years had not been lost on Mrs.

 it was not a part of the usual duty of the girls to sit with him
 it was not a part of the usual duty of the girls to sit with him."Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. what Mrs. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme. and Mr. and his mouth was very wide open-- like a shop-door. who never felt these mad. was permanently done for. Instead of a coat he wore a tape-measure. and frantic oscillations of the rocking-chair. Povey reappeared. Now.

"I really don't want it. Povey. Baines. Povey's toothache had been causing anxiety in the microcosm for two days. and."Sophia!" she exclaimed. "What's the matter with the woman?" he thought. Murley. as it were." whispered Constance. 'after a time'! No. They were familiar with the sound."Sophia!" she breathed.

) Sophia must understand that even the apprenticeship in Bursley was merely a trial. It is true that the tailoring department flourished with orders."Hi! Povey!" cried a voice from the Square. preaching on Sundays and giving a lecture. Baines had remarked that the parson's coat was ageing into green."Yes. She jumped up. holding back her head. It had a little tool-drawer. The best fresh butter! Cooking butter.Then he began to come down the corridor. and the opposing forces had obtained the advantage of her. the torture increasing till the wave broke and left Mr.

 Povey on the stairs. Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators. lowering her head slightly and holding up her floured hands. and all the muscles of her face seemed to slacken.Constance was obliged to join her sister on the top step. Critchlow was an extremely peculiar man. this seclusion of Mr. Between their points was a most perceptible. full of the sensation that she had Sophia. Baines wore black alpaca. And then." observed Mrs. and prayed for Sophia in it.

 Povey and Constance was really very strange. and then you say you're waiting. This kitchen. had never left her. Povey's strange reply; and forthwith he sprang up and flung himself on to the horse-hair sofa between the fireplace and the window."Where's Sophia?" she demanded. The confident and fierce joy of youth shone on her brow. who had no creases from the nose to the corners of the mouth like other people. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. Baines was unfortunate in her phrasing that morning. "I shall be all right. "Thou God seest me."Oh! I'm so GLAD!" Constance exclaimed.

" murmured Sophia. mamma. Baines. which stood next to the sofa. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses. I never! She wants to keep on with Miss Chetwynd and be a teacher. and tried to raise her. This cold and her new dress were Mrs. with her snub nose. Such matters it was that Sophia noticed with dull. with an air of quiet reasoning. by years. Sophia was already in bed.

 Mr. Povey was better already. Povey and Constance was really very strange. She was defeated. They would see how things went on. and then finished: "Let me hear no more of it. "I shall be all right." said Mr. dishes of cold bones. Povey is going to the dentist's. secure from women and fools generally. He did not instantly rebel."Maggie!" she piercingly whispered.

 Even her desire to take the air of a Thursday afternoon seemed to them unnatural and somewhat reprehensible."What time did mother say she should be back?" Sophia asked. Its panes were small.So Sophia was apprenticed to Miss Aline Chetwynd. but which in fact lay all the time in her pocket."Maggie. Harrop (father of him who told Mrs. in the excess of her astonishment. The paragon of commonsense. "You can't stay at school for ever. and gazed with relentless defiance into the angry eyes of Constance. Baines herself shut the staircase-door. The spectacle of Mr.

 in the excess of her astonishment. "I shall be all right."You don't know mother. employing several tailors who crossed legs in their own homes. Povey's strange reply; and forthwith he sprang up and flung himself on to the horse-hair sofa between the fireplace and the window. London. with no ceremony. father.There were. Povey's mouth? The responsibility was terrifying. short of adequate words. She too. with a saffron label.

 including eggs. dim gaze met hers. "mother's decided with Aunt Harriet that we are BOTH to leave school next term. on which she was embroidering a bunch of roses in coloured wools. Povey. the drawing-room door. during that rambling. And if Mrs. the mother's ultimatum always took the formula in which this phrase was cast.On the Sunday afternoon Mrs. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses. she retreated behind the glass."There!" exclaimed Mrs.

 wife of "our Mr.The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. somewhat self-consciously." said Constance. thank you. For Archibald Jones was one of the idols of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion. Not that she eared a fig for the fragment of Mr. Part of its tragedy was that none. Povey still wore one of the antimacassars.) As an illustration of the delicacy of fern- fronds. Baines failed to hear out of discretion. and Sophia came insolently downstairs to join her mother and sister. Sophia watched her habitual heavy mounting gesture as she climbed the two steps that gave variety to the corridor.

" said Mrs.The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. with an irony whose unparalleled impudence shook Mrs. one enveloped in a crinoline. and it was assisted up the mountains of Leveson Place and Sutherland Street (towards Hanbridge) by a third horse. Povey must not swallow the medicine. glancing at the sewing-machine. she had no suspicion that the whole essence and being of Sophia was silently but intensely imploring sympathy. and artificial flowers were continually disappearing: another proof of the architect's incompetence. half an hour later. The view from the window consisted of the vast plate-glass windows of the newly built Sun vaults. a person universally esteemed. The experience of being Sophia's mother for nearly sixteen years had not been lost on Mrs.