At this point a bustle was heard in another part of the room. Lady Modestina cast her eyes in that direction and said: 'Here comes a lady, a friend of ours, a star in our society, we think much of her—I must go to her.' And as she was moving away slowly, remarked to me, 'I will introduce you to her.' To which I replied, 'I shall be delighted.'
We went together towards the lady mentioned, to whom I was duly introduced. She was the Marchioness de Vivastine, and was extremely beautiful, looking far younger than her age must be, for I afterwards heard that she is the mother of a married daughter.
Her face was covered by a veil, but her round and brilliant eyes sparkled through it. Her beauty, however, was not the point of my appreciation, but her vivacity and frankness. I soon entered into conversation with her. She spoke fluently and unhesitatingly. We commenced to speak on art.
—'I admire Japanese art very highly: it is so natural and vivid, flowers and animals and what-not.'
—'May be, but our human figures are very bad,' said I.
—'Perhaps so,' said she, 'in the later productions, but not in antique works. I think there has been no nation which has produced such striking representation of nature as your country. Curiously enough, one sometimes notices very close representations of nature in the carvings or the inscriptions of very primitive tribes. Don't misunderstand me. I do not mean that yours are of that kind.'
—'You must be, madam, very well acquainted with our arts. Whence have you acquired that taste?'
—'From the time of the last Great Exhibition here, when your country sent so many valuable specimens of art.'
—'You must yourself be an artist. I can see it from your observations.'
—'Yes, she is an artist, although an amateur,' interposed Lady Modestina.