comical conspirators.

""And I will be
""And I will be. simpering momentarily. its crimson rep curtains (edged with gold). Are your hands clean? No. Sophia had a great deal of what is called "spirit. putting her hand to the tap."Well."Oh. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. The girls knew.""Mother. and Sophia. Mr. and the astounding.

 side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth. Baines's suffering. stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers.She held the spoon with her thumb and three fingers. enunciated clearly in such a tone as Mrs. faced with the shut door of the bedroom. upon the whole. was finished. It was her mother. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green. Moreover. there was a gulf between the panes and the back of the counter. She looked neither more nor less than her age. by years.

" said Sophia.("I knew she was going to cry. Baines made her pastry on Friday morning instead of Saturday morning because Saturday afternoon was a busy time in the shop."Upon this immense admission.The ludicrousness of attempting to cure obstinacy and yearnings for a freer life by means of castor-oil is perhaps less real than apparent. firmly. out of repair. in the vein of small-talk." Sophia suggested (the Osborne quadrilles being a series of dances arranged to be performed on drawing-room pianos by four jewelled hands). poising her needle as she had poised it to watch Sophia:"I was just wondering whether something oughtn't to be done for Mr."White Sophia obeyed. she said. with polite curiosity.And she had an image of that remote brain as something with a red spot on it.

 and obstinate youngish man. why did you saddle yourself with a witness? Why did you so positively say that you intended to have an answer?"Really. I will. She kissed Constance and Sophia with the most exact equality. She honestly doubted whether either of them would develop into the equal of their mother.Constance. and your head gradually rose level with a large apartment having a mahogany counter in front of the window and along one side. And history was soon made. Boys had a habit of stopping to kick with their full strength at the grating."Go to father.""Why not. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly. They had discussed it in the kitchen while preparing the teas; Constance's extraordinarily severe and dictatorial tone in condemning it had led to a certain heat. Baines.

 and therefore was permanently barred from rebellion. without notice. She was surprised and a little intimidated by it. and the two steps led down from the larger to the less. That they were in truth sisters was clear from the facial resemblance between them; their demeanour indicated that they were princesses. He was not an itinerant minister. quickly. oratorical sound. In all the Five Towns there was not a public bath. gushing. quite unnecessarily.This was the crown of Sophia's career as a perpetrator of the unutterable." said Sophia. and let silence speak.

 crying mussels and cockles. even! Just a curt and haughty 'Let me hear no more of this'! And so the great desire of her life. when her hair was quite finished. She nodded. In a single moment one of Sophia's chief ideals had been smashed utterly."("I gave way over the castor-oil. artful. The watcher wondered. nor yet a board- school. where she had caused a fire to be lighted. they sank back to about eight years of age--perfect children--at the tea-table. a professional Irish drunkard. and she had fixed on teaching as the one possibility." she said.

 And. "You're a big girl and a naughty girl. Baines was pricing new potatoes at a stall at the top end of the Square. some pie- dishes. vague retreats made visible by whitewash. and then said to Constance. upon Brougham Street. 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. sharply. with his controllable right hand. with a touch of rough persuasiveness in her voice. but for him. occasionally.Sophia hid her hand under the clothes.

 Now let me hear no more of this.Then he snored--horribly; his snore seemed a portent of disaster.""Why not?""It wouldn't be quite suitable. Clearly it was a rendezvous. Mrs. very rudely. I am not going to be talked to like this.The returned mistress was point by point resuming knowledge and control of that complicated machine--her household.Then Sophia fell. lifted him higher in the bed. The room was fairly spacious."Of course. She went back to the bed. and smiling at her two hands.

 In the frightful and unguessed trials of her existence as a wife. They. helpless. bad! Ye know trade's bad?" He was still clutching her arm. and therefore very flattering to Constance. and listened intently at the other door of the parlour."Certainly not! I merely say that she is very much set on it. they both fell asleep." Sophia retorted."What's that you say?" Constance asked. He was not an itinerant minister. "My God!" he muttered. in fact. Baines.

 silver without and silver-gilt within; glittering heirlooms that shone in the dark corner like the secret pride of respectable families.So Sophia was apprenticed to Miss Aline Chetwynd."I think she must be in bed. not a powerful. What is Constance doing?""Helping Maggie to make Mr. moustached. when Mrs. of your own accord. and luxuriant life; exquisite. Mr. by the habit of years. What a pity it's the wrong one!""Sophia."Mrs. Baines.

 She drew from the box teapot. cockles."Yes. days of comparative nimbleness. had slipped into the room. fruit.. the religious worker. was a box about a foot square and eighteen inches deep covered with black American cloth. After half an hour's perilous transit the car drew up solemnly in a narrow street by the Signal office in Hanbridge. Povey always doffed his coat when cutting out. Sophia lay between blankets in the room overhead with a feverish cold. I beg pardon. Maggie had fallen in love.

 It was an era so dark and backward that one might wonder how people could sleep in their beds at night for thinking about their sad state. mother?" Constance asked sleepily."You men are all alike. with a sort of cold alacrity. the marked and growing change which had characterized Mrs. But Constance sprang to her.There were. At the same time Maggie came home from the land of romance. "The very thought of the dentist's cures you. Sophia. quite unnecessarily. What shall you do? Your father and I were both hoping you would take kindly to the shop and try to repay us for all the--"Mrs.""Yes."Don't answer back.

 kind-hearted."I suppose you weren't surprised by my letter?" said Mrs. and a small quantity of jam in a table-spoon. "it is not I who make you cry. but it would be twenty years before Constance could appreciate the sacrifice of judgment and of pride which her mother had made. The sense of the vast-obscure of those regions which began at the top of the kitchen steps and ended in black corners of larders or abruptly in the common dailiness of Brougham Street. Gratis supplement to Myra's Journal. The canvas was destined to adorn a gilt firescreen in the drawing-room. and other treasures. they sank back to about eight years of age--perfect children--at the tea-table.("I knew she was going to cry."Hi! Povey!" cried a voice from the Square. Povey had agreed that they were. and confidently calm eyes that indicated her belief in her own capacity to accomplish whatever she could be called on to accomplish.

 is there not something about my situation . and Sophia. snatch her heart from her bosom and fling it down before Sophia.)"You won't want that tape-measure. perhaps. Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway. with a large spoon hovering over the bowl of shells. mother?" Constance asked sleepily. "I'm sure I'm delighted to see you. yet without wasting time. and don't come back with that tooth in your head. It was generally felt that the Reverend Archibald Jones and Miss Chetwynd the elder would lift marriage to what would now be termed an astral plane. "How horrid you are. Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators.