extending in a dark down beyond the lower angles of the forehead, and
almost meeting between the eyes; but the somewhat gloomy expression
which this gave him was modified by a certain sensitive grace of the
mouth, little hidden by the thin black moustache or by the beard, which
did not grow up to the lower lip, though it was thick and silky from the
chin downwards.

It was a thoughtful face, but there was creative power in the high
forehead, as there was direct energy in the long arms and lean, nervous
hands. Donna Francesca liked to watch him at his work, as she had
watched him when she was a little girl. Now and then, but very rarely,
the lustreless eyes lighted up, just before he put in some steady,
determining stroke which brought out the meaning of the design. There
was a quick fire in them then, at the instant when the main idea was
outwardly expressed, and if she spoke to him inadvertently at such a
moment, he never answered her at once, and sometimes forgot to answer
her at all. For his art was always first with him. She knew it, and she
liked him the better for it.

The intimacy between the great lady and the artist was, indeed, founded
upon this devotion of his to his painting, but it was sustained by a
sort of community of interests extending far back into darker ages, when
his forefathers had been bondsmen to her ancestors in the days of
serfdom. He had grown up with the clearly defined sensation of belonging
with, if not to, the house of Braccio. His father had been a trusty and
trusted dependent of the family, and he had imbibed as a mere child its
hereditary likes and dislikes, its traditions wise and foolish,
together with an indomitable pride in its high fortunes and position in
the world. And Francesca herself was a true Braccio, though she was
descended from a collateral branch, and, next to the Prince of Gerano,
had been to Reanda by far the most important person bearing the name.
She had admired him when she had been a child, had encouraged him as she
grew up, and now she provided his genius with employment, and gave him
her friendship as a solace and delight both in work and idleness. It is
said that only Italians can be admitted to such a position with the
certainty that they will not under any circumstances presume upon it. To
Angelo Reanda it meant much more than to most men who could have been
placed as he was. His genius raised him far above the class in which he
had been born, and his educ