(MRS. HENRY WOOD)
1814-1887
[Sidenote: _The Argosy_, 1887.]
“The face was a pure oval of the most refined description; that
perfection of form that is so rarely seen. A small, straight, very
delicate and refined nose; teeth of dazzling whiteness, entire to the
day of her death; a perfect mouth, revealing at once the sensitiveness
and tender sympathy of her nature, and the steadfastness of her
disposition. Her eyes were unusually large, dark, and flashing, with
a penetrating gaze that seemed to read your inmost thoughts. One felt
that everything before her had to be outspoken; for if you uttered
only half your thoughts, she would certainly divine the rest.... The
head was well set upon the shoulders; a head perfect in form, small
except where the intellectual faculties were developed. Her complexion
was dazzling, the most lovely bloom at all times contrasting with the
brilliant whiteness of her skin. In hours of animation I have watched
the delicate flush come and go a hundred times in as many minutes
across her wonderful countenance; and, to record the simile once used
by a friend in speaking to me of this peculiar beauty, ‘chasing each
other like the rosy clouds of sunrise sweeping across a summer sky.’
She had a very keen sense of wit and humour. This strange beauty
remained with her to the end. Even in hours of illness and suffering
it never forsook her. Her face never lost its look of youth. It was
absolutely without line or wrinkle or any mark or sign of age. She kept
to the last the complexion and freshness of a young girl; that strange
radiancy which seemed the reflection of some unseen glory. This was so
great that to the last we were unable to realise that death could come
to her.”