pontaneous a way that the
tremulous sitter had no easy task to maintain her immobility. And then
the kind and condescending explanations with which he accompanied the
many little changes and refinements in the arrangement from moment to
moment were so clever and penetrating! It was really wonderful how
points struck him, and what surprising improvements he accomplished with
a wave of the hand and imperceptible subtle shiftings of Miss Robinson's
position. At last, after many scrutinisings of his sitter from varying
standpoints he suddenly expressed the conviction "Splendid!"
Then--"Wait; the left hand slightly forward, I think; so as to soften
the bend of the elbow.... Ah, that's better. Now it couldn't possibly be
improved upon. Don't you think so, Mrs. Robinson?"

And the mother was as fluttered as her daughter at this sudden appeal.
"Alice looks lovely," she broke out. "You know so well how to make the
best of people. I've never seen her so beautiful."

"It's the beautiful accessories that produce the effect," stammered
Alice.

"They certainly produce some effect," conceded Wyndham. "That is why
they are there. But it's you I'm painting, Miss Robinson. You are the
picture, and the picture will be you--and not the surroundings."

He had arranged his palette, and fell to with the brush in earnest,
bidding her speak the moment she felt fatigued. And, indeed, he insisted
on her resting frequently, though she struggled bravely to keep the
spells of work as long as possible, and confessed to cherishing
ambitions in that direction.

Altogether the ladies were enchanted with their experience. Like Mr.
Robinson, they had never before visited a studio, and it stirred them
with a sense of play rather than of work, suggesting to them endless fun
and merriment. Pleased with the promise of the picture itself, Wyndham
chatted to them charmingly. Miss Robinson, reassured and encouraged by
his gracious suavity, soon felt at her ease, and spoke more freely than
was her wont at any time. A shade of animation came into her features,
and she was ready to break into a laugh at a jest, or to listen to a
more serious little disquisition with the intensest absorption. They
were not infrequent these charming little disquisitions of Wyndham's,
and his visitors thought it wonderful (and told him so with engaging
frankness) that he should be able to go on speaking so beautifully, and
yet never relax his attention from the painting.

He di