Hence, there was no need for Courtenay to decline a new career in the
magnificent service which Mr. Boyle once sniffed at, and Elsie became a
prominent figure in that very select circle which clusters around the
ports mostly favored by his Majesty's ships.
It was not unreasonable that Gray should go back to Chile to take
charge of Elsie's mine, nor that Mr. Boyle should become captain and
Walker chief engineer, of the _Kansas_, but there was one wholly
unexpected development which fairly took Elsie's breath away when she
heard of it.
She was with her husband in London. While passing the National Gallery
one day, she remembered the picture by Claude which deals with the
embarkation of Saint Ursula and her Eleven Thousand Virgins. A painter
herself, Elsie had an artist's appreciation of the vanity which led
Turner to bequeath his finest canvasses to the nation with the proviso
that they should be placed cheek by jowl with those of his great rival,
the Lorrainer. So a fat fox-terrier was given in charge of a catalogue
seller, and they passed up the steps.
It was a students' day, and the galleries were crowded with embryonic
geniuses.
Pages:
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412