"That little sister was so dear to me I could not fail to make her lovely, for I put my heart into my work. The year has gone, but I don't regret it, though this is all I have done."
"You forget your three wishes; I think the year has granted them."
"What were they?"
"To possess beauty in yourself, the power of seeing it in all things, and the art of reproducing it with truth."
She colored deeply under the glance which accompanied the threefold compliment, and answered with grateful humility,—
"You are very kind to say so; I wish I could believe it." Then, as if anxious to forget herself, she added rather abruptly,—
"I hear you think of giving your Adam a mate,—have you begun yet?"
"Yes, my design is finished, all but the face."
"I should think you could image Eve's beauty, since you have succeeded so well with Adam's."
"The features perhaps, but not the expression. That is the charm of feminine faces, a charm so subtile that few can catch and keep it. I want a truly womanly face, one that shall be sweet and strong without being either weak or hard. A hopeful, loving, earnest face with a tender touch of motherliness in it, and perhaps the shadow of a grief that has softened but not saddened it."