“Many people are interested in them, your grace,” he said. “It was the amazing likeness which made me put them beside each other.”
“Yes,” she answered. “It is almost incredible.” She looked up from the beautiful young being dressed in the mode of twenty years past.
“This is—was—?” she corrected herself and paused. The man replied in a somewhat dropped voice. He evidently had his reasons for feeling it discreet to do so.
“Yes—was. She died twenty years ago. The young Princess Alixe of X—” he said. “There was a sad story, your grace no doubt remembers. It was a good deal talked about.”
“Yes,” she replied and said no more, but took up the modern picture. It displayed the same almost floating airiness of type, but in this case the original wore diaphanous wisps of spangled tulle threatening to take wings and fly away leaving the girl slimness of arms and shoulders bereft of any covering whatsoever.
“This one is—?” she questioned.
“A Mrs. Gareth-Lawless. A widow with a daughter though she looks in her teens. She’s older than the Princess was, but she’s kept her beauty as ladies know how to in these days. It’s wonderful to see them side by side. But it’s only a few that saw her Highness as she was the season she came with the Prince to visit at Windsor in Queen Victoria’s day. Did your grace—” he checked himself feeling that he was perhaps somewhat exceeding Bond Street limits.
“Yes. I saw her,” said the Duchess. “If these are for sale I will take them both.”
“I’m selling a good many of them. People buy them because the likeness makes them a sort of curiosity. Mrs. Gareth-Lawless is a very modern lady and she is quite amused.”
The Duchess took the two photographs home with her and looked at them a great deal afterwards as she sat in her winged chair.