"Coward--Scoundrel! Now we shall see what you are made of," said the man, as a servant appeared on the landing with a lighted lamp.
"Yes; that's just what you will see," said Mrs. Abington in her natural voice, as the light flooded the room.
"Great powers!" whispered Lewis, as he found himself confronted by the fascinating face that he knew so well.
Mrs. Abington had thrown off her wig in the darkness, and now her own hair was flowing over her shoulders.
"Yes, Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Abington, who only waits to hear a very foolish fellow confess that he has been a fool in letting a thought of any other woman come into his mind, when he is the husband of so charming a lady as took supper with me to-night."
Lee Lewis bowed his head, and, kneeling before his wife, pressed her hand to his lips.
As all hearts are captivated by the most charming Mistress Barry, so it is my hope that all souls will be captivated by her picture," cried Sir Godfrey, bowing low between his palette which he held in one hand and his sheaf of brushes which he held in the other. His pronunciation of the word charming--he said "sharmink"--had a suggestion of his native Lübeck about it; but his courtliness was beyond suspicion. None of his distinguished sitters could complain of his having failed to represent them on his canvases with dignity and refinement, whatever their candid friends might think of the accuracy of the portraitures.
"I only ask to be painted as I am, Sir Godfrey," said Mrs. Barry, when she had risen after her courtesy in acknowledgment of Sir Godfrey's gallant compliment.
"As you are, madam? Ah, your ladyship is the most exacting of my sitters. As you are? Ah, my dear lady, you must modify your conditions; my art has its limitations."
"Your art, but not your arts, sir. I protest that I am overwhelmed by the latter, as I am lost in admiration of the former," said the actress, adopting a pose which she knew the painter would appreciate. "Alas, Sir Godfrey," she added, "you do not well to talk to an actress of the limitations of art. What a paltry aim has our art compared with yours! I have had cravings after immortality--that is why I am here to-day."
"'T is surely, then, the future of the painter that you have had at heart, my dear madam; you come with immortality shining in your face."