Page:The Novels and Tales of Henry James, Volume 1 (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907).djvu/94

 Miss Garland looked up, and, after a moment's hesitation, "Are the Roman women very beautiful?" she asked.

Rowland too, in answering, hesitated; he was looking at her kindly enough. "On the whole I prefer ours," he said.

She had dropped her work in her lap; her hands were crossed upon it, her head thrown a little back. She had evidently expected a more impersonal reply and she was not satisfied. For an instant she seemed inclined to make a rejoinder, but she picked up her work in silence and drew her stitches again.

Rowland had for the second time the feeling that she judged him a person of a disagreeably sophisticated tone. He noticed too that the kitchen towel she was hemming was terribly coarse. And yet his answer had a resonant inward echo and he repeated to himself "Yes, on the whole I prefer ours."

"Well, these models," began Mr. Striker. "You put them into an attitude, I suppose?"

"An attitude, exactly."

"And then you sit down and look at them?"

"Ah, you mustn't sit too long. You must go at your clay and try to build up something that looks like them."

"Well, there you are with your model in an attitude on one side, yourself in an attitude too, I suppose, on the other, and your pile of clay in the middle, building up, as you say. So you pass the morning. After that I hope you go out and take a walk and rest from your exertions."

"Unquestionably. But to an artist who loves 60