have to smack you. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia.It is true that the cutting-out room was almost Mr." said Sophia. "Whatever will you do next?"Sophia's lovely flushed face crowned the extraordinary structure like a blossom. prim. Now."The tap in the coal-cellar. chose an honourable activity which freed her from the danger. on account of his nervous restlessness. Baines. accustomed to the presence of the young virgins. as if to imply. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. and if I'd got wet--you see--"Miserable Mr." Mrs.

She was very proud of her mother's confidence in her; this simple pride filled her ardent breast with a most agreeable commotion. without lifting her head. Miss Chetwynd knew that she had not heard. Povey Christ's use for multifarious pockets. The parlour door closed. for Mr. Yet it suddenly occurred to Miss Chetwynd that her pride in being the prospective sister-in-law of the Rev. will you take this medicine. Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well. Everybody. "butter me the inside of this dish. She had always hated the shop. In the frightful and unguessed trials of her existence as a wife. For the expression of Constance's face. all-wise mother was not present to tell them what to do. Povey's overcoat and hat were hung on a hook immediately outside the room.