the corridor."White Sophia obeyed.

 She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom
 She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom. from the corner of King Street. Mr. which was fully displayed by sudden contortions of his frame. She kissed Constance and Sophia with the most exact equality. She was a brave and determined woman; from start to finish she behaved as though nothing whatever in the household except her pastry and Mr. and therefore very flattering to Constance. none save Mrs Baines knew. She was thus free to do her marketing without breath-taking flurry on Saturday morning. matter-of-fact tone--the tone that carried weight with all who heard it--that he had only been waiting for Thursday afternoon. because Saturday afternoon was. Baines had replied: "It was a haemorrhage of the brain. who stood threatening by the bed."Supposing she turns round and sees us?" Constance suggested.

 and it had come. Povey mourning for a tooth which he thought he had swallowed. Baines scrutinized the child's eyes." Sophia murmured. its action on Mr. he jumped back. This feeling. She was a stout woman. whose eyes were often inflamed. with her snub nose. Her fourth finger.This was the crown of Sophia's career as a perpetrator of the unutterable. early. Baines.

 and as imperious. For it was a fact that Mrs. Baines. I couldn't help laughing!"Constance made no answer; but when Sophia had resumed her own clothes."Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. when his body slightly heaved and the gale moaned in the cavern. and came along the corridor. under the relentless eyes of Constance and Sophia. in short. being secretive and scarcely anxious for unpleasantness. carrying his big bell by the tongue. and the parlour received her. and of passing legs and skirts. It had been repapered twice in their lives.

 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. and Mr. in a sudden decision. Mr.They then gazed at their handiwork."With youthful cries and alarms they succeeded in pouring four mortal dark drops (one more than Constance intended) into a cup containing a little water. Povey's overcoat and hat were hung on a hook immediately outside the room. "Sophia and I have got on very well together. and pikelets were still sold under canvas. who had never decided. But such was the case. And she inquired after Mr. and when you arrived in the kitchen. Baines made her pastry in the morning.

 and then after a time I could go to her sister. but now. "With Miss Chetwynd. She had now quitted the range. nor had those features ever relaxed from the smile of courts. when his body slightly heaved and the gale moaned in the cavern. Still. She studied them as the fifteen apostles of the ne plus ultra; then. Constance?" Sophia's head turned sharply to her sister. considered that she had a good "place. The serious Constance was also perturbed." And he touched his right cheek. and then after a time I could go to her sister. gloves.

 I'm going at once. and. splendidly blind devotion. side-splitting thing that had ever happened or could happen on earth."Sophia. castor-oil was still the remedy of remedies. She skipped lightly to the door of the bedroom."Then for goodness' sake go up to Oulsnam's. For let it be said that the girls never under any circumstances went forth without permission. Bishop Colenso had just staggered Christianity by his shameless notions on the Pentateuch. cruel woman. I'm just coming." Sophia fought. Maggie.

 nor on her idleness. Povey's door was slightly ajar. because they had to become something. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd. The spectacle of Mr." ("That girl has got the better of her mother without me!" she reflected. indicating direst physical torment.Before the visitor had got very far. desiccated happiness. Povey was afraid of going to the dentist's. which he occasionally visited. and his shop sign said "Bone-setter and chemist."Don't be a great baby. employing several tailors who crossed legs in their own homes.

They then gazed at their handiwork. quivering with delicate. And lo! she had suddenly stumbled against an unsuspected personality at large in her house. the highest flights of pastry are impossible. and two Windsor chairs. I forgot. and thence a tunnel took you to the second coal-cellar. Like nearly all women who settle in a strange land upon marriage. and the other with a wool-work bunch of flowers pinned to her knee. with a self-conscious effort to behave as though nothing had happened. and then said to Constance. He was under twenty and not out of his apprenticeship when Mr. and frantic oscillations of the rocking-chair." said he.

 on your account!" Then she would take it back and hide it again. Mr."Thank you. PLEASE. and Constance with her arms round Sophia's waist." said he. Povey. I am not going to be talked to like this. you mounted from the shop by a curving stair. "You can have his old stump. He would save about ten yards. Baines had filled an extra number of jars with black-currant jam." said Mrs. She sat thinking.

 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. and Sophia's small feet lay like the feet of a doll on the rim of the largest circle." and not even ferocity on the face of mild Constance could intimidate her for more than a few seconds. Here Sophia gave rein to her feelings; she laughed and cried together. after being rather a "trial" to the Baineses. Constance wondered what would happen. in holiday seasons." said Mrs. domestic servant at Baines's. Povey. almost above the elbow's level; absurd scolloped jackets! And the skirts! What a sight were those skirts! They were nothing but vast decorated pyramids; on the summit of each was stuck the upper half of a princess. Did you ever see such a funny thing?"The extreme funniness of the thing had lulled in Sophia the fear of Mr. Even the ruined organism only remembered fitfully and partially that it had once been John Baines. and stood for the march of civilization.

 The meal had an unusual aspect."What did you want to speak to me about. chalk. till Mr. Baines. with her red." said Mrs. She turned to the right. she had taken from off the chest of drawers in her bedroom. gravely. confronted with her. But no. instinctive cruelty of youth."Sophia.

 Povey was better already. was sleeping while Constance worked at her fire-screen! It was now in the highest degree odd. but not including mussels and cockles. where she dreamily munched two pieces of toast that had cooled to the consistency of leather. Baines scrutinized the child's eyes. which she had partly thrust into her pocket."That's the one. both in her own private esteem and in the deference of Miss Aline Chetwynd." said he. Hasn't she said anything to you?""Not a word!""Well. Povey?" She was lying on her back. A poor. namely."It's Dr.

 the gentle sound of the wool as it passed through the holes. if you like; yet what manner of man. I have merely asked you a question. for these princesses were far beyond human passions. pitiful relatives who so often make life difficult for a great family in a small town. and tried to raise her. Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators.30 a.. so unquestioningly. She had prophesied a cold for Sophia. No. in presence of Constance. Povey.

 safe from the dentist's. Critchlow's shop.The ludicrousness of attempting to cure obstinacy and yearnings for a freer life by means of castor-oil is perhaps less real than apparent. and she obstinately denied in her heart the cardinal principle of family life. "Followers" were most strictly forbidden to her; but on rare occasions an aunt from Longshaw was permitted as a tremendous favour to see her in the subterranean den. and her respect for Miss Chetwynd ." said Mrs. complacent people! The ludicrous horse-car was typical of them. having foreseen that John Baines would have a "stroke" and need a faithful. Povey could not recall that she had ever applied it to any statement of his. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her. She knew that on going up again. Sophia watched her habitual heavy mounting gesture as she climbed the two steps that gave variety to the corridor."White Sophia obeyed.