“Oh, for heaven’s sake let us talk of something else!” said Miss Van Tuyn, with an almost passionate note of exasperation. “You bore me, bore me, bore me with this man! He seems becoming an obsession with you. Paint him, for God’s sake, and then let there be an end of him as far as we are concerned. There are lots of other men better-looking than he is. But once you have taken an idea into your head there is no peace until you have worked it out on canvas. Genius it may be, but it’s terribly tiresome to everyone about you. Paint the man—and then let him sink back into the depths!”
“Like a sea monster, eh?”
“He is horrible. I always knew it.”
“Come, now! You told me—”
“It doesn’t matter what I told you. He is horrible.”
“What! Just because he comes out to dine with a pretty girl of a certain class? I had no idea you were such a Puritan. Raoul!”
“M’sieu!”
Garstin was evidently enjoying himself.
“I know those women! Arabian’s catching it like the devil in Conduit Street. She’s giving him something he’ll remember.”
“No!” said Miss Van Tuyn, with hard emphasis.