The girl was quickly relieved of her mantle, which Ralph laid aside. She was dressed in the costume of Rosalind, as she had appeared at Drury Lane for the first time six months previously,—memorable night! when she had only to show herself to vanquish and carry by storm the hearts of all London.
A wide-brimmed hat of gray felt with plumes, a corsage of rose-pink taffety embroidered in silver, and a skirt of green velvet closely plaited—such was the costume.
The small, childish head, framed in a profusion of chestnut curls, was illumined by a pair of great brown eyes. With the eye of a connoisseur Reynolds regarded the delicate complexion, over which ran at the slightest provocation the rosiest of blushes, and over which every throb of the heart sent a hint of the tide of life, regarded that brilliant, mobile glance of the eye, in the depths of which played every description of piqued curiosity and naïf desire, lost in the riotous joy of living, of being sweet sixteen, celebrated and beautiful.
"Sit there, Miss Woodville," said the President of the Royal Academy, indicating the pivot chair.
"What! Ought I not to be placed opposite you?"
"No; rather at my side. We shall both benefit by the arrangement. Instead of looking at an ugly old painter, you will perceive your own charming image in the mirror and will smile upon it, while I have my sketch all done for me."
The old lady had drawn a roll of bank-notes from her pocket, which she proceeded carefully to count and re-count.
"I believe it is the custom," she said.
Sir Joshua acquiesced in silence with a cold smile. An able accountant and serious man of business, this President of the Royal Academy! The price of his portraits was invariably paid him, one half on the occasion of the first sitting, the remainder on the day that the finished work was delivered. As to the price, it varied according to the dimension; it had also varied with the epoch and had increased with the reputation of the artist. A full-length portrait cost at that time (1780) one hundred and fifty pounds sterling.
The Quakeress, therefore, placed upon a table seventy-five pounds in notes and gold pieces bearing the effigy of George III. As Miss Woodville was not yet sufficiently wealthy to order a portrait from the great painter, a group of enthusiastic amateurs had raised the necessary money in order to decorate the lobby of the theatre with the portrait.