ess speaking in the quiet voice of religion. It was vulgarity
advertising itself in terms of good taste. She had made modesty the
handmaiden of blatant immodesty, and the daring impudence of it all
fairly stunned the painter.

"Oh dear!" she said, watching his face, "I fear you don't like it, at
all--and I thought it such a beautiful little gown. You told me to wear
whatever I pleased, you know."

"It _is_ a beautiful gown," he said--then added impulsively, "and you are
beautiful in it. You would be beautiful in anything."

She shook her head; favoring him with an understanding smile. "You say
that to please me. I can see that you don't like me this way."

"But I do," he insisted. "I like you that way, immensely. I was a bit
surprised, that's all. You see, I thought, of course, that you would
select an evening gown of some sort--something, you know, that would fit
your social position--your place in the world. In this costume, the beauty
of your shoulders--"

Lowering her eyes as if embarrassed, she said coldly, "The beauty of my
shoulders is not for the public. I have never worn--I will not wear--one
of those dreadful, immodest gowns."

Aaron King was bewildered. Suddenly, he remembered what Conrad Lagrange
had said about her fad. But after so frankly exhibiting herself before
him, dressed as she was in a gown that was deliberately planned to
advertise her physical charms, to be particular about baring her shoulders
in a conventional costume--! It was quite too much.

"Again, I beg your pardon, Mrs. Taine," he managed to say. "I did not
know. Under the circumstances, this is exactly the thing. Your portrait,
in what is so frankly a costume assumed for the purpose, takes us out of
the dilemma very nicely, indeed."

"Why, that's exactly what I thought," she returned eagerly. "And this is
so in keeping with my real tastes--don't you see? A real portrait--I mean
a serious work of art, you know--should always be something more than a
mere likeness, should it not? Don't you think that to be genuinely good, a
portrait must reveal the spirit and character--must portray the soul, as
well as the features? I _do_ so want this to be a truly great picture--for
your sake." Her manner seemed to say that she was doing it all for him. "I
have never permitted any one to paint my portrait before, you know," she
added meaningly.

"You are very kind, Mrs. Taine," he returned gravely. "Believe me, I do
appreciate this opportunity