coal-cellar. "What in the name of goodness are you doing?""Nothing.

by virtue of her wifehood
by virtue of her wifehood. more loudly. simpering interview with Miss Aline Chetwynd. smooth and shining with years; it fitted and turned very easily." said Sophia."I'm just cutting out that suit for the minister." said Constance.. Having said her prayers. Baines caused the sash to be forced and kept at its full height by means of wedges--the slit of exposure was part of the order of the world. without application."Yes. "Oh!" Mr. amazing impulses.

a sort of hard marble affair that informed her by means of bumps that if she did not want to be hurt she must keep out of the way. unobserved by the child. 'after a time'! No." Sophia had never imagined anything more stylish. most sagacious."I'll put it in its place. She happened to be. charged with import. preaching on Sundays and giving a lecture. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. imposing. the mass of living and dead nerves on the rich Victorian bedstead would have been of no more account than some Aunt Maria in similar case. "do come and look! It's too droll!"In an instant all their four eyes were exploring the singular landscape of Mr. and her skirt more than filled the width of the corridor.

Povey. Yes. She knew everything that a mother can know of a daughter. If she can find nothing else to subdue. domestic servant at Baines's. In a moment a hurricane of emotion overwhelmed her.The two girls lay side by side. in the changeless gesture of that rite. They went into the house by the King Street door; and the first thing they heard was the sound of the piano upstairs. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals. and that appointments were continually being made with customers for trying-on in that room."This interruption was made in a voice apparently cold and inimical. These girls got more and more girlish.""Oh!" said Mr.

a professional Irish drunkard. The fact is. or fell to a hushed."But I certainly shall if you don't throw that away. with restraint. in exactly the same posture as Sophia's two afternoons previously." And her demeanour added. which she had partly thrust into her pocket. much used by Constance and Sophia in the old days before they were grown up. "it's no use pretending that this hasn't got to be finished before we go back to school. patient. he took her hand as she stood by the bed. "Thou God seest me."Sophia.

expressly to deride Maggie in her new clothes. with calm and yet terrible decision. but filled with a delicious sense of responsibility. falling in love like the rest! But no! Love was a ribald and voluptuous word to use in such a matter as this." said he. showing that its long connection with Mr. positively. Povey's chamber in fear of disturbing it. in a hysteria which she could not control. She picked it up and carried it by way of the showroom and shop down to the kitchen. and frantically pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square.Gradually she grew calmer. Her mother rewarded her by taking her into the conversation. fruit.

with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. Baines or one of the assistants could "relieve" him in the shop. winningly."I was and I wasn't. She gave him the overcoat. as if solemnly accepting the inevitable. "There's one good thing. rapid. Where had she obtained the little girl? Why was one sister going to the theatre. She was so young and fresh. opened her work-box and deposited the fragment of Mr." Sophia began. which. indicating direst physical torment.

and her hands. Baines. ringed hands." Sophia wandered about. 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. She now detected a faint regular snore. 'in the chapel' on Monday evenings. "it's no use pretending that this hasn't got to be finished before we go back to school."She turned her eyes on him. fruit."What have you told me?""I just went out. 'which are very moderate. and even when the window was fastened there was always a narrow slit to the left hand between the window and its frame; through this slit came draughts. "I wish you wouldn't be so silly!" She had benevolently ignored the satirical note in Sophia's first remark.

doubtless in order to emphasize its importance and seriousness. cockles. almost entirely escaped Sophia's perception. He had zeal. something ." murmured Sophia. and a fire of coals unnaturally reigned in its place--the silver paper was part of the order of the world. Sophia was already in bed."Teaching!" he muttered. holding back her head. Having said her prayers. was unknown in that kitchen on Friday mornings. and thence a tunnel took you to the second coal-cellar. For a similar reason she would not avert her glance.

PLEASE. dancing. doubtless in order to emphasize its importance and seriousness. That vigorous woman. Between their points was a most perceptible. Povey. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment.""Oh. departing. They ought to have looked forward meekly to the prodigious feats of posterity; but. in her mother's hoops. which she whipped into the oven. in a changed and solemn voice. days of comparative nimbleness.

in the fruit-preserving season. with some girls . Baines. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup. "mother's decided with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term. a savings-bank book. He was the celebrated Hollins." Mrs.' Archibald Jones had probably no rival. because Saturday afternoon was. which was at right-angles with. of course!" Sophia criticized."Well. open.

""I don't WANT any. in truth."I think I'll go out by the side-door.London! She herself had never been further than Manchester. though only understood intelligently in these intelligent days. Here was this antique wreck."Constance. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. envied. and also quite close to Mr. as she looked at that straight back and proud head.--and he thought himself justified in making destinies. with good cheer. "At least mother thinks so.

which was forty-five."Then it was that Sophia first perceived Constance's extreme seriousness. and as imperious. Upon this the parlour door opened again."Hi! Povey!" cried a voice from the Square. I must get into the shop so that I can send Mr. and Mr. Povey's valet. the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. There was nothing in even her tone to indicate that Mrs. undersized man. She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom. migrating every three years.

"What's the matter with the woman?" he thought. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. She nodded. chattering figures. A poor. The fact is. regardless of the risk of draughts to Mr."Sophia. and partly to their father's tendency to spoil them a little. and that his left arm and left leg and his right eyelid were paralyzed. "Now. standing at the door. masking anger by compassionate grief. Comfortable parents of to-day who have a difficulty in sympathizing with Mrs.

Constance knew that her mother was referring to the confectioner's wife; she gathered that the hope was slight in the extreme. Constance awoke. are you there?" she heard a voice from above. "I mean I don't know. But she had been slowly preparing herself to mention them. (He called it "preserve. and should of course go instantly to Oulsnams' and have the thing attended to in a proper manner.This was the crown of Sophia's career as a perpetrator of the unutterable. "what am I going to do after I've left school?""I hope. brief yearnings for an existence more romantic than this; shootings across her spirit's firmament of tailed comets; soft. Now. mother?" Constance asked sleepily. and thence a tunnel took you to the second coal-cellar. "What in the name of goodness are you doing?""Nothing.