Fugen eBooks

My first impression
of her face was one of marvellous beauty, followed by a sense of
dissatisfaction. Such was my distance that I could not annoy her
by furtive observation; and I soon discovered that she would
regard a stare as a tribute. Why was it that her face was so
beautiful, yet so displeasing? Each feature analyzed seemed
perfection, yet the general effect was a mocking, ill-kept
promise. The truth was soon apparent. The expression was not evil,
but frivolous, silly, unredeemed by any genuine womanly grace. She
giggled and flirted through the sublime symphony, till in
exasperation I went out into the promenade under the open sky. In
less than an hour I had my story "A Face Illumined." I imagined an
artist seeing what I had seen and feeling a stronger vexation in
the wounding of his beauty loving nature; that he learned during
the evening that the girl was a relative of a close friend, and
that a sojourn at a summer hotel on the Hudson was in prospect. On
his return home he conceives the idea of painting the girl's
features and giving them a harmonious expression.


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