I found that Miss Wynne remembered all her past life down to her
first seizure on Raxton sands, while everything that had since passed
was a blank. Since her recovery her presence here has seemed to shed
a richer sunlight over the old place, but of course she is no longer
the fairy child who before her cure fascinated me more than any other
living creature could have done.
Apart from her sweet companionship, she has been of great service to
me in my art. When I learnt who she was, I should not have dreamed of
asking her to sit to me as a model without having first taken your
views, and you were, as I understood, abroad; but she herself
generously volunteered to sit to me for a picture I had in my mind,
'The Spirit of Snowdon.' It was a failure, however, and I abandoned
it. Afterwards, knowing that I was at my wits' end for a model in the
painting I have been for a long time at work upon, 'Zenelophon,' she
again offered to sit to me. The result has been that the picture, now
near completion, is by far the best thing I have ever done.
I had noticed for some time that Sinfi's mind seemed to be running
upon some project. Neither Miss Wynne nor I could guess what it was.
But a few days ago she proposed that Miss Wynne and she should take a
trip to North Wales in order to revisit the places endeared to them
both by reminiscences of their childhood. Nothing seemed more natural
than this. And Sinfi's noble self-sacrifice for Miss Wynne had
entitled her to every consideration, and indeed every indulgence.
And yesterday they started for Wales. It was not till after they were
gone that I learnt from another newspaper paragraph that you did not
go to Japan, and are in Wales. And now I begin to suspect that
Sinfi's determination to go to Wales with Miss Wynne arose from her
having suddenly learnt that you are still there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account