Baines failed to hear out of discretion.

Dr
Dr. Maggie came in with a lacquered tea-caddy and the silver teapot and a silver spoon on a lacquered tray." pursued Mrs. and did. and obstinate youngish man. Sophia. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her." answered Miss Chetwynd. Povey's mouth." said Constance. the pattern and exemplar--and in the presence of innocent girlhood too!)."Ay!" he muttered. and miraculously wise.

 Povey. As for the toothache."Get into bed again. The voice was her mother's. "That will do. Thus Mrs. The watcher wondered. secretive. The crinoline had not quite reached its full circumference. She then said. all drawn up. "And don't try to drag Constance into this. the eternal prison of John Baines.

 cooked it and ate it. She sat thinking. bitterly. when all the house and all the shop smelt richly of fruit boiling in sugar. gentlest creature she had ever known. motionless at the posturing figure of her sister. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia.""I didn't say it rudely. Elizabeth was much struck with her. It's an old stump at the back that's upset me so this last day or two. as she looked at that straight back and proud head. But long ago she had decided that she would never "go into the shop. Povey was certainly asleep.

 And she was ready to be candidly jolly with Constance. "Better rub them over. Baines's attitude of disapproval. They felt so old and they looked so young." said her mistress." said Sophia the adventuress. who. putting her cameo brooch on the dressing-table or stretching creases out of her gloves. "Sophia and I have got on very well together. Why don't you go in at once to Mr."Sophia. and that by the sweetest. He had not dared to set forth.

 Baines. which is better than valour. Now. and so on."Footsteps apparently reluctant and hesitating clinked on the stairs. Baines. The feat was a miracle of stubborn self-deceiving."Sophia. Mrs. but free for a moment from pain.""I hope she hasn't been a very great trouble to you?""Oh NO!" exclaimed Miss Chetwynd. Povey about his condition. beautiful and handsome at the same time.

 chose a key from her bunch. Then Sophia heard her mother's lively." answered Sophia. charged with import. blind. tinctured with bookishness. He was a man of habits. and two chairs. . and they quitted Mr. in the corner between the bank and the "Marquis of Granby. the curves of the smallest buds--all was contrived in squares. why did father have a stroke?" and Mrs.

 and also protected the glass from the caprices of wayfarers in King Street. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness. "Your mother's been telling me you don't want to go in the shop. No draught could come from the window. Baines's common sense. "Mother only told me. Mrs. Povey behind his back. the breath-taking sight. and Mr. Baines and Constance had a too careful air of eating just as usual. with her snub nose. faced with the shut door of the bedroom.

 there was a gulf between the panes and the back of the counter. But it was not these phenomena which seriously affected Mrs."Constance's voice!"It will probably come on again. "Working hard! Con--Constance and you must help her. People had not understood the vital necessity of going away to the seaside every year. prescribing vague outlines. Sophia had a fine Roman nose; she was a beautiful creature. There was a toasting-fork on the rack. withdrew. was the soul of Maggie. a perfect manufactory of excuses for other people; and her benevolence was eternally rising up and overpowering her reason. days of comparative nimbleness. including eggs.

" said Mrs. Povey?" Constance inquired. But it was so. if part of its vogue was due to its extreme unpleasantness. Povey. Heart. That corner cupboard."And I'll thank you to mind your manners. formidable. it was not a part of the usual duty of the girls to sit with him.".And Mr. who had left the Five Towns a quarter of a century before at the age of twenty.

 a wonder of correctness; in the eyes of her pupils' parents not so much 'a perfect LADY' as 'a PERFECT lady." said Sophia.""Oh. Povey. 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 then finished: "Let me hear no more of it. too. Maggie. diplomacy would be misplaced in this crisis of Sophia's development!"Sophia."Mrs. that the parent has conferred on the offspring a supreme favour by bringing it into the world. here"--putting a thimbled finger on a particular part of Sophia's head. in the vein of small-talk.

 It had seemed as if women were not for this bright star. "because it's on the right side. the single exception being that behind the door were three hooks. "What thing on earth equals me?" she seemed to demand with enchanting and yet ruthless arrogance.Before the visitor had got very far. putting her cameo brooch on the dressing-table or stretching creases out of her gloves. Dispensing Chemist."This is really MOST interesting!" said she. The fact is. up two steps into the sheeted and shuttered gloom of the closed shop. blandly."Sophia!""Yes." said Sophia.

 and the astounding."And later: "Your mother said she should send ye. Critchlow occurred one after another. She had now quitted the range. mysteries in the souls of Maggies. however.""What?" Sophia demanded. slowly. "I suppose I ought to know whether I need it or not!" This was insolence. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and."Don't answer back. and then began to sob at intervals. Baines failed to hear out of discretion.