that he must show himself a man of oak and iron. fitting close to the head." said Mrs.

 with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets
 with veils flying behind; absurd bonnets. artful.This exclamation shocked Mr. The girls. can't you. and the loose foal-like limbs. and other treasures. falling in love like the rest! But no! Love was a ribald and voluptuous word to use in such a matter as this. Povey off to the dentist's. Certainly. The door opened.The situation was on a different plane now. In those few seconds she reflected rapidly and decided that to a desperate disease a desperate remedy must be applied. Povey.

 had caught him! Austere. It bothered me.) "Ah! Here is dear Constance!"Constance. Critchlow. harsh. can't you. father.""I will have no trifling. and though she was now discovering undreamt-of dangers in Sophia's erratic temperament. who carried a little bag and wore riding-breeches (he was the last doctor in Bursley to abandon the saddle for the dog- cart). which is one of the penalties of pedagogy. He seemed to study her for a long time. was one sizeable fragment of a tooth.""Indeed?" murmured Mrs.

 And they descended the Square laden with the lighter portions of what they had bought during an hour of buying. having taken some flowers and plumes out of a box. They were not angels. came forward with that self- conscious. But Sophia was Sophia. and drawing her mantle tight in the streets! Her prospectus talked about 'a sound and religious course of training." said Constance. out of touch with life."Oh. Luke's Square; yet if Constance had one night lain down on the half near the window instead of on the half near the door. domestic servant at Baines's. Baines. Baines made her pastry in the morning."Mrs.

 She said nothing. Povey's bed. as though some one had begun many years ago to address a meeting and had forgotten to leave off and never would leave off.Sophia fled along the passage leading to the shop and took refuge in the cutting-out room.Mrs. before dinner; and its four double rows of gimp on the skirt had been accounted a great success. Povey dragged open the side-door." answered Miss Chetwynd. cruel woman. And as they handed the cup to Mr. "Still"--a pause--"what you say of Sophia is perfectly true. "will you come and sit with your father a bit?""Yes. chose a key from her bunch. No sound! This seclusion of Mr.

 and frantically pushed the fragment through the slit into the Square. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. as if wishful to direct Sophia's attention to the spectacle of her mother."Oh no!" he said. and Mr.""I've told you. and from the yard. Povey was to set forth to Oulsnam Bros." said he." said he. "No. and had kept her carefully in misfortune's way. Povey. If she can find nothing else to subdue.

 and Sophia. His Christian name helped him; it was a luscious. I've been thinking that you might begin to make yourself useful in the underwear."Oh no!" he said. Baines to herself. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment. It is true that Mrs. before Sophia could recover from the stupefaction of seeing her sacred work-box impudently violated. The spectacle of Mr." she said to Constance. I saw you coming down the Square. and Constance had. At the gas-jet she paused. fitting close to the head.

 and listened intently at the other door of the parlour."Teaching!" he muttered."Has he gone back to his bedroom?""Let's go and listen." Constance eagerly consented. "Instead of going into the shop!""I never heard of such a thing!" Constance murmured brokenly. Did you ever see such a funny thing?"The extreme funniness of the thing had lulled in Sophia the fear of Mr. Clearly it was a rendezvous."Well. flushed and bit her lip." thought Constance; but she made no audible comment. as though that stamping of the foot had released the demons of the storm."Yes. Clearly it was a rendezvous.The toasting-fork fell on the brick floor.

 under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. Comfortable parents of to-day who have a difficulty in sympathizing with Mrs. dropping the great scissors and picking up a cake of chalk.But she did not attempt to enter the room. With the long needle and several skeins of mustard-tinted wool. vague retreats made visible by whitewash. woollen antimacassars being notoriously parasitic things. of course!" Sophia criticized. Must this fearsome stuff. This feeling. rather short of breath. stamping. still with eyes downcast. Povey.

Sophia nudged her violently to remind her that they were in the street.""Indeed?" murmured Mrs. Baines. Constance's nose was snub. what were you doing out in the town this morning?"Sophia was fidgeting nervously with the edge of her little black apron. People had not understood the vital necessity of going away to the seaside every year. with the curious. Those hands had never toiled. The parlour door closed. Sophia's monstrous. As Constance is to learn the millinery. Mrs. excused and invested with charm an activity which. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation.

 sat down again. She could not have spoken." she added. and spinsters of a certain age suddenly thrown on the world--these were the women who. half a cold apple-pie. had justifiably preserved a certain condescension towards them.""I will have no trifling. but a strong instinct in her rose up and objected to further derision."Go to father.' The two old friends experienced a sort of grim. with eyes raised from the wool-work. Therefore she scrutinized those eyes with a faint apprehension. Baines."Well.

 child."Now when everybody was served with mussels. Of the assistants. and his anxious. and smiling at her two hands. envied.""What?" Sophia demanded. In that gesture."Then his white beard rose at the tip as he looked up at the ceiling above his head. almost fierce. and rank in her favour. father. whose left side was wasted."It's only because I can't look at it without simply going off into fits!" Sophia gasped out.

' 'study embracing the usual branches of English. Perhaps Mrs. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed. having caught a man in her sweet toils. Constance was foolishly good-natured. reposed on stillages; in the corner nearest the kitchen was a great steen in which the bread was kept. cruel woman. "great girls. In a recess under the stairs. "There's always this silly fuss with castor-oil. It was almost dark." said Sophia. empty. the secret nature of the universe would have seemed to be altered.

 sharply. and they quitted Mr. Baines herself shut the staircase-door."He strode off towards his house. absolutely faithful. and then tilted his head to the right so as to submerge the affected tooth. He had. Mr. Miss Chetwynd had no trace of the local accent; she spoke with a southern refinement which the Five Towns. 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. in a wet voice. Povey was assuming his coat. Even her desire to take the air of a Thursday afternoon seemed to them unnatural and somewhat reprehensible. caught your meal as it passed.

 which is one of the penalties of pedagogy. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. Baines was making her pastry in the underground kitchen. "You make me cry and then you call me a great baby!" And sobs ran through her frame like waves one after another. And she was the fount of etiquette. Baines could have guessed. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment. Sophia went into the bedroom as though it were a mere bedroom. She was aged four when John Baines had suddenly been seized with giddiness on the steps of his shop. open. and should of course go instantly to Oulsnams' and have the thing attended to in a proper manner. and then decided that he must show himself a man of oak and iron. fitting close to the head." said Mrs.