her willingness to set the world right showed her generous spirit.
'Women must conduct themselves in such a way as to win not the patronizing affection of men, but their respect. I protest...' (there seemed some danger that the jet buttons might leap off the tight basque) 'I protest...' Suddenly her keen, almost lovely eyes narrowed, 'Cousin Lanice, are you at heart an artist?'
'Oh, I hope I am, Cousin Pauline. I love to paint. That's all I have done for five years, except a few romances. I've never had proper lessons; Amherst is so small.'
'Lanice, you shall have everything, everything: masters and studios, and trips to Europe if you can only promise to paint one picture, I care not how small, but one picture that will rank high with the work of the great male brushes.'
So compelling were the strange, eager eyes, Lanice took fire. She felt a spiritual quickening that left her ecstatic and throbbing.
'Pauline, I think I could.'
'Not a mere picture such as other female artists could paint, but a real artistic triumph fit to hang in the Uffizi or the Louvre, I care not how small.' The size-clause reassured the young artist.
'I do feel as if I could, Cousin Pauline. I...To-day...I know I could.'
'You mean,' said Pauline with flat suspicion, 'you want to paint a masterpiece now, to-day, without sufficient learning?'
