Then followed
other anecdotes of other people--artists for the most part--in which
the names of Millais, Ruskin, Watts, Leighton, and others came up in
quick succession.
That he was a professional anecdote-monger of extraordinary
brilliancy, a _raconteur_ of the very first order, was evident
enough. I found also that as a story-teller he was reckless and
without conscience. He was, I thought, inventing anecdotes to amuse
his companion, whose manifest enjoyment of them rather weakened the
impression that his own personality had been making upon me.
After a while the name of Cyril Aylwin came up, and I soon found the
man telling a story of Cyril and a recent escapade of his which I
knew must be false. He then went rattling on about other people,
mentioning names which, as I soon gathered, were those of female
models known in the art world. The anecdotes he told of these were
mostly to their disadvantage. I was about to move to another table,
in order to get out of earshot of this gossip, when the name 'Lady
Sinfi' fell upon my ears.
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