could have helped you he sighed the pot she flushed but kept her eyes on his it s just that � don t you see she reproached him just that � the fact that i could be of use to you the fact that as you say things have changed since you painted mrs i haven t seen the later portraits but they tell me � oh they re just as bad you ve sold your talent and you know it that s the dreadful part you did it she cried with passion oh deliberately he grimly assented and you re not ashamed � you talk of going on i m not ashamed i talk of going on she received this with a long shuddering sigh and turned her eyes away from him oh why � why � why she lamented it was on the tip of well s tongue to answer that i might say to you what i m saying now � but he replied instead a man may paint bad pictures and be a decent fellow look at after all the had an unexpected effect s colour faded suddenly and she sat motionless with a stricken face there s a difference � she began at length abruptly the difference you ve always insisted on mr as well as he can he has no idea that his pictures are � less good than they might be the pot so he can t be accused of doing what he does for money � of sacrificing anything better she turned on him with troubled eyes it was you who made me understand that when used to make fun of him smiled i m glad you still think me a better painter than but isn t it hard that for that very reason i should starve in a hole if i painted badly enough you d see no objection to my at the ah don t joke about it she murmured don t in it i see no reason to at present said but i won t pretend to be ashamed when i m not i think there are occasions when a man is justified in doing what i ve done she looked at him solemnly what occasions why when he wants money hang it she drew a deep breath money � money has s example been nothing to you then it hasn t proved to me that i must starve while on again her face changed and she stirred uneasily and then rose to her feet there s no occasion which can justify an artist s sacrificing his convictions she exclaimed rose too facing her with a mounting which sent a flush to his cheek the pot can t you conceive such an occasion in my case the wish i mean to make things easier for � to help you in any way you might let me her face reflected his blush and she stood gazing at him with a wounded wonder and i � you imagine we could on money earned in that way well made an impatient gesture you ve got to live on something � or he has even if you don t include yourself her blush deepened miserably but she held her head high that s just it � that s what i came here to say to you she stood a moment gazing away from him at the lake he looked at her in surprise you came here to say something to me yes that we ve got to live on something and i as you say and since an artist cannot sacrifice his convictions the sacrifice must � i mean � i wanted you to know that i have promised to marry mr well cried with a sharp note of irony but her white look checked it on his lips i know all you are going to say she murmured with a kind of nobility which moved him even through his sense of its but you must see the distinction because you first made it clear to me i can take money earned in good faith � i can let live on it i can the pot many mr because though his pictures are bad he does not his art she b an to move away from him and he followed her in silence along the frozen path when re entered his the dusk had fallen he lit his lamp and out some writing materials having found them he wrote to to say that he could not paint mrs van and did not care to accept any more orders for the present he sealed and stamped the letter and flung it over the for the to post then he dragged out his unfinished head of replaced it on the and sat down before it with a grim smile the best man the best man dusk had fallen and the circle of light shed by the lamp on governor s writing table just rescued from the surrounding his own imposing bulk thrown back in a deep chair in the lounging attitude habitual to him at that hour when the governor of rested he rested completely five minutes earlier he had been bowed over his desk an with the state on his shoulders now his working hours over he had the air of a man who has spent his day in pleasure and means to end it in the enjoyment of a good dinner this freedom from care threw into relief the hovering of his sister mrs who just outside the circle of haunted the gloom of the hearth from which the wood fire now and then shot up an exploring flash into her face mrs s presence did not usually minister to repose but the governor s calm was too deep to be easily disturbed and he felt the composure of a man who knows there is a in the room but has drawn the 