Do you know
that I have been watching for a smile ever since I first saw your face, and
have not surprised one yet? Be sure your brother is taking life pleasantly
enough in some quarter of the globe. We worthless young fellows always
contrive to fall upon our feet."
"If I could believe that he was happy, if I could think that he was leading
an honourable life anywhere, I should not feel our separation so much," the
girl said mournfully; "but to be quite ignorant of his fate, and not to be
allowed to mention his name, that is hard to bear. I cannot tell you how
fond I was of him when we were children. He was seven years older than I,
and so clever. He wanted to be a painter, but papa would not hear of that.
Yet I think he might have been happier if he had been allowed to have his
own way. He had a real genius for art."
"And you too are fond of art, I suppose?" hazarded the traveller, more
interested in the young lady herself than in this reprobate brother of
hers.
"Yes, I am very fond of it. It is the only thing I really care for. Of
course, I like music to a certain extent; but I love painting with my whole
heart."
"Happy art, to be loved by so fair a votary! And you dabble with brushes
and colours, of course?"
"A little."
"A true young lady's answer. If you were a Raffaelle in glace silk and
crinoline, you would tell me no more than that. I can only hope that some
happy accident will one day give me an opportunity of judging for myself.
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