Love among the artists Author:Bernard Shaw Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER HI On one of the last days of July, Mary Sutherland was in her father's house at Windsor, copying a sketch signed A. H. The room had a French window o... more »pening on a little pleasure ground and shrubbery, far beyond which, through the swimming summer atmosphere, was the river threading the distant valley. But Mary did not look that way. With her attention concentrated on a stained scrap of paper, she might have passed for an aesthetic daughter of the Man with the Muck Rake. At last a shadow fell upon the drawing board. Then she turned, and saw a tall, handsome lady, a little past middle age, standing at the window. " Mrs. Herbert! " she exclaimed, throwing down her brush, and running to embrace the new comer. " I thought you were in Scotland." " So I was, until last week. The first person I saw in London was your Aunt Jane; and she has persuaded me to stay at Windsor with her for a fortnight. How well you are looking! I saw your portrait in Adrian's studio; and it is not the least bit like you." " I hope you did not tell him so. Besides, it must be like me. All Adrian's artistic friends admire it." " Yes; and he admires their works in return. It is a well understood bargain. Poor Adrian! He did not know that I was coming back from Scotland; and I gave him a very disagreeable surprise by walking into his studio on Monday afternoon." " Disagreeable! I am sure he was delighted." " He did not even pretend to be pleased. His manners are really getting worse and worse. Who is the curious person that opened the shrubbery gate for me?— a sort of Cyclop with a voice of bronze." " It is only Mr. Jack, Charlie's tutor. He has nothing to do at present, as Charlie is spending a fortnight at Cambridge." " Oh, indeed! Your Aunt Jane has a great deal to say about him...« less