LADIES' COLUMN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5484, 8 February 1896, Page 3

LADIES' COLUMN.

THE DEVICE OF GIRALDO THE PAINTER. [by anthont hope.] ' (New York Sun.) When the twenty-first birthday of the Princess Osra approached, her brother, King Rudolf, desiring to make her a present, summoned"from his homo at Verona, in Italy, a painter of very high fame, "by name Giraldo, and commanded him to paint a portrait of the Princess, to be her brother's gift to her. This command Giraldo carried out, tho Princess giving, him every . opportunity bf studying her features and grudging no time that was spent by her in front of liis easel ; and the picture,- when finished, being pronounced to bo as faithful as beautiful, the reputation of Giraldo was greatly enhanced by the painting of it. Thus it followed that in many cases, when foreign princes had heard the widespread praises of Osra's beauty, they sent orders to Giraldo to execute for them and despatch with all speed miniatures or other portraits of the Princess, that they might judge for themselves^ whether she were in truth as lovely as report said ; and they sent Giraldo large sums of money in recompense, adding not seldom some further donation in the express term and condition that Giraldo should observe absolute fidelity in his representation and not permit himself the least flattery. For some desired themselves to court her, and others intended their sons to ask her hand if the evidence bf Giraldo's portraits satisfied their' hopes. Thus Giraldo, although but two or three years above thirty, grew both in fame and wealth, and was very often indebted to the Princess for the favour of a visit to his house that he might again correct his memory of her face. Now, what several princes had done bef 6re it chanced that the King of Glottenberg also did; and Giraldo,. to all appearances much pleased, accepted the command, and prayed the Princess tb visit him ; for, he said, this picture was to be larger'and more elaborate than the rest, and therefore needed more study of her. So the Princess went many times, and the portrait destined for the King of Glottenberg (who was said to be seeking a suitable alliance for his eldest son) grew before her eyes into the most perfect' and beautiful presentment of her wliich the skill of Giraldo had ever accomplished, and surpassed even that first picture which he had painted by King Rudolf's command. And the King had no doubt that, so soon as the picture had , reached the court of Glottenberg, an embassy would come from there to demand the hand of his sister for the Crown Prince,, a proposal which he would have received with much pleasure and gratification. . "I do not think," said Osra, tossing her v head, " that any such embassy will come, sire. For, four- or five pictures have been already painted by Signor Giraldo in like manner, but no embassies have come. It seems that my poor features do not find approval in the courts of Europe." And her tone, it must be confessed, was full of contempt. For the Princess Osra 'knew that she was beautiful, as, indeed, all beautiful ladies are, by the benevolence of heaven, permitted to. How much greater' mischief might they work if such knowledge were denied them!. "Thafs true enough," cried Rudolf. " And I do not understand the meaning of it. But it will not be so at Glottenberg. For my good brother, the King, has eyes in his head, and his son sees no less well. I met them in my travels, and I can speak of it. Most Certainly an embassy will come from Glottenberg before we are a month older!" .;' Yet, strange to say, the same thing followed on the f despatch of the portrait (whicli Giraldo sent by a certain trusty messenger, . whom he was accustomed to employ) as had happened before ; no embassy came, and the King of Glottenberg excused himself from paying a visit to Strelsau, which he and his son had/promised; on the invitation of King Eudolf . There-: fore Rudolf was very vexed, and Osra also, thinking herself scorned, was - sore at heart, although she bore herself more proudly than before. And, being very greatly disturbed in her mind concerning her beauty, she went herself again to Giraldo and charged him to paint her once more. "And this picture," she said, "is for my own eyes, and mine alone. Therefore, Signor, paint it faithfully, and spare me not. " For if- a woman be ugly, it is well she should know it, and it seems that nobody in the kingdom will tell me the truth, although I get hints enough of it from abroad." And she frowned and flushed, and was greatly out of temper, as any beautiful lady would in such a case most naturally be. . . Giraldo bowed very low, seeking to hide , the sudden red that dyed his cheek and to conceal the great joy which the command of the Princess gave him. For by reason of having so often painted jthe Princess, of having so curiously studied her face, and of having spent so much time in her company listening to her conversation and enjoying her wit and grace, this hopeless .young man had become so hopelessly and desperately her lover that he no longer cared to use his brush in the service of any < other lady or lord, and stayed at Strelsau solely that he might again and again depict . the face that beloved; and save when she sat before him. he seemed now unable to ply his art, at all, and had he not received bo many commands for pictures of her he would have sat all day long idle thinking of her— which indeed was what he. did in the intervals between his labour on her portraits. But. she, not imagining such presumption and folly on his part, thought that he was glad merely because she would pay him well;, so she promised him more if only he would paint her faithfully. And he gave her his word that he would paint her in every respect most faithfully. " For I desire to know," said she, "what lam in truth like ; for my mirror says one thing and the King of Glottenberg — " but here she stopped, remembering that such matters were not fit for Giraldo's ears. Yet he must have understood, for a strange, cunning, exultant smile came on his lips as he turned away and set himself to mix the colours on his palette. Thus be began this last picture, and the Princess came every day and stayed long, so that Giraldo might be able to render her likeness in every most minute respect with perfect fidelity. "For," she thought resentfully, "either I have no eyes or they have none in Glottenberg." But when she had thus been visiting •Oiraldo for hard upon a month and the picture was nearly finished, and was at once the most lovely and the most faithful of all that Giraldo had painted, it chanced that letters came to the King from a nobleman of France who was Avell known to him, and had known the Princess as well, the Marquis de Merosailles. And the Marquis' ■ wrote to the King in the greatest indignation and scorn, upbraiding the King and saying : "What is this, sire ?Do you keep a madman at your court and call him a painter ? I have been at Glottenberg ; and when I spoke there, as it is my humble duty and my tru9 delight to speak everywhere, of the incomparable beauty of your Majesty's Bister, the Princess Osra, the King, his son, and all the company did nothing but laugh. And I fought three duels with gentlemen of the court on this account, and two of them I, Heaven helping me, wounded, and one, by some devil's trick, wounded me. And after this, the matter coming, to the King's ear, he sent for me and excused tho laughter by showing me a picture done by a rascal called Giraldo at your court, and the picture wasnamed afteryourMajesty'smost match-, less*, sister, but, as lam a true son of the Church, it was more like a gutter wench, and, on my honour and conscience, it squinted most perceptibly. I pray you, sire, find out the meaning of this thing, and receive most humble duty and homage from your devoted servant, and since your graciousness so wills it, most obliged and obedient friend, Henri, Marquis de Merosailles. I kiss the hand of the Princess." When the King had read this letter he jrrew very thoughtful, and, unknown to 'irh*aklo, he sent and caught the messenger yhom Giraldo was wont to intrust with Ihe pictures, and" who. had carried the dcture 'ot which M. de Merosailles wrote

to Glottenberg ; and the King interrogated the messenger most closely, but got nothing from him save that he himself never beheld the pictures which he carried, but received them most carefully packed from Giraldo and so delivered them without undoing the coverings, and did not wait until the recipient had inspected the picture. So that the fellow did not know anything about the picture that had gone to Glottenberg except that it was certainly the same as 'Giraldo had intrusted to his hands. But the King was not satisfied, and, learning that his sister was at that moment at Giraldo's. house, being painted afresh by him, he called half a dozen gentlemen and set out on horseback for. the place whero Giraldo lived in the • street that runs from the cathedral toward the western gate of Strelsau. To this'day the house stands there. The Princess sat and Giraldo painted. Behind the Princess was a window, looking on to the street, and behind Giraldo was a second door, which led into an inner room. On Giraldo's easel stood the nearly finished picture, and Giraldo's eyes were alight both with love and .with triumph as he turned from the Princess of the picture, and from the, picture to the Princess again and she, seeing something of his admiration, said with a blush : "Is it indeed faithful, Signor ? " For it seemed even to herself a marvellously lovely picture. "No, madam," answered he, "for my imperfect hand cannot be faithful to perfection." "I pray you, do not flatter me. Have you indeed shown every fault of my face ? " " If there be a fault in your face, madam, there it is also- in my picture," said Giraldo. . ' The Princess was silent for a moment, and then she said : "It is better, is it not, than the picture you painted for the King of Glottenberg ? " Giraldo painted a stroke or two before he answered, carelessly : "Indeed, madam, it is more faithful than that which the Kingof. Glottenberg has." " Then less beautiful ? " asked Osra with a petulant smile, "Nay, I do not say that; not less beautiful," he answered, "Perhaps he would like this one better, and give me his in exchange ; for I never saw his after it was finished. I think I will ask the King to write to him." Giraldo had suddenly turned round as the Princess made this suggestion, which she spoke half in sport, half in continuing chagrin at the blindness shown by the j court of Glottenberg. Now he stood staring at her: with wide-open, alarmed eyes ; and he dropped his brushes on to the floor. 1 " What ails you, Signor ? " she cried. "I did but suggest exchanging the pictures." He tried to regain his composure as he stooped to pick up his brushes. "The King of Glottenberg's . picture is the best for him to have," said he sullenly; "This one, madam, I painted for you yourself, and for you alone." " I pay the price and can do what I will with the picture," retorted the Princess haughtily. " And if I desire, I will give it to the King of Glottenberg." Giraldo had now turned very pale, and, forgetful of the picture, stood gating fixedly at the Princess. For he could no longer • hold down in secrecy and silence the passion that possessed him, but it was declared in his eyes and in the trembling of his limbs ; so that the Princess rose from her chair 'and shrank away from him in alarm} regretting that she had dismissed her ladies in order to be less restrained in talk with the painter; and she tried to cry out, that they might hear hei* where they were in an adjoining room, but her cry froze on her lips at the sight of Giraldo's passion. And he cried in a hoarse whisper : "He shall not have the picture, he shall not have it !" And as he spoke he moved nearer to the Princess, who still shrank away from him, being now in very great alarm, and thinking that surely he had run mad. Yet she looked at him, and looking"', saw whence his madness came; and she felt pity for him, and held out her clasped hands towards him, saying in a very soft voice, and with eyes sad and tender : . "Ah, Signor, Signor, am I always to have lovers, and never a friend?" At this the imf ortunate painter was overcome, and, dropping his head between his hands, he gave, a deep, half -stifled sob, and then he cried : " God's curse on me for slandering the beauty that I love !" And then he sobbed again. But the Princess wondered greatly what he meant by his strange cry, and turned her eyes again on him in bewildered questioning, saying, as she pointed to the I picture : ! "There is no slander here, Signor, unless l too much praise be slander." j Giraldo made no answer ip words, but, springing toward her, caught her by the wrist and drew her across the room to the door behind the easel. With feverish haste he unlocked it and passed through. The Princess, although now free from his grip, followed him in a sort of fascination. Giraldo drew the door close behind him, and at the moment the Princess gave a cry, half a . scream, half laughter. For facing her she saw, each on its easel, three, four, five, six . pictures of herself, each beautiful and painted most lovingly, and the last of the six was the picture that had been painted by order of the King of Glottenberg. For she knew it by the attire, although the face had not been finished when she. had last seen it. -A sudden elightenment pierced her mind, and she knew that Giraldo had hot sent the pictures for "which she had sat to him, but had kept them himself and sent others to his patrons. ' This strange conviction found its sure confirmation in a seventh easel which stood apart from the rest, on the other side of the door; for it supported what was in all respects a copy of the portrait on which Giraldo waa now engaged, save that by cunning touches he had imparted to the face an alien and fearful aspect ; for here, although the features had their shape and perfect grace, yet it was the face of a devil that looked out on the canVas, a face that a man would not have gazing at him from the wall on to the bed where he sought sleep. But when Giraldo saw her eyes fixed on this picture, he cried: "That is for you — the other is mine. Are they hot your features? The King of Glottenberg should not have even your features. But you shall have them, and if a devil looks out through such a fair mask, is it not so with all fair women that lead even to destruction ? There is your true picture, Princess Osra !" And he flung himself on a couch with a mad cry of rage, and then a groan of despair. The Princess Osra looked at him and at the beautiful pictures, and then at the picture that was like her and yet like a devil. First she pitied the painter, and then marvelled at his wonderful skill, that so transformed her without drawing a line that could be called untrue. Thus thinking, she stood for a while, grave and puzzled. But then the humour struck her, as it struck her house always in great things and in small ; and it seemed to her most ludicrouß that the pictures should all be resting here in Giraldo's house, while the princes who had commanded portraits of her had received nothing but distorted parodies of her face, to the end that they might be disgusted and, abandoning the alliance they had projected, 1 leave her still at Strelsau, to be painted times out of number and most fruitlessly by this mad painter. And these thoughts gaining mastery oyer the others, in spite of the sad plight pf unhappy Signor Giraldo, her lips curved into a bow, her eyes gleamed in dancing merriment, and a moment later she broke into a glad, gleeful laugh that rose and rippled, and fell to soft, delighted murmurings. And she looked again at the picture that was like her and also like a devil, and her mirth grew and grew at the ingenuity of the work and the mocking deviltry so cunningly made out of her face. Small wonder was it to her now that the embassies had not conic. The Princess Osra thus stood laughing, and presently Signor Gimldo looked up; and when he had listened and looked for a few moments, his wild mood oaught the infection from her, so that, springing to his feet, he also began to laugh loudly,

like a man who cannot restrain his amusement, but is carried away by it beyond all bounds and restraint. Thus Giraldo laughed loudly, long, and fiercely; for there was madness in his laugh. And the i Princess heard the madness, and even while i she still laughed her eyes opened in wonder ; alarm came on her face, her merry laugh quivered, trembled, choked in her throat, and at Lost died away into dumbness ; yet her lips hung apart, frozen in the shape of laughter, while no laughter came. And as her laugh thus ended in mute horror, his grew louder yet and wilder, and its peal rang through the room as he gasped between his spasms pf horrid mirth : " You, you, ybxi ! " and pointed at the picture which he had touched into devilishne-Js. But she shrank away and stood crouched against the. wall; for she knew how that he was mad, but did not know to what his fury might next lead him. Then he caught iip a knife that lay on the sill' of the window, and, now smiling, as though *in grim, quiet amusement, 'strode across to the row of pictures, and reached up to them, knife in hand. But Osra suddenly sprang forward, crying: " Do not hurt them." " These ?" he asked, turning to her with a sneer. "These ? I'll destroy them all, for they are no longer beautiful to me; but that one only is beautiful, because it is true,": and he wrenched his arm away from the detaining hand that she had laid upon it. Falling back in terror sho watched him cutting and slashing each of the pictures until the face was utterly destroyed. And she feared that when he had finished with the pictures he would turn upon her ; therefore sho flung herself on the couch, hiding* her face for fear of some horrible fate and she murmured low to herself, " Not my face, oh God, not my face !" and she pressed her face down into the cushions of the couch, while he, muttering and grumbling to himself, cut the pictures into strips and ribbons and strewed the fragments at his feet on the floor. And this done he turned to the face that, he now loved and poured out to it, as though it had been an idol he worshipped, a flood of • wild, passionate, , reproachful words that Osra shivered to hear, and the purport bf wliich she dared tell none, though for all her prayers she could not forget one of them. At last he came to her again, and plucked her roughly and rudely from the couch where she lay, and dragged her behind him back to the door again and through it, and they stood together in front of the last picture, whose paint was still wet from his hand. The painted face smiled down on the trembling, pale girl, with its smile of careless, serene dignity, -fo that now, even to herself it seemed hardly to be her picture. For it was the true presentment of a king's daughter, and she no better than a helpless, frightened girl. It seemed to reproach hei*} and suddenly she drew herself to her full height and turned to Giraldo saying ; " You shall not touch it." And she stepped forward, so that she stood between him and the picture, raising her ' hand and forbidding him to approach it with his knife. And now the picture seemed more to be hers, although while it; smiled she frowned. - But at this moment there came through the window that opened on the street the clatter of horses' hoofs. At the sound Giraldo arrested the motion that he had already made to fling himself at the Princess—whether to kill her oi* only to thrust her away from the front of the picturo she did not know. Running to the window, he looked out, and, called in seeming glee, "It is the King come to see my pictures !" And he looked proud and happy. Going to the door of the room, he flung it open and stood there waiting for the King and the gentlemen who attended the King. They were not long in coming, for Rudolf was full of anger, impatience, and anxiety, and ran swiftly up the staircase. Has gentlemen pressed into the room behind him, and Giraldo drew back, keeping his face to the King and bowing again and again. But the King and the rest saw the knifein his hand, andraggedstripsof painted canvas hung here and there bn his clothes, while the ' Princess, pale and proud, stood; guarding the picture on the easel. The King; in spite of bis wonder, was not turned from the purpose which had brought him tb the painter's house, but with a quick step darted up to Giraldo and thrust the letter of the Marquis de Merosailles into his hand, bidding him in a sharp peremptory tone to read it and give what explanation he . could of the contents. Giraldo fell to reading it, while the King turned to his sister *in ordor to ask her why she seemed agitated and stood so obstinately in front of her own picture, but at that instant one of the gentlemen, whose name was Ladislas, gave a cry of surprise, for he had , looked through the door into the inner room and seen the havoc and destruction that Giraldo had made, and also the strange and terrible picture that alone had .escaped the knife. The King, wondering, followed Ladislas to the threshold of the inner room and passed it, while his gentlemen, full of curiosity, close on his heels after him. >■'- ' The Princess Osra, thinking herself safe, found her anger and terror pass away as her mirth had passed before. Now she felt in her heart that pity which borders on tenderness, and which she could; never refuse to a man that loved her, let the folly of his love and bf the extravagances into which it drove him be as great as it would. Turning toward Giraldo, she saw him fretting his puckered brow with- his hand, and vainly seeking to compel his disordered brain to understand M. de Merosailles's letter. So she was very sorry for .him,, and, knowing the sudden hot temper to wliich the careless King was subject, she glided swiftly across to the painter and whispered : " Escape and hide. Hide for a few days. He will be furious now, but he will soon forget. Dpn't Wait now, but escape, £*ignbr. Some harm, will happen to you here," and in her eager pleading with him she laid her hand on his arm and looked up in his face with imploring eyes. But he looked at her with dazed, vacant stare, muttering, " I cannot read the letter ; " then a wistful smile came over his face, and he thrust the letter toward her, saying " Madame, will you read it for me?" And at that, moment they heard the King swear an angry oath ; for he had seen the mad picture of his sister. " No, no, not now," whispered Osra, beseeching Giraldo. "Not now, signor. Listen. The king is angry. ' Escape now, and we will read the letter afterward." And she was as earnest as though she had loved him and were praying him to save himself for the sake of her love. And he looked into her softened eyes, and suddenly giving a little cry, as if a great joy had come to him unexpectedly and contrary to all likelihood, he dropped M. de Merosailles's letter and sprang to where his brushes lay on the floor ; and seizing them and his palette, he gave another swift glance at the Princess, and then, turning to the picture, began to paint with marvellous dexterity and deftness, and with. : the swift confidence of a man inspired to the work. As he wCrked his brow grew smoother, the tension of his strained face ' relaxed, happiness dawned in his eyes and\ a smile broke *on .liis lips; and Osra watched him with a tender, sorrowful gaze. Still he painted, and he was painting when the King burst in from the other room, in a great rage and carrying his sword drawn in his hand, for he had sworn by Our Lady and St Peter to kill the rogue who had done the Princess such a wrong and so slandered her beauty. And his gentlemen came in with him, all very ready to see Giraldo killed ; but each eager that the King should leave the task to him. Yet when they entered ahd saw Giraldo painting as though he were wrapped by some ecstasy, and had forgotten all that had passed, nay, even their very presence, they paused in unwilling and constrained hesitation, and Osra. raised her hand to bid them stay atill where they were and not interfere with Giraldo's painting. For now she. 'desired abovo all things on earth that he should be left to finish his task. For he thought that he had read more than pity and more than tenderness in Osra's eyes; he had seemed to see love there, and thus he had cried out in joy, and thus he was now painting as never had even he, for all his skill, painted before. His unerring hand, moving lightly to and fro, imparted tho sweetness of his delusive vision to the canvas, so that the eyes of the portrait glowed with wonderful and beau-r tiful love and gentleness. Presently

Giraldo began tossing very softly to himself a sweet, happy old song that peasants sang to peasant girls in the fields outside his native Verona on summer evenings. His head was thrown back in triumph and exultation as he sang and worked, tastinothe luxury of love and glorying in thi tribute that his genius paid to her whom j he loved. Thus came a moment of great I joy to the soul of Giraldo the painter ; for a man's love and a man's work are, when they seem to prosper, of all things the sweetest, and their union in one his life's consummation. It was done. Ho laid -down the brush and drew back a step, looking on what he had done. The Princess came softly and slowly, as though .attracted against her will, ahd stood' by him ; for she saw that this picture was now, beyond all. compare, ..the most perfect and beautiful of., all that lie or any other man had painted of her j and she loved him for thus glorifying her ; but before many moments had gone by a sudden start and shiver ran through Giraldo's body. The spell of his entranced ecstasy broke; his eyes fell from the master-piece that he had made and wandered to those who stood about him — to tho gentlemen who did not know whether tb wonder or to laugh, to the angry face of the King and the naked sword in his hand, at last to Osra, whose eyes were still on the picture. And his exultation vanished, and with it went, as it seemed to them,.hi3 madness. Reason dawned for a moment in his eyes, but was quenched in an instant by shame and despair. For he knew that ail had seen that other picture, ahd .they knew not what he had done ; and suddenly, with a stifled cry, he flung himself full length on the floor at Osra's feet. "Let lis wait," said she, gently. "He will be himself again soon." But' the King was too angry to listen. "He has made us fools before half Europe," he said angrily, "and he shall not live to talk of it. And you— have you seen the picture yonder ?" ,-. "Yes, I have seen it,'.' said she. "But he does not now think that picture like me, but this one." And she turned to the gentlemen and desired them to raise Giraldo and lay him oh a couch, and they obeyed; then she knelt by his head ; and,after a while, he opened his eyes, seeming sound of sense in everything except that he believed she loved him, so that he began to whisper to her as lovers whisper to their loves, very tenderly and very low. And the King, with his gentlemen, stood a little way off. But the Princess said nothing to Giraldo, neither refusing his love nor yet saying what was false ; yet she suffered him to talk and to reach up his hand and gently touch a lock of hair that strayed on her forehead. And he, sighing in utter happiness and contentment, closed his eyes again and lay back very quietly on the couch. "Let us go," said she, rising, "I will send a physician." And she bade one of the gentlemen lock the inner room and give her the key, and she and the King and they all, then departed, and sent his servants to -tend Giraldo ; and Osra caused the 'King's physician also to be summoned. But Giraldo did no more than linger some few days alive; and for the most.of them he was in a high fever, his brain being wild and he raved about the * Princess, sometimes railing at her, sometimes praising her ; yet once or twice he woke, calm and happy as he had been when she knelt by him and having for his only delusion •the thought that she still knelt there and was breathing words of love into his ear. And in this last merciful error, in respect of which the physicians humoured him, he one day, a week later, passed away and was at peace. Then the Princess came, attended by one gentleman in whom she placed • confidence, and she destroyed the evil picture that Giraldo had painted, and, having caused a fire to be made, burned up the pieces of it and all the ruins of the pictoes that Giraldo had destroyed. But. that on which he had last worked so happily, and with such triumph of art, she, ■• carried with her to the palace, and pre- ' sently she caused copies to be made of it and sent to each of the Princes by whom Giraldo had been commanded to paint her picture, and with it the money he had received, the whole of which was found to be untouched in a cabinet in his house. But the picture itself she hung in her own chamber, and would often look at it, feeling great sorrow for the fate of .Giraldo, the painter. v Yet King Rudolf could not be prevailed on to pity the young man, saying that- for his part he should have to be mad before the love of a .woman should drive him mad ; wnd he cursed Giraldo for an insolent knave, declaring that he did well to die of his own accord. - And because M. de Merosailles had gallantly defended his sister's beauty in tliree duels, he sent him by the hands of a great officer his order of the Eed Eose, which M. de Merosailles wore with great pride at the Court of Versailles. But when the copies of the last picture reached the courts to which they were addressed, together with the money and a brief hist Cry of Giraldo's mad doings, the Princes turned their thoughts again to the matter of the alliance, and several embassies set out for Strelsau, so that Princess Osra said, with a smile that was half sad, half amused,, and very whimsical : " I ani much troubled by reason of the loss of Signor: Giraldo, my painter."