But she was inclined to take the same view as Mrs. Hawthorne, that when he could paint like that it was a pity Gerald should not do it oftener, to build up a reputation and fill his purse. She only would have advised him not to go quite so far another time in the same direction.
As Gerald, the portrait finished, came no more to the house, fairly as if modesty could not have endured the compliments showered upon him, Aurora with a communication to make had to square herself before her desk in the room of the red flowers and painstakingly pen a note.
Aurora, when taking pains, wrote the cleanest, clearest, most characterless hand that was ever seen outside of a school copy-book, and took pride in it. Aurora’s language, when she applied herself to composition, lost the last vestige of color and life. She wrote:
“My dear Mr. Fane:
“You have not been to see us for a long time, and so I am obliged to write what I have to say. It is that our 205friends cannot say enough in praise of your portrait of me, and Mrs. Bixby, an American who is staying at the pension Trollope, wants to have one just like it–one, of course, I mean, as much like her as that is like me, but not a bit more. But before she decides she wants to know what it will cost. And that brings me to the question, What is the price of my picture? Please, let me beg you to make it a figure I shall not blush to pay for such a fine piece of work. Make it a price that agrees with my estimate of the picture rather than your very modest one. I shall be glad, you ought to know, to pay anything you say. You couldn’t, if you tried, make it seem too much for me to pay for such a fine piece of work. I have got up in the middle of the night and gone down to look at it with a candle, and stood till I began to sneeze, I like it so much, though I know it’s too good-looking. So please set a good price on it and not make me feel mean taking it. Then I’ll tell Mrs. Bixby what I paid. She’s got plenty of money, and even if she beats you down, it will be better if she knows I paid a big price. You have such a wonderful talent it ought to make your fortune, and so it will by and by. Don’t forget that we are always glad to see you and that you haven’t been for quite a while.
“Yours sincerely,
“Aurora Hawthorne.
“P.S. What do you think Busteretto did? He saw me pouring some water into a bowl and imagined I was going to give him a bath. So he went to hide under the grate. Then of course he had to have a bath, which he wouldn’t have had to otherwise. He sends much love.
“Another P.S. I meant to tell you we have got a box 206for the veglione (I hope that is the way to spell it) on the last night of the Carnival. We have only asked the Fosses so far, and we want you to be sure to save that night to come with us.”