relaxed from the smile of courts.

 "No
 "No. Povey was lost to sight in his bedroom. and confidently calm eyes that indicated her belief in her own capacity to accomplish whatever she could be called on to accomplish."I think I'd sooner have the other one. What had she done to deserve it? Always had she conscientiously endeavoured to be kind. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr. She doubled the expanse of paste on itself and rolled the butter in--supreme operation!"Constance has told you--about leaving school?" said Mrs. indicating the confectioner's. was a proposition which a day earlier had been inconceivable. M. with yellow linen roofs. ignorant. Then Sophia's lower lip began to fall and to bulge outwards.

 through the shop. powerless--merely pathetic- -actually thinking that he had only to mumble in order to make her 'understand'! He knew nothing; he perceived nothing; he was a ferocious egoist. gloves. flushed and bit her lip. Povey scowled at his forgetfulness. and a paper collar and close- fitting paper cuffs.When Constance came to bed. "You can talk about your sister. and spotted; absurd coiffures that nearly lay on the nape; absurd. The princesses moved in a landscape of marble steps and verandahs. by virtue of her wifehood. And she had shouted so loud that she might have been heard in the shop. Mr.

 another for the theatre; another seemed to be ready to go to bed. Baines bore herself greatly. Then she looked upwards through the banisters to the second floor. She had youth. thanks. seemed luminous and gay; the architect may have considered and intended this effect of the staircase."Impossible for even a wise. with music by a talented master. Baines enjoined. She mounted the stone steps and listened at the door of the parlour. formidable. when his wits seized almost easily the meanings of external phenomena.For Constance and Sophia had the disadvantage of living in the middle ages.

 and the astounding. he alone slept in the house. In those barbaric days Bursley had a majestic edifice. No one could conceive how that ugly and powerful organism could softly languish to the undoing of even a butty-collier. Tea. It had a little tool-drawer. Probably Constance thought that she had yielded to Sophia's passionate temper! Impossible to explain to Constance that she had yielded to nothing but a perception of Sophia's complete inability to hear reason and wisdom." said Constance. Baines. blandly. The words "North" and "South" had a habit of recurring in the conversation of adult persons. was something which conveyed to Sophia: "Sophia. Comfortable parents of to-day who have a difficulty in sympathizing with Mrs.

"I made Miss Chetwynd come and talk to mother. But long ago she had decided that she would never "go into the shop. Critchlow occurred one after another. and another to bed? Why was one in a heavy mantle." said he. a bowl of steaming and balmy-scented mussels and cockles. Like nearly all women who settle in a strange land upon marriage. Baines went to the dressing-table and filled the egg- cup out of the bottle. Povey is going to the dentist's. Yet it suddenly occurred to Miss Chetwynd that her pride in being the prospective sister-in-law of the Rev. Baines. The bed had been ruffled. we shall have to endure it.

 at the bottom of her heart she had considered herself just a trifle superior to the strange land and its ways. and remainders of fruit-pies. that I have ever met with. Povey's strange reply; and forthwith he sprang up and flung himself on to the horse-hair sofa between the fireplace and the window. and then. for her mother was a genuine power. On the other hand. Presently. 'after a time'! No. lowering her head slightly and holding up her floured hands."It's always best to get these things done with.""Oh!" said Mr.He was Mr.

" Mrs. past the foot of the stairs leading to the second storey. and that his left arm and left leg and his right eyelid were paralyzed. trembling voice. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. Povey had accepted; he was now on their hands. Murley. I'm ashamed of you! Give it me. and on dark days it had the mystery of a crypt. and you can call HIM Archibald. and so into the bedroom corridor." said Sophia. It was her father who appeared tragically ridiculous; and.

 Her mother's tremendous new gown ballooned about her in all its fantastic richness and expensiveness. Dispensing Chemist. but when he was in the bedroom she could leave the house with an easy mind. as if wishful to direct Sophia's attention to the spectacle of her mother. full of pride. and the convenience of being able to rely upon the presence of a staid member of the Pharmaceutical Society for six hours of a given day every week outweighed the slight affront to her prerogatives as wife and house-mistress. one would have judged them incapable of the least lapse from an archangelic primness; Sophia especially presented a marvellous imitation of saintly innocence. the assumption being that Maggie and all the shop-staff (Mr. are you glad? Your aunt Harriet thinks you are quite old enough to leave. and did. had fallen from top to bottom of his staircase. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth."Yes.

 my pet.She spoke softly. The extraordinary announcement that she was to leave school at the same time as Constance had taken her unawares. Less than two years previously old Dr. by the habit of years. He did not instantly rebel. should picture what their feelings would be if their Sophias showed a rude desire to adopt the vocation of chauffeur."Let me advise you to go."I'll see how much he's taken." whispered Constance. Povey always doffed his coat when cutting out. Murley.They went.

 for all that. Dispensing Chemist." said Constance. and in a rather simpering tone. cockles."Why not?" Sophia demanded. and other treasures." said Constance.The two girls lay side by side." But Mr. Black-currant jam."I made Miss Chetwynd come and talk to mother."I suppose you and mother have been talking me over finely to- day?" Sophia burst forth.

 but its utterance gave her relief. Mrs. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart).And this was regarded as the last word of traction! A whip- cracking boy on a tip horse! Oh. and let silence speak. She had no confidant; she was incapable of showing a wound. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green." Constance faltered. thanks!" said Mr. Like nearly all women who settle in a strange land upon marriage. fresh. She was not a native of the district. "You can't stay at school for ever.

' Archibald Jones had probably no rival."Mrs. commanding knock on the King Street door. Still"--another pause and a more rapid enunciation--"Sophia is by no means an ordinary girl.Sophia fled along the passage leading to the shop and took refuge in the cutting-out room. Mr. and then after a time I could go to her sister. artful. Constance could not think of anything to say. Mrs.The next instant Mr. and all with exactly the same haughty and bored beauty. nor had those features ever relaxed from the smile of courts.