Intensely interested in the
things she found, she gradually forgot her timidity, and gave herself to
the enjoyment of her surroundings, with the freedom and abandon of a
child. From picture to picture, she went, with wide, eager eyes. She
turned over the sketches in the big portfolios that were so invitingly
open; looked with awe upon the brushes stuck in the big Chinese jar--upon
the palettes, and at the tubes of color; flitting to the window that
looked out upon her garden, and back to the great, north light with its
view of the distant mountains; and again and again, paused to stand with
her hands clasped behind her, in front of the big easel with its canvas
hidden under the velvet curtain. Then she must try the chairs, the
oriental couch, and even the stool--where she had seen the artist sitting,
sometimes, at his work, when she had watched him from the arbor; and
last--in a pretty make believe--she tried the seat on the model throne, as
though posing herself, for her portrait.
Suddenly, with a startled cry, she sprang to her feet; then shrank back,
white and trembling--her big eyes fixed with pleading fear upon the man
who stood in the open doorway, regarding her with a curious, triumphant
smile.
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