But in _Aylwin_ Rossetti lives as I knew him; it is
impossible to imagine a more living picture of the man. I have stayed
with Rossetti at 16 Cheyne Walk for weeks at a time, and at Bognor
also, and at Kelmscott--the 'Hurstcote' of _Aylwin_. With regard to
'Hurstcote,' I well knew 'the large bedroom with low-panelled walls
and the vast antique bedstead made of black carved oak' upon which
Winifred Wynne slept. In fact, the only thing in the description of
this room that I do not remember is the beautiful _Madonna and Child_
upon the frame of which was written 'Chiaro dell' Erma' (readers of
_Hand and Soul_ will remember that name). This quaint and picturesque
bedroom leads by two or three steps to the tapestried room 'covered
with old faded tapestry--so faded, indeed, that its general effect
was that of a dull grey texture'--depicting the story of Samson.
Rossetti used the tapestry room as a studio, and I have seen in it
the very same pictures that so attracted the attention of Winifred
Wynne: the 'grand brunette' (painted from Mrs. Morris) 'holding a
pomegranate in her hand'; the 'other brunette, whose beautiful eyes
are glistening and laughing over the fruit she is holding up'
(painted from the same famous Irish beauty named Smith who appears
in _The Beloved_), and the blonde 'under the apple blossoms' (painted
from a still more beautiful woman--Mrs.
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