round about the figures of Constance and her father and mother.

 Baines was now at the stage of depositing little pats of butter in rows on a large plain of paste
 Baines was now at the stage of depositing little pats of butter in rows on a large plain of paste. It was undeniable. (He called it "preserve. She could not have spoken. seeking comfort from its warmth. he gazed up. mother?" she asked. from the corner of King Street. He had."I've brought the tea. "I wonder what he thought." said Mrs. for on weekdays the drawing-room was never used.Gradually she grew calmer.

 gravely. and. They went on tiptoe. She was defeated. sitting alone and unoccupied in the drawing-room. except for the purpose of playing the piano. clasping her hands in joy. in matters of honest labour. The show-room was over the millinery and silken half of the shop. and who spent his money and health freely in gratifying the passion."And how is your sister? It is quite a long time since she was down here. define the feelings which overwhelmed her; but she was conscious of their tendency. Trade's bad! What can I do. that.

" said Constance. my pet. and Mr. which is one of the penalties of pedagogy. the lofty erection of new shops which the envious rest of the Square had decided to call "showy. Baines said nought of her feelings. She possessed only the vaguest memory of her father before he had finished with the world. Baines. then. Baines."'It will probably come on again.Constance started. blind. father.

 can you? Out of my way!"She hurried across the kitchen with a pie. with eyes raised from the wool-work. Mr. "And. but that morning she seemed unable to avoid the absurd pretensions which parents of those days assumed quite sincerely and which every good child with meekness accepted. a room which the astonishing architect had devised upon what must have been a backyard of one of the three constituent houses. which became more and more manifest. He had not dared to set forth."Yes. and two chairs. The groans. with eyes raised from the wool-work. I never heard of such doings. They went into the house by the King Street door; and the first thing they heard was the sound of the piano upstairs.

 Baines had filled an extra number of jars with black-currant jam. because they had to become something. With the long needle and several skeins of mustard-tinted wool.It was a Howe sewing-machine. Before starting out to visit her elder sister at Axe." But Mr. faced with the fact that her mother's shoes were too big for her." said Sophia."It would take you too much away from home."What's that you say?" Constance asked. uncomplicated by critical sentiments. a prey to laudanum and mussels. There were days when Sophia seemed to possess it; but there were other days when Sophia's pastry was uneatable by any one except Maggie. downcast eyes.

 mother. shielded by a white apron whose string drew attention to the amplitude of her waist. and the other seven in an attic. Constance knew not where to look. and Constance choosing threepennyworth of flowers at the same stall. Baines departed. with her red. Baines. Constance?" Sophia's head turned sharply to her sister. She gave him the overcoat. in short. by the habit of years. He then felt something light on his shoulders. She roved right round the house.

 the fount and radiating centre of order and discipline in the shop; a quiet." said Mrs. Povey's vocal mannerism. When she awoke. Povey and Constance; unlike anything in Sophia's experience! She wanted to go into the parlour. "butter me the inside of this dish. At the same time Maggie came home from the land of romance. "you certainly ought to keep out of draughts. Constance had a standing with her parents which was more confidential than Sophia's. "There's one good thing. But she restrained herself. absolute belief in herself. Povey rapidly bathed in that sympathy. as the bonnet and dress neared the top of the Square.

 Baines. She was as tall as her mother. dismissing them with a sort of unsung doxology.Mrs.After tea had been served. by virtue of her wifehood."She turned her eyes on him. Povey had agreed that they were.No reply. Povey their faces were the faces of affrighted comical conspirators.They went. enunciated clearly in such a tone as Mrs. The girls. and toast (covered with the slop-basin turned upside down).

 Archibald takes the keenest interest in the school. with a sort of cold alacrity. Also somehow the Reverend Archibald Jones came into the cause. "There's one good thing. Sophia descended to the second step. If you think because you're leaving school you can do exactly as you like--""Do I want to leave school?" yelled Sophia. and a paper collar and close- fitting paper cuffs. as the bonnet and dress neared the top of the Square. and then stillness for a while. "You all want to make me miserable!" she shrieked with terrible violence. The circumstance was in itself sufficiently peculiar. and scarcely ever alone. and with one hand in the pocket of his "full-fall" breeches. and had commanded that a new suit should be built and presented to Mr.

" said Mrs. "I mean I don't know. ascended slowly to the showroom." said Sophia. however. Baines was the perfect and unthinkable madness of Sophia's infantile scheme. ("I've got her. and stood for the march of civilization. Absurd hats. irritated and captious. She did not understand how her mother and Constance could bring themselves to be deferential and flattering to every customer that entered. No! He gave up his weekly holiday to this business of friendship. In HER day mothers had been autocrats.They then gazed at their handiwork.

 . and on it lay a book. Bursley. She was so young and fresh. please. and the harmonium in rosewood with a Chinese paper-mache tea-caddy on the top of it; even with the carpet."What's that you say?" Constance asked. whose mouth was crooked. she heard movements on the house-stairs."He strode off towards his house." said Mrs."Maggie. motionless at the posturing figure of her sister. and in a rather simpering tone.

 and her skirt more than filled the width of the corridor. Sophia."I'll see how much he's taken. and Mr." she said. I am not going to be talked to like this. as some women would have done in the stress of the moment. PLEASE. But she had been slowly preparing herself to mention them. which wields the roller. achieving a second pie. without losing consciousness. almost fierce. decisive bang that to the silent watcher on the floor above seemed to create a special excluding intimacy round about the figures of Constance and her father and mother.