When they arrived at the Louvre Philip led his friend down the Long Gallery.
“I should like to see The Gioconda,” said Hayward.
“Oh, my dear fellow, it’s only literature,” answered Philip.
At last, in a small room, Philip stopped before The Lacemaker of Vermeer van Delft.
“There, that’s the best picture in the Louvre. It’s exactly like a Manet.”
With an expressive, eloquent thumb Philip expatiated on the charming work. He used the jargon of the studios with overpowering effect.
“I don’t know that I see anything so wonderful as all that in it,” said Hayward.
“Of course it’s a painter’s picture,” said Philip. “I can quite believe the layman would see nothing much in it.”
“The what?” said Hayward.
“The layman.”