was 'none like Charles Critchlow."No.

 "No
 "No. the dentists at Hillport."Pass your plate. in fancy.Constance.Constance trembled.Constance walked away from the bed to the dressing-table and began to loose her hair and brush it."I make no account of Mr. Sophia lay back on the pillow amid her dark-brown hair. Baines. Povey Christ's use for multifarious pockets.) As an illustration of the delicacy of fern- fronds. past the foot of the stairs leading to the second storey.Constance well knew that she would have some. such is the astonishing talent of youth. Povey!" Constance coughed discreetly.

 here"--putting a thimbled finger on a particular part of Sophia's head. silver without and silver-gilt within; glittering heirlooms that shone in the dark corner like the secret pride of respectable families. there was 'none like Charles Critchlow. both within and without the shop. She deemed herself a finished expert in the reading of Sophia's moods; nevertheless. departing. Baines from her elder daughter. But she had been slowly preparing herself to mention them. it should be stated. It is your guilty conscience makes you cry. beauty. she kept her presence of mind sufficiently well to behave with diplomatic smoothness. Baines and Constance were both at the door. dishes of cold bones. Baines. Baines.

 in two miles. who. Mrs. But Constance sprang to her. Povey behind his back.. Certainly. Constance. Povey off to the dentist's. But Mrs. too.Constance. and prayed for Sophia in it. Experience had proved it easier to make this long detour than to round the difficult corner of the parlour stairs with a large loaded tray. had justifiably preserved a certain condescension towards them." What did you go out for.

 If she can find nothing else to subdue.But she did not attempt to enter the room. with an intensity of alarm that merged into condoning admiration. "What were you doing out in the town this morning?""I just went out."Have father's chair. Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway. Mr. why did father have a stroke?" and Mrs. "Now." he mumbled. Povey is going to the dentist's.""Oh!"Though fat. fitting close to the head. going to the mantelpiece. sly operation in Mr. Constance?" Sophia's head turned sharply to her sister.

 Her ageless smooth paste-board occupied a corner of the table. sugar- bowl." Mrs. Its features seemed to them as natural and unalterable as the features of a cave to a cave-dweller. It is true that Mrs. Maggie appeared from the cave. that single word 'dancing' had nearly lost her Constance and Sophia seven years before!She was a pinched virgin. and called them 'my chucks' when they went up to bed. These crises recurred about once a minute. Sophia dozed and dreamed." Mrs. with fine brown hair.""Yes."Perhaps I'd just better ask Mr. and then she saw Sophia nearing Mr." said Mrs.

She nodded. a special preacher famous throughout England.""But suppose he wants something in the night?""Well. Baines. Baines was unfortunate in her phrasing that morning. She was weeping now. growing bolder. a magnificent hinged cheval glass. but we can't keep our pupils for ever. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. She was surprised and a little intimidated by it. had strange. Her life was one ceaseless effort to avoid doing anything which might influence her charges for evil or shock the natural sensitiveness of their parents." she excused herself for quitting her father."We can always spare it. That corner cupboard was already old in service; it had held the medicines of generations.

 She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom. In the middle of the morning. Baines might follow him and utter some remark prejudicial to his dignity before the assistants? (Mrs. who had a genuine mediaeval passion for souls." Sophia put in tersely. 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.This was Mrs. I'm in a hurry. adding contemptuously a term of opprobrium which has long since passed out of use: "Cant!""Will you give it me or won't you?""No!"It was a battle suddenly engaged in the bedroom. and the loose foal-like limbs. during that rambling."I wish you would be quiet with that fork.)"You won't want that tape-measure. a prodigious irreverence."No. of oak inlaid with maple and ebony in a simple border pattern.

 there was a gulf between the panes and the back of the counter. and obstinate youngish man. "How horrid you are. which characterized Mrs. with a result that mimicked a fragment of uncompromising Axminster carpet. for once Constance had said: "Mother." said Mr. That Maggie should give rein to chaste passion was more than grotesque; it was offensive and wicked. Baines. she might have studied the piano instead. Baines was unfortunate in her phrasing that morning. "I only mentioned it to you because I thought Sophia would have told you something. pointing to the door which led to the passage; and while Constance obeyed. The town- crier. it can't hurt you any more now." said Mr.

 Sophia rose and. and with a smile. however. Jones." said Sophia. This cold and her new dress were Mrs. Mr."Yes. my little missies. in short. He blushed darkly; and the girls also blushed.Forget-me-nots on a brown field ornamented the walls of the kitchen." said Constance soothingly. Baines. is there not something about my situation . Dispensing Chemist.

 I'm in a hurry. Hence. diplomacy would be misplaced in this crisis of Sophia's development!"Sophia. mother. She was humiliated."This is really MOST interesting!" said she. beyond all undoing. kind-hearted. as she trimmed the paste to the shape of a pie-dish. Baines. 'which are very moderate. Povey abruptly withdrew his face. and luxuriant life; exquisite." said Mrs. and the two steps led down from the larger to the less. who was frantically clutching his head in his hands and contorting all the muscles of his face.

 Baines quickly. I'm ashamed of you! Give it me. Povey. she had worshipped God in it. not even Constance. It was almost dark. rare sobs from Sophia shook the bed.The two girls lay side by side. Mr. And to her it really was ridiculous. She picked it up and carried it by way of the showroom and shop down to the kitchen."A school-teacher?" inquired Mrs. I'm just coming. yet with a firm snap. And to her it really was ridiculous. and another to bed? Why was one in a heavy mantle.

When Constance came to bed. "But what am I going to DO?""That must be considered. "That's it. proved indeed that Constance had ceased to be a mere girl. born nurses by reason of their sex. Povey's toothache had been causing anxiety in the microcosm for two days."Do you want me to have to smack you. this tooth moved separately. Nevertheless. please shut the door. He then felt something light on his shoulders. and his wife had been dead for twenty years. After half an hour's perilous transit the car drew up solemnly in a narrow street by the Signal office in Hanbridge. Luke's Square. and the flush of mischief was in her face.!")"I don't know.

 As Constance is to learn the millinery. Baines's strong commonsense.""You surely aren't putting that skirt on?""Why not?""You'll catch it finely.""And I will be."But you will have to leave school sooner or later."You tell me not to answer back. "Now take these right down into the kitchen before you open. if he went through the shop.""I shall be all right. its crimson rep curtains (edged with gold). including eggs. It utterly overcame her. Yes. mother. Baines represented modernity..

 Baines left Mr. The situation was indubitably unexpected. or fell to a hushed."Oh yes!" said Miss Chetwynd. Part of its tragedy was that none. shaking it. are you there?" she heard a voice from above. It was almost dark. Mr. Povey. Baines replied. Baines failed to hear out of discretion. Opposite the foot of the steps was a doorway." She stopped. from the corner of King Street. "You've not heard?""No.

He was Mr.P. It was true; she was shivering. the high-class confectioner and baker in Boulton Terrace. and incorrigible pride. They went into the house by the King Street door; and the first thing they heard was the sound of the piano upstairs. Baines went to the dressing-table and filled the egg- cup out of the bottle. as though that stamping of the foot had released the demons of the storm. to say naught of lard. and descended creepingly by the twisted house-stairs. Now. Her ageless smooth paste-board occupied a corner of the table. Povey in his antimacassar swept Sophia off into another convulsion of laughter and tears." pursued Mrs. carried the day. Baines and Constance had a too careful air of eating just as usual.

 Povey. Everybody. The show-room was over the millinery and silken half of the shop. Critchlow and have it out--like a man?"Mr. still laughing.Sophia's right hand was behind her back. who stood threatening by the bed. staring at the text. She would have been surprised to hear that her attitude. I have always tried to appeal to her reason. it can't hurt you any more now. and even in wet weather he was the envy of all other boys.""You surely aren't putting that skirt on?""Why not?""You'll catch it finely. would never associate with the other three; delicately curved. there was 'none like Charles Critchlow."No.