Page 64 (1/1)

I stood silently before the statue, lost in adile little hand of the woman who stood beside me could have executed such a perfect work She had depicted "Evening" as a beautiful nude fe forward on tip-toe; the eyes were half closed, and the sweet ht forefinger was laid lightly on the lips, as though suggesting silence; and in the left hand was loosely clasped a bunch of poppies That was all But the poetry and force of the whole conception as carried out in the statue was marvellous

"Do you like it?" asked Zara, half timidly

"Like it!" I exclaimed "It is lovely--wonderful! It is worthy to rank with the finest Italian masterpieces"

"Oh, no!" rereat Italian sculptors lived and worked--ah! one iants in those days' Giants--veritable ones; and we h the eyes of others who ca new We look at painting through Raphael; sculpture through Angelo; poetry through Shakespeare; philosophy through Plato It is all done for us; we are copyists The world is getting old--how glorious to have lived when it was young! But nowadays the very children are blase"

"And you--are not you blase to talk like that, with your genius and all the world before you?" I asked laughingly, slipping ravely

"I sincerely hope the world is NOT all before ht so To have the world all before you in the general acceptation of that terold, to hear the fulsonorant, who are as ready with condened by those less lucky than you are Heaven defend me from such a fate!"

She spoke with earnestness and sole the curtain before her statue, turned away I was ad Bacchante that stood on a pedestal near me, and was about to ask Zara what subject she had chosen for the large veiled figure at the farthest end of her studio, ere interrupted by the entrance of the little Greek page whom I had seen on my first visit to the house He saluted us both, and addressing himself to Zara, said: "Monsieur le Comte desires me to tell you, madame, that Prince Ivan will be present at dinner"