I had been posing for various artists for nearly two months, and I not
only was used to the work but beginning to like it. How else, except as
a model, could I have seen all I did at close range, and, in a way,
assisted in the making of many great paintings by the best artists in
Boston? Also I learned much from them, for nearly every artist I posed
for talked to me as he worked. Some would tell me their hopes and fears
and stories about other artists. I have even been the confidante of
their love affairs.
One well-known painter proposed to a girl upon my advice. He told me all
about his acquaintance with her, and of the opposition of her family as
if he were telling a story, and then he asked:
“What would you do if you were the man in the case?”