"Ask Madame, rather," answered Gouache, brushing away in a lively manner. Madame said nothing, and seemed not to have heard.
"Am I indiscreet?" asked Orsino.
"How? No. Why should you not remain? Only, if you please, sit where I can see you. Thanks. I do not like to feel that some one is looking at me and that I cannot look at him, if I please—and as for me, I am nailed in my position. How can I turn my head? Gouache is very severe."
"You may have heard, Madame, that a beautiful woman is most beautiful in repose," said Gouache.
Orsino was annoyed, for he had of course wished to make exactly the same remark. But they were talking in French, and the Frenchman had the advantage of speed.
"And how about an ugly woman?" asked Madame d'Aragona.
"Motion is most becoming to her—rapid motion—the door," answered the artist.
Orsino had changed his position and was standing behind Gouache.
"I wish you would sit down," said the latter, after a short pause. "I do not like to feel that any one is standing behind me when I am at work. It is a weakness, but I cannot help it. Do you believe in mental suggestion, Madame?"
"What is that?" asked Madame d'Aragona vaguely.