He had not long to wait for the sign from Mrs. Tregent; it arrived the
very next morning in the shape of an invitation to dinner. This
invitation was immediately accepted, but a fortnight was still to
intervene--a trial to Maurice Glanvil's patience. The promptitude of the
demonstration gave him pleasure--it showed him no bitterness had
survived. What place was there indeed for resentment, since she had
married and given birth to children and thought so well of the face God
had conferred on her as to wish to hand it on to her posterity? Her
husband was in Parliament, or had been--that came back to him from his
mother's story. He caught himself reverting to her with a frequency that
surprised him; he was haunted by the image of that bright, strong woman
on Crisford's canvas, in whom there was just enough of Fanny Knocker to
put a sort of defiance into the difference. He wanted to see it again,
and his opportunity was at hand in the form of a visit to Mrs. Crisford.
He called on this lady, without his daughter, four days after he had
lunched with her, and, finding her at home, he presently led the
conversation to the portrait and to his ardent desire for another
glimpse of it. Mrs. Crisford gratified this eagerness--perhaps he struck
her as a possible sitter; it was late in the afternoon and her husband
was out: she led him into the studio. Mrs. Tregent, splendid and serene,
stood there as if she had been watching for him. There was no doubt the
picture was a masterpiece. Maurice had mentioned that he had known the
original years before and then had lost sight of her. He questioned his
hostess with artful detachment.
"What sort of a person has she become--agreeable, popular?"
"Everyone adores her--she's so clever."
"Really--remarkably?"
"Extraordinarily--one of the cleverest women I've ever known, and quite
one of the most charming."
Maurice looked at the portrait--at the super-subtle smile which seemed
to tell him Mrs. Tregent knew they were talking about her; a kind of
smile he had never expected to live to see in Fanny Knocker's eyes. Then
he asked: "Has she literally become as handsome as that?"