'Did he,' I said, 'did he say anything about--about painters'
models?'
'Yes,' she said, 'Mr. D'Arcy took me to an easel and showed me a
picture. It was only the half-length of a woman; but it was a tragedy
rendered fully by the expression on one woman's face.
'"I had no idea," I said, "that any picture of a single face could do
such work as that. Was this painted from a model?"
'"Yes," he said, with a smile, which was evidently at my ignorance of
art. "It was painted from life."
'There were four other half-lengths in the room, all of them very
beautiful.
'"Two of these," he said, "are copies; the originals have been sold.
The other two need still a few touches to make them complete."
'"And they were all painted from life?" I said.
'"Yes," he said. "Why do you repeat that question?"
'"Because," I said, "although they are all so wonderful and so
beautiful in colour, I can see a great difference between them--I can
scarcely say what the difference is. They are evidently all painted
by the same artist, but painted in different moods of the artist's
mind.
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