"Christian saved the situation," Frederica said, in subsequent conversation with the Reverend Charles Fetherston; she absolutely 'charmed him to a smile.' She said afterwards that the smile made her think of a Druidic stone circle, slightly imperfect from age! She always thinks of absurd things; but I was grateful to her! She has an amazing gift for setting people at their ease." "I'm not sure that our respected friend might not be more tolerable when he was _not_ at his ease!" said the Reverend Charles. "Larry simply sulked," continued Miss Coppinger; "I'm afraid Paris life does not inculcate much respect for religion." "Very possibly!" said the Reverend Charles, non-committally. "I feel for poor Sweeny! He knows now what Purgatory is like!" "I assure you I was as civil as I knew how to be," asserted Frederica. "I'm sure you were!" said the Reverend Charles, stuffing a pipe as he spoke, and sniggering into the bowl. Miss Coppinger was justified in believing that Christian had been a success with Father Sweeny. "I declare I could like that gerr'l, Christian Lowry," he said to Father Greer. "She's a good gerr'l enough. Decent! Civil!" Each adjective of approval was launched on a snort that indicated some co-existing irritation; "but I have me own opinion of young Coppinger!" "A good one?" simpered Father Greer. "The reverrse!" said Father Tim, and a least four r's rang and rolled in the word. CHAPTER XXVI The portrait of that civil and decent girl, Christian Talbot Lowry, was finished; it had been conveyed to Mount Music and was there established on an easel in the billiard-room The artist and the model, having raised and lowered blinds and arranged curtains to their liking, or as nearly to that unattainable ideal as circumstances permitted, were now recovering from the criticism of their relations on the completed work. The artist who works in the bosom of his own family has much to bear, and, so the family consider, much to learn. Neither in endurance, nor in the docile assimilation of instruction, had Mr. Coppinger been conspicuously successful, and his model, on whom had rested the weighty responsibility of keeping the peace, or, at least, of averting open warfare between the painter and the critics, was now, albeit much spent by her efforts, engaged in binding up the wounds inflicted on the former by the latter. "If you hadn't argued with them, they would have liked it very much; you took them the _absolutely_ wrong way! But they _really_ are deeply impressed by it." "I don't care what they think; I know jolly well it's the best thing I've ever done!" said Larry, whose temperature was still considerably above normal. "Your mother is the only one of the lot with a soul to be saved. _She_ didn't harangue about what she doesn't understand! _She_ said: 'It makes me think of when she was a little child, and used to say she saw things, and the other children used to tease her so dreadfully'!"