"Want it!" said Conway. "I want to paint a striking picture."
"But you can do that without putting me into it."
"No;—not this picture. And why should you object? It is the commonest thing in the world for ladies to sit to artists in that manner."
"People would know it."
"Nobody would know it, so that you need care about it. What would it matter if everybody knew it? We are not proposing anything improper;—are we, Mrs. Broughton?"
"She shall not be pressed if she does not like it," said Mrs. Broughton. "You know I told you before Clara came in, that I was afraid it could not be done."
"And I don't like it," said Miss Van Siever, with some little hesitation in her voice.
"I don't see anything improper in it, if you mean that," said Mrs. Broughton.
"But, mamma!"
"Well, yes; that is the difficulty, no doubt. The only question is, whether your mother is not so very singular, as to make it impossible that you should comply with her in everything."