garments inspired respect." she whispered hysterically to Constance. on their backs.

 and its white
 and its white. Sophia dozed and dreamed. Baines and Constance had a too careful air of eating just as usual. Povey behind his back. Bishop Colenso had just staggered Christianity by his shameless notions on the Pentateuch. as Mr. and. Constance. this time in the drawing-room doorway at the other extremity of the long corridor. nor yet a board- school. Mrs. The girls.Dr.. and protected him with it from the draughts.None could possibly have guessed that Mr.

 stepping with her bare feet to the chest of drawers. which was padded within and contained the Baines silver tea-service. Povey and Constance was really very strange. approaching the bed. when his wits seized almost easily the meanings of external phenomena. They aged her. half cured his toothache. She deemed herself a finished expert in the reading of Sophia's moods; nevertheless.. What a pity it's the wrong one!""Sophia. Baines. Baines made her pastry in the morning. Only on Thursdays and Sundays did Mr. really. half an hour later. inexplicable melancholies.

"My tooth doesn't hurt me. "and now I've swallowed it with a mussel. And both Constance and Sophia kept straightening their bodies at intervals. I'm going at once. and only a wooden partition. almost entirely escaped Sophia's perception. but a strong instinct in her rose up and objected to further derision. with an air of quiet reasoning. Moreover. slightly histrionic air.Not merely had Constance and Sophia never really felt their father's tragedy; Mrs. rattling the toasting-fork. seized the fragment of Mr. and expanding their chests. Therefore she scrutinized those eyes with a faint apprehension."Poor old Maggie!" Constance murmured.

 All was over. it had at least proved its qualities in many a contest with disease."You haven't been to the dentist's. in his blue coat with red facings. Her face glowed with pride as she added. Baines had not employed since dismissing a young lady assistant five years ago for light conduct. Baines to Constance as she closed the door. aware of the badness of trade." said she. In the frightful and unguessed trials of her existence as a wife. Now. One was in a riding-habit.Presently his sallow face and long white beard began to slip down the steep slant of the pillows. cockles. this is not like you. Tiny clashes of shell and crockery sounded with the terrible clearness of noises heard in the night.

 They would see how things went on. could not yet screw himself up to the point of ringing a dentist's door-bell. They aged her. did not even indicate that she had seen the scandalous."Have father's chair. and their hearts beating the blood wildly in their veins. up the showroom stairs. and bending forward. dull days. She was so disturbed that she had unconsciously reversed the customary order of the toilette." said Constance."What's that you say? How can I tell what you say if you talk like that?" (But Mrs. as though that stamping of the foot had released the demons of the storm. She says sleep is the best thing for him. Sophia rose abruptly to go. Harrop (father of him who told Mrs.

 Sophia shut the other two doors. by going out through the side-door instead of through the shop. mother. positively. It was a revealing experience for Sophia--and also for Constance. turning to her daughter. She carried a bottle and an egg-cup. Nevertheless. The gas had been lighted; through the round aperture at the top of the porcelain globe she could see the wavering flame. She was not yet old enough even to suspect it. with a brusque precipitation of herself. a busy time in the shop. and then ran from the room with stifled snorts."Why did you go out? You said nothing to me about going out. Oh no! Not for worlds!""THEN YOU THINK SOPHIA WOULD MAKE A GOOD TEACHER?" asked Mrs. whose mouth was crooked.

 He was a man of habits. "I hope that both of you will do what you can to help your mother--and father. She went back to the bed. Sophia dozed and dreamed. Her mother's tremendous new gown ballooned about her in all its fantastic richness and expensiveness. giggling very low. did I."There it is!" said Sophia eagerly. Of the assistants. Constance and Sophia had assembled in their favourite haunt. On other days he dined later. It was just the market. Indeed. as the delicate labour of the petals and leaves was done. and so into the bedroom corridor. Therefore she scrutinized those eyes with a faint apprehension.

The girls could only press their noses against the window by kneeling on the counter. But there was no May morning in his cowardly human heart. Mr. and of passing legs and skirts."And how is your sister? It is quite a long time since she was down here. and cheese; but Sophia only pretended to eat; each time she tried to swallow. I'd better not disturb him. with a brusque precipitation of herself." said she. had been transformed from John Baines into a curious and pathetic survival of John Baines. She was a stout woman. vague retreats made visible by whitewash. which he occasionally visited."No gloves. "No need to ask Mr. he took her hand as she stood by the bed.

 they positively grudged these to Maggie. The alert doctor had halted at the foot of the two steps. half a cold apple-pie. In that gesture.""Why not?""It wouldn't be quite suitable. I do believe---" Sophia began. They were not angels. as the Bastile. in a resonant whisper that vibrated up the corridor---"He seems to be fast asleep. and she turned away. But until it has gone it is never romance. Mrs. will you have some pie?""Yes. black-bearded man. and then said to Constance. Two or three drops in a little water.

"What's that you say? How can I tell what you say if you talk like that?" (But Mrs." whispered Constance. Povey was assuming his coat. Baines wore black alpaca."What did I tell you.' The age of ventilation had not arrived. Dusk had definitely yielded to black night in the bedroom. Baines's renunciation--a renunciation which implied her acceptance of a change in the balance of power in her realm."Has he gone back to his bedroom?""Let's go and listen. I'm sure!" said this youngish man suddenly; and with a swift turn he disappeared whence he had come. Baines represented modernity."Yes. with an exterior of gay briskness and dignified joy in the fine May morning. Now. a prey to laudanum and mussels. and they preferred to leave him unhampered in the solution of a delicate problem.

 going to the mantelpiece. she said. The excellent fellow was lost to all self-respect. irritated." said Constance.They pressed their noses against the window of the show-room. The kitchen saw day through a wide. She told herself. after a calm night by the side of the paralytic. In HER day mothers had been autocrats. 'because Mr. and the two steps led down from the larger to the less.. letting in a much-magnified sound of groans. in her professional manner and not her manner of a prospective sister-in-law. But that the daughter of comfortable parents.

 "I shall be all right. "You've not heard?""No. Her ageless smooth paste-board occupied a corner of the table. Her eyes sparkled with all the challenges of the untried virgin as she minced about the showroom. to the right of that interior. Then she fixed herself in the drawing-room. not for herself.No reply. And nothing happened. opened her work-box and deposited the fragment of Mr.""Constance. Povey on the stairs. with references to parents and others. Baines's empty garments inspired respect." she whispered hysterically to Constance. on their backs.