Rat-a-tat-tat, on the big iron knocker. I called:
“Come in,” and Mrs. Wheatley, an English woman, accompanied by her
daughter, Alice, a pretty girl of fifteen, entered. She came directly
over to me, with her hand held out graciously.
“How do you do, Marion? I have been hearing about the Count, and I want
you to introduce us.”
I did so, of course, and she went on to tell the Count that she wanted
her daughter’s portrait painted.
“Just the head and shoulders, Count, and Miss Marion is here--her father
and I are old friends--I shall not consider it necessary to come to the
sittings. Marion will, I am sure, chaperon my little girl,” and she
smiled at me sweetly.
The Count was much pleased, and I could see his eyes sparkling as he
looked at Alice. She was lovely, in coloring like a rose leaf, and her
hair was a beautiful reddish gold. Her mother was a woman of about
forty-five, rather plump, who affected babyish hats and fluffy dresses
and tried to look younger than she was. After the Count had named a
price she thought reasonable, she said Alice would come the next day.
The Count was very gallant and polite to her and she seemed much
impressed by his fine manners and I suppose, title.
“I have such a lovely old-gold frame, Count,” she said, “and I thought
Alice’s hair would just match it and look lovely in it.”
The Count threw up his hands and laughed when the door closed upon her,
but he anticipated with pleasure painting the pretty Alice.
The following day Alice came alone, and soon we had her seated on the
model’s platform. She was a gentle, shy little thing, rather dull, yet
so sweet and innocent that she made a most appealing picture. The Count
soon discovered that her neck was as lovely as her face. In her
innocence, Alice let him slip the drapery lower and lower until her
girlish bosoms were partly revealed. The Count was charmed with her as a
model. He made two pictures of her, one for himself, with her neck and
breasts uncovered, and the other for her mother, muffled up with drapery
to the neck.
A few weeks later, after the pictures were finished, I was crossing the
street, when Mrs. Wheatley came rushing up to me excitedly:
“Miss Ascough! I am furious with you for allowing that wicked old Count
to paint my Alice’s portrait as I am told he did. Every one is talking
about the picture in his studio. It is disgraceful! An outrage!”
“Oh, no, Mrs. Wheatley,” I tried to reassure her, “it is not
disgraceful, but beautiful, and the Count says that all beauty is good
and pure and that is art, Mrs. Wheatley. Indeed, indeed, it is.”
“Art! H’mph! The idea. Art! Do you think I want my Alice shown like
those brazen hussies in the art galleries? I am surprised at you, Marion
Ascough, and I advise you, for the sake of your family, to be more
careful of your reputation. I am going right over to that studio now and
I will put my parasol through that disgraceful canvas.”
Fairly snorting with indignation and desire for vengeance, this British
matron betook herself in the direction of the Château. Fortunately I was
younger, and more fleet-footed than she, and I ran all of the way, and
burst into the studio:
“Count Hatzfeldt! Count Hatzfeldt! Hurry up and hide Alice’s picture.
Mrs. Wheatley is coming to poke a hole in it.”
Just as we were speaking, there came an impatient rap upon the door and
the Count shoved his arms into the sleeves of his old velvet
smoking-jacket, and himself flung the door open. Before Mrs. Wheatley,
who was out of breath, could say a word, he exclaimed:
“How do you do it, madame? Heavens, it is vonderful, vonderful! How do
you do it? Please have the goodness to tell me how you do it?”
“Do what?” she demanded, surprised and taken aback by the Count’s
evident admiration and cordiality.
“Why, madame, I thought you were your daughter. You look so young, so
sweet, so fresh! Ah, madame, how I should love to paint you as the
Spring! It is a treat for a poor artist to see so much freshness and
peauty. Gott in Himmel! How do you do it?”
An astounding change had swept all over Mrs. Wheatley. She was simpering
like a girl, and her eyes were flashing the most coquettish glances at
the Count.
“Now, Count, you flatter me,” she said, “but really I never do anything
to make myself look younger. I simply take care of myself and lead a
simple life. That is my only secret.”
“Impossible,” said the Count unbelievingly, and then his glance fell
down to her feet and he exclaimed excitedly:
“What I have been looking for so many years! It is impossible to find a
model with the perfect feets. Madame, you are vonderful!”
Her face was wreathed with smiles, and she stuck out her foot, the
instep coyly arched, as she said:
“Yes, it’s true my feet are shapely and small. I only take threes,
though I could easily wear twos or twos and a half.” Then with a very
gracious bend of her head and a smile she added winningly: “I believe it
might be perfectly proper to allow you to use my foot as a model,
especially as Marion is here.” She beamed on me sweetly.
I removed her shoe and stocking, and the Count carefully covered over a
stool with a soft piece of velvet, upon which he set her precious foot.
Enthusiastically he went to work drawing that foot. She playfully
demanded that he must never tell anyone that her foot was the model for
the sketch, though all the time I knew she wanted him to do just that.
When he was through and we had all loudly exclaimed over the beauty of
the drawing, she said:
“And now, Count Hatzfeldt, may I see the copy of my daughter’s picture?”
The Count had covered it over before opening the door.
“Certainly, madame.”
He drew the cover from the painting.
“Here it is. Miss Alice did sit for the face. The lower part--it was
posed by a professional model. It is the custom, madame.”
“As I see,” said Mrs. Wheatley, examining the
[Illustration: Enthusiastically he went to work drawing that foot.]
picture through her lorgnon. “Those professional models have no shame,
have they, Count?”
“None, none whatever, madame,” sighed the Count, shaking his head
expressively.