'
'Mr. Wilderspin, I beg your pardon,' I said.
'I see you are deeply troubled,' said he; 'but, Mr. Aylwin, you need
not beg my pardon. Since I saw Mary Wilderspin, my mother, die for
her children, no words of mere Man have been able to give me pain.'
'Go on, go on. What did the woman say to you?'
'She said, "The fewer questions you ask her the better, and don't pay
her any money. She'd only lose it; I'll come for it at the proper
times." From that day the model came to the sittings alone, and Mrs.
Gudgeon came at the end of every week for the money.'
'And did the model maintain her silence all this time?'
'She did. She would, every few minutes, sink into a reverie, and
appear to be stone-deaf. But sometimes her face would become suddenly
alive with all sorts of shifting expressions. A few days ago she had
another fit, exactly like the former one. That was on the day
preceding my call at your hotel with your father's books. This time
we had much more difficulty in bringing her round. We did so at last;
and when she was gone I gave the final touch to my picture of "The
Lady Geraldine and Christabel.
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