At five o'clock Elsie gave a little scream and said she must hurry away to see that the servant (she had no servant) had made George's tea. She hurried away, and then, relieved of the oppression of her presence, René was just beginning to hope for better things when Linda, to escape from the table, asked if she might see the picture on the easel in the corner of the room. Delighted, Mr. Fourmy turned the picture to the light. Linda bit her lip and a dimple came in her cheek.
"Not bad for an amateur," said Mr. Fourmy. "Just the lid of a cigar-box and a little paint. I never did care about anything but the figure."
He took the picture up and looked at it lovingly, and with pride and in a queer confidential voice that startled René and stung Mrs. Fourmy into a sudden attention, he said:
"You can understand an old man liking to do something with his hands, and it's strange how, when I paint a little bit like that"--he pointed to the hip--"it brings back wonderful moments I have had and rare pleasures, not just in remembering, but as they were--wonderful!"
"I think so," said Linda with unwonted simplicity, and Mr. Fourmy took her hand, stooped over it, and kissed it.
René looked at his mother, she at him, and Linda, turning to Mrs. Fourmy, smiled and said:
"I am so glad to have come, Mrs. Fourmy. René and I are such friends. We have such great hopes for him and I wanted to see you. Will you take me home, René?"
Mr. Fourmy opened the door of the room for her, hurried ahead to open the front door, and with a tremendous dignity, bowed again over Linda's hand, thanked her for coming, and said:
"May life be good to you, and very amusing."
"I'd like to buy your picture, Mr. Fourmy. Will you send it to me when it is finished?"
René's horror sent him flying down to the gate. It was a minute or two before Linda came. She was smiling, and Mr. Fourmy had come out on to the doorstep to watch her walk down. René saw his eyes follow her and appreciate her movements, and he became acutely, alarmingly conscious that she also was a woman. He was frightened of her as she came up to him, but he was also angry, and he let fly:
"You can't let my father give you his beastly picture. You didn't seem to mind. I thought you would. I thought you would. He sits all day doing those things over and over again."