Explore "The Old Wives' Tale" by Arnold Bennett on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
That afternoon there was a search for Sophia, whom no one had seen since dinner. She was discovered by her mother, sitting alone and unoccupied in the drawing room. The circumstance was in itself sufficiently peculiar, for on weekdays the drawing room was never used, even by the girls during their holidays, except for the purpose of playing the piano. However, Mrs. Baines offered no comment on Sophia's geographical situation, nor on her idleness.
"My dear," she said, standing at the door, with a self-conscious effort to behave as though nothing had happened, "will you come and sit with your father a bit?"