"Father is welcome to go on calling me Marit."
Mrs. Dawes looked at her sorrowfully, but said no more. Marit had
finished putting on her gloves.
"In America I am called Mary. I know that. Here is a specimen card. It
looks nice; doesn't it?"
She drew a very small card from her card-case. Mrs. Dawes looked at it,
then handed it to Anders. Upon it was inscribed in minute Italian
characters:
_Mary Krog._
Anders looked at it, looked long; then laid it on the table, took up his
newspaper, and sat as if he were reading.
"I am sorry, Father, that you take it in this way."
Anders Krog said once more, gently, without looking up from his
newspaper: "Marit is your mother's name."
"I, too, am fond of Mother's name. But it does not suit me."
She quietly left the room. Mrs. Dawes, who was sitting at the window,
watched her going along the street. Anders Krog laid down the
newspaper; he could not read. Mrs. Dawes made an attempt to comfort him.
"There is something in what she says; Marit no longer suits her."
"Her mother's name," repeated Anders Krog; and the tears fell.
THREE YEARS LATER
Three years later, in Paris, on a beautiful spring day after rain, Mary
and her relation, Alice Clerc, drove down the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne
towards the gilded entrance gate. The two had made each other's
acquaintance in America, and had met again a year ago in Paris. Alice
Clerc lived in Paris now with her father. Mr. Clerc had been the
principal dealer in works of art in New York. His wife was a Norwegian
lady of the Krog family. After her death he sold his enormous business.
The daughter had been brought up in art surroundings, and her art
training had been thorough. She had seen the picture-galleries and
museums of all countries--had dragged her father as far as Japan. Their
house in the Champs Elysées was full of works of art. And she had her
own studio there; she modelled. Alice was no longer young; she was a
stout, strong person, good-natured and lively.
Anders Krog and his companions had this year come from Spain. The two
friends were talking of a portrait of Mary which had been sent from
Spain to Alice, and afterwards to Norway. Alice maintained that the
artist had plainly intended to produce a resemblance to Donatello's St.
Cecilia--in the position of the head, in the shape of the eye, in the
line of the neck, and the half-open mouth. But, interesting as this
experiment might be, it took away from the likeness. It was, for
instance, a loss to the portrait that the eyes were not seen; they were
cast down, as in Donatello's work. Mary laughed. It was on purpose to
have this resemblance brought out that she had sat for it.
Alice now began to talk about a Norwegian engineer officer whom she had
known since the days when she went to Norway in summer with her mother.
He had seen Mary's portrait at the Clercs' house, and had fallen in love
with it.
"Really?" answered Mary absently.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account