“Here it is,” he said. “She was right about one thing, it _is_ beautiful.” And it _was_ beautiful. “But the impudence of these people,” he continued, “who think that because they pay a few paltry hundred pounds they _own_ my pictures. Why, it merely secures them the privilege of having them in their houses now and then! The pictures are _mine_!” However, this side of Whistler is on record in the case of “The Baronet _vs._ The Butterfly,” as he called the suit of Sir William Eden to obtain possession of the portrait of Lady Eden. As the circumstances of this famous case illustrate Whistler’s attitude towards his work, and at the same time his attitude towards those who tried to deal commercially with him, they are worth recalling: In June, 1893, Sir William Eden, a wealthy English baronet, wrote a letter to Goupil & Co., in London, asking what Mr. Whistler’s price would be for a small picture of Lady Eden, and he was informed that the price would be about five hundred guineas. He replied, stating that he thought the price too high, and said that he would call and see Mr. Whistler in Paris. Instead of so doing, he applied to a common friend, who wrote Whistler saying that the portrait “is for a friend of mine, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, you will have to paint a very lovely and very elegant woman, whose portrait you will be delighted to undertake,” and “under the circumstances I think you might make very liberal concessions.” The matter of price was always a matter of indifference to Whistler,--_if also_ of indifference to the other party,--and when Sir William wrote concerning the price, Whistler replied very cordially in January, 1894, as follows: “DEAR SIR WILLIAM EDEN: Your letter has only just been handed to me, but this may still, perhaps, reach you in the afternoon. It is quite understood as to the little painting, and I think there can be no difficulty about the sum. The only really interesting point is that I should be able to produce the charming picture which, with the aid of Lady Eden, ought to be expected. Once undertaken, however slight, for me one work is as important as another, and even more so, as Calino said. As for the amount, Moore, I fancy, spoke of one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds.” The letter is quite characteristic of the artist. His interest was in the possibility of producing a charming picture. The amount he mentioned was less than he ordinarily asked for a water-color sketch, and one-fifth that named by Goupil & Co. It must be noted that the amount is not fixed by Whistler, but is left at from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds, depending of course upon the painter’s own feeling regarding his work, and not depending in any sense upon the whim of the baronet.