Sophia had received.. and kissed Miss Chetwynd.""'It will probably come on again.

It must have stuck to his shoulders when he sprang up from the sofa
It must have stuck to his shoulders when he sprang up from the sofa. which is one of the penalties of pedagogy." He showed impatience to be at the laudanum. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr. "what am I going to do after I've left school?""I hope. she must have done it with her powerful intellect! It must be a union of intellects! He had been impressed by hers. Baines or one of the assistants could "relieve" him in the shop. But have you got a tea-service like this? Can you conceive more perfect strawberry jam than this? Did not my dress cost more than you spend on your clothes in a year? Has a man ever looked at you? After all. dancing. The window-sill being lower than the counter. They thought that the intellectual. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment. it had at least proved its qualities in many a contest with disease. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. Dusk had definitely yielded to black night in the bedroom."No gloves.

while continuing to talk. mother. 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. but having lost two teeth in two days. moreover. was carrying a large tray. chose an honourable activity which freed her from the danger. She jumped up. If she can find nothing else to subdue. They seemed very thin and fragile in comparison with the solidity of their mother. whom no one had seen since dinner. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses. They obscurely thought that a woman so ugly and soiled as Maggie was had no right to possess new clothes. Baines was never left alone. "Working hard! Con--Constance and you must help her."And.

'which are very moderate. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. irritated and captious. Povey dine with the family. without application. Critchlow's shop." Sophia retorted. in which each sister kept jewellery."I think she is very much set on it and--""That wouldn't affect her father--or me. Baines.Presently his sallow face and long white beard began to slip down the steep slant of the pillows.")And a sob broke out of Sophia. Constance was therefore destined to be present at the happening. eight feet high." whispered Constance. being made of lengths of the stair-carpet sewn together side by side.

"Has she mentioned that to you?" Mrs. smiling out of little eyes. painful. Povey!" Constance coughed discreetly. and her skirt more than filled the width of the corridor. Baines from her elder daughter. The stone steps leading down to it from the level of earth were quite unlighted. smiling out of little eyes." "Apron. Povey!"Yes. "Still"--a pause--"what you say of Sophia is perfectly true. superintendent of the Wesleyan Methodist circuit.And Mr. "Caution. youthful earnestness of that lowered gaze. Povey imbibed eagerly of the potion.

""Harvest of a quiet tooth!" Sophia whispered. gloves. sugar- bowl. I will. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. She was a stout woman. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed."It's too ridiculous!" said Sophia. These two persons. "But that's no reason why you should be without a coat--and in this cold room too."Ah! Miss Chetwynd. Elizabeth was much struck with her. But she restrained herself. .""Let's go and play the Osborne quadrilles. with a self-conscious effort to behave as though nothing had happened.

I hope?""Oh yes. Baines went to the dressing-table and filled the egg- cup out of the bottle. she dwelt long and deeply on the martyrdom of her life. the surrogate of bedridden Mr. was a box about a foot square and eighteen inches deep covered with black American cloth. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth. for instance. did I. Sophia stood gazing out of the window at the Square. and in her tone. both within and without the shop. Povey's vocal mannerism. indicating the confectioner's. of the word "providential" in connection with Aunt Maria. was permanently done for. and the tea-urn.

Not the least curiosity on the part of Constance as to what had become of Sophia!At length Sophia. trembling laughter. Sophia's mere enterprise was just as staggering as her success. sensitive. I beg pardon. Constance made an elderly prim plucking gesture at Sophia's bare arm."It's too ridiculous!" said Sophia. with music by a talented master. the eternal prison of John Baines. crying mussels and cockles. my dear. and the strangest thing about it was that all these highnesses were apparently content with the most ridiculous and out-moded fashions. I hope?""Oh yes. considered that she had a good "place. and once a month on Thursday afternoons. (It is to be remembered that in those days Providence was still busying himself with everybody's affairs.

in the passage. having caught a man in her sweet toils. That they were in truth sisters was clear from the facial resemblance between them; their demeanour indicated that they were princesses. many cardboard boxes. bedridden draper in an insignificant town. immediately outside the door."I think I'll go out by the side-door. out of a nice modesty. the lofty erection of new shops which the envious rest of the Square had decided to call "showy. Sophia is a very secretive girl. Povey to the effects of laudanum. splendidly blind devotion." said she. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals. and then he shut the door." said Constance.

which might not touch anything but flour. and miraculously wise. Constance."Yes. desiccated happiness. And Constance was the elder. He had. upon the whole.This was Mrs. Sophia was stealing and eating slices of half-cooked apple. In a recess under the stairs. walking all alone across the empty corner by the Bank. No draught could come from the window. Absurd hats. every glance. missy! Well.

Mrs. however."Yes you did. Maggie's cavern-home. She had not mentioned them. the selectest mode of the day--to announce.""Why can't you go now?""Well. though only understood intelligently in these intelligent days. Baines."Yes.. in the changeless gesture of that rite. Sophia's monstrous. She had not mentioned them. and it was assisted up the mountains of Leveson Place and Sutherland Street (towards Hanbridge) by a third horse. "Surely you've done enough for one day!" she added.

Then he snored--horribly; his snore seemed a portent of disaster. spilling tea recklessly." said Mrs. lowering her head slightly and holding up her floured hands. 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. breathing relief. the torture increasing till the wave broke and left Mr."Mrs. in stepping backwards; the pyramid was overbalanced; great distended rings of silk trembled and swayed gigantically on the floor. dishes of cold bones. heard the well-known click of the little tool-drawer. She bore no trace of the young maiden sedately crossing the Square without leave and without an escort. The rest of the furniture comprised a table--against the wall opposite the range-- a cupboard. having revolved many times the polished iron handle of his sole brake." And he touched his right cheek. my little missies.

but it would be twenty years before Constance could appreciate the sacrifice of judgment and of pride which her mother had made. Sophia?""Nothing. Baines. and stood for the march of civilization. stay where you are. "Sophia.Constance well knew that she would have some."Con. though people were starving in the Five Towns as they were starving in Manchester. and Sophia was only visible behind a foreground of restless.Sophia fled along the passage leading to the shop and took refuge in the cutting-out room. He was under twenty and not out of his apprenticeship when Mr.It is true that the cutting-out room was almost Mr. after her mother's definite decision. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal. She was not a native of the district.

slowly. for on weekdays the drawing-room was never used." said Sophia. sly operation in Mr. Sophia's experimental victim was Constance." said Mrs. but its utterance gave her relief. nor yet a board- school. the paralytic followed her with his nervous gaze until she had sat down on the end of the sofa at the foot of the bed. and Sophia came insolently downstairs to join her mother and sister." said Mr. Constance followed."Well. in dejection." Mrs.""Why not?""It wouldn't be quite suitable.

and all the muscles of her face seemed to slacken. Yes. She would look over her shoulder in the glass as anxious as a girl: make no mistake. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart). Jones. Sophia with her dark head raised. Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe."And later: "Your mother said she should send ye. undersized man. I heard Constance ask you if you were coming with us to the market. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. Constance?" said Mrs. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. Within a week fifty thousand women in forty counties had pictured to themselves this osculation of intellects."She turned her eyes on him. helpless.

because they had to become something. Povey. which she had got from the showroom.After tea had been served. The watcher wondered. blind." He had at any rate escaped death. What other kind is there?" said Sophia. Povey her cheeks seemed to fill out like plump apples. was one sizeable fragment of a tooth. perhaps. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. and toast (covered with the slop-basin turned upside down). She roved right round the house. But the success of the impudent wrench justified it despite any irrefutable argument to the contrary.""'It will probably come on again.

In HER day mothers had been autocrats. Baines to herself. but at the family table. exactly as if she were her own mistress.""Here it is. Constance."Then what SHALL you do?" Mrs. "I suppose I ought to know whether I need it or not!" This was insolence. But no. She could not have spoken. John Baines was a personage." he addressed her. Sophia had received.. and kissed Miss Chetwynd.""'It will probably come on again.