Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Head of Christ

Head of Christ
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
girl with a pearl earring vermeer
Gustav Klimt Kiss painting
¡¡¡¡ Instead of replying she rose quickly, and saying she was going to walk to her aunt's grave in the churchyard to recover herself, went out of the house. Jude did not follow her. Twenty minutes later he saw her cross the village green towards Mrs. Edlin's, and soon she sent a little girl to fetch her bag, and tell him she was too tired to see him again that night. ¡¡¡¡ In the lonely room of his aunt's house, Jude sat watching the cottage of the Widow Edlin as it disappeared behind the night shade. He knew that Sue was sitting within its walls equally lonely and disheartened; and again questioned his devotional motto that all was for the best. ¡¡¡¡ He retired to rest early, but his sleep was fitful from the sense that Sue was so near at hand. At some time near two o'clock, when he was beginning to sleep more soundly, he was aroused by a shrill squeak that had been familiar enough to him when he lived regularly at Marygreen. It was the cry of a rabbit caught in a gin. As was the little creature's habit, it did not soon repeat its cry; and probably would not do so more than once or twice; but would remain bearing its torture till the morrow when the trapper would come and knock it on the head.

leonardo da vinci self portrait

leonardo da vinci self portrait
Hylas and the Nymphs
jesus christ on the cross
klimt painting the kiss
"But it is not as you think!--there is nothing wrong except my own wickedness, I suppose you'd call it--a repugnance on my part, for a reason I cannot disclose, and what would not be admitted as one by the world in general! ... What tortures me so much is the necessity of being responsive to this man whenever he wishes, good as he is morally!-- the dreadful contract to feel in a particular way in a matter whose essence is its voluntariness! ... I wish he would beat me, or be faithless to me, or do some open thing that I could talk about as a justification for feeling as I do! But he does nothing, except that he has grown a little cold since he has found out how I feel. That's why he didn't come to the funeral.... Oh, I am very miserable-- I don't know what to do! ... Don't come near me, Jude, because you mustn't. Don't--don't!" ¡¡¡¡ But he had jumped up and put his face against hers--or rather against her ear, her face being inaccessible. ¡¡¡¡ "I told you not to, Jude!" ¡¡¡¡ "I know you did--I only wish to--console you! It all arose through my being married before we met, didn't it? You would have been my wife, Sue, wouldn't you, if it hadn't been for that?"

My Sweet Rose painting

My Sweet Rose painting
Madonna Litta
madonna with the yarnwinder painting
Mother and Child
¡¡¡¡ "It depends upon what they feel for each other." ¡¡¡¡ He gave her no opportunity of self-satisfaction, and she had to go on unaided, which she did in a vanquished tone, verging on tears: ¡¡¡¡ "I--I think I must be equally honest with you as you have been with me. Perhaps you have seen what it is I want to say?--that though I like Mr. Phillotson as a friend, I don't like him--it is a torture to me to--live with him as a husband!--There, now I have let it out-- I couldn't help it, although I have been--pretending I am happy.-- Now you'll have a contempt for me for ever, I suppose!" She bent down her face upon her hands as they lay upon the cloth, and silently sobbed in little jerks that made the fragile three-legged table quiver. ¡¡¡¡ "I have only been married a month or two!" she went on, still remaining bent upon the table, and sobbing into her hands. "And it is said that what a woman shrinks from--in the early days of her marriage-- she shakes down to with comfortable indifference in half a dozen years. But that is much like saying that the amputation of a limb is no affliction, since a person gets comfortably accustomed to the use of a wooden leg or arm in the course of time!" ¡¡¡¡ Jude could hardly speak, but he said, "I thought there was something wrong, Sue! Oh, I thought there was!"

precious time

precious time
Naiade oil painting
Nighthawks Hopper
Nude on the Beach
One Moment in Time
¡¡¡¡ "I've seen Arabella." ¡¡¡¡ She winced at the hit; then said curiously, "When did you see her?" ¡¡¡¡ "When I was at Christminster." ¡¡¡¡ "So she's come back; and you never told me! I suppose you will live with her now?" ¡¡¡¡ "Of course--just as you live with your husband." ¡¡¡¡ She looked at the window pots with the geraniums and cactuses, withered for want of attention, and through them at the outer distance, till her eyes began to grow moist. "What is it?" said Jude, in a softened tone. ¡¡¡¡ "Why should you be so glad to go back to her if--if what you used to say to me is still true--I mean if it were true then! Of course it is not now! How could your heart go back to Arabella so soon?" ¡¡¡¡ "A special Providence, I suppose, helped it on its way." ¡¡¡¡ "Ah--it isn't true!" she said with gentle resentment. "You are teasing me--that's all--because you think I am not happy!" ¡¡¡¡ "I don't know. I don't wish to know." ¡¡¡¡ "If I were unhappy it would be my fault, my wickedness; not that I should have a right to dislike him! He is considerate to me in everything; and he is very interesting, from the amount of general knowledge he has acquired by reading everything that comes in his way.... Do you think, Jude, that a man ought to marry a woman his own age, or one younger than himself--eighteen years-- as I am than he?"

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride
Red Nude painting
Regatta At Argenteuil
Rembrandt Biblical Scene
"But what makes you assume all this, dear?" ¡¡¡¡ "Because--I can see you through your feathers, my poor little bird!" ¡¡¡¡ Her hand lay on the table, and Jude put his upon it. Sue drew hers away. ¡¡¡¡ "That's absurd, Sue," cried he, "after what we've been talking about! I am more strict and formal than you, if it comes to that; and that you should object to such an innocent action shows that you are ridiculously inconsistent!" ¡¡¡¡ "Perhaps it was too prudish," she said repentantly. "Only I have fancied it was a sort of trick of ours--too frequent perhaps. There, you may hold it as much as you like. Is that good of me?" ¡¡¡¡ "Yes; very." ¡¡¡¡ "But I must tell him." ¡¡¡¡ "Who?" ¡¡¡¡ "Richard." ¡¡¡¡ "Oh--of course, if you think it necessary. But as it means nothing it may be bothering him needlessly." ¡¡¡¡ "Well--are you sure you mean it only as my cousin?" ¡¡¡¡ "Absolutely sure. I have no feelings of love left in me." ¡¡¡¡ "That's news. How has it come to be?"

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

William Bouguereau Biblis painting

Biblis painting
William Bouguereau Biblis
Charity painting
Christ In The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee
He went down the broad gravel path towards the building. It was an ancient edifice of the fifteenth century, once a palace, now a training-school, with mullioned and transomed windows, and a courtyard in front shut in from the road by a wall. Jude opened the gate and went up to the door through which, on inquiring for his cousin, he was gingerly admitted to a waiting-room, and in a few minutes she came. ¡¡¡¡ Though she had been here such a short while, she was not as he had seen her last. All her bounding manner was gone; her curves of motion had become subdued lines. The screens and subtleties of convention had likewise disappeared. Yet neither was she quite the woman who had written the letter that summoned him. That had plainly been dashed off in an impulse which second thoughts had somewhat regretted; thoughts that were possibly of his recent self-disgrace. Jude was quite overcome with emotion. ¡¡¡¡ "You don't--think me a demoralized wretch--for coming to you as I was-- and going so shamefully, Sue?" ¡¡¡¡ "Oh, I have tried not to! You said enough to let me know what had caused it. I hope I shall never have any doubt of your worthiness, my poor Jude! And I am glad you have come!"

madonna with the yarnwinder painting

madonna with the yarnwinder painting
Mother and Child
My Sweet Rose painting
Naiade oil painting
He glanced at her and their eyes met, the reproach in his own belying his words. Then he drew his hand quite away from hers, and turned his face in estrangement from her to the window. Sue regarded him passively without moving. ¡¡¡¡ "I knew you would be angry!" she said with an air of no emotion whatever. "Very well--I am wrong, I suppose! I ought not to have let you come to see me! We had better not meet again; and we'll only correspond at long intervals, on purely business matters!" ¡¡¡¡ This was just the one thing he would not be able to bear, as she probably knew, and it brought him round at once. "Oh yes, we will," he said quickly. "Your being engaged can make no difference to me whatever. I have a perfect right to see you when I want to; and I shall!" ¡¡¡¡ "Then don't let us talk of it any more. It is quite spoiling our evening together. What does it matter about what one is going to do two years hence!" ¡¡¡¡ She was something of a riddle to him, and he let the subject drift away. "Shall we go and sit in the cathedral?" he asked, when their meal was finished. ¡¡¡¡ "Cathedral? Yes. Though I think I'd rather sit in the railway station," she answered, a remnant of vexation still in her voice. "That's the centre of the town life now. The cathedral has had its day!" ¡¡¡¡ "How modern you are!"

jesus christ on the cross

jesus christ on the cross
klimt painting the kiss
leonardo da vinci self portrait
Madonna Litta
¡¡¡¡ "Now don't be such a silly boy!" ¡¡¡¡ "He has said something about it, I expect." ¡¡¡¡ "If he had, what would it matter? An old man like him!" ¡¡¡¡ "Oh, come, Sue; he's not so very old. And I know what I saw him doing ¡¡¡¡ "Not kissing me--that I'm certain!" ¡¡¡¡ "No. But putting his arm round your waist." ¡¡¡¡ "Ah--I remember. But I didn't know he was going to." ¡¡¡¡ "You are wriggling out if it, Sue, and it isn't quite kind!" ¡¡¡¡ Her ever-sensitive lip began to quiver, and her eye to blink, at something this reproof was deciding her to say. ¡¡¡¡ "I know you'll be angry if I tell you everything, and that's why I don't want to!" ¡¡¡¡ "Very well, then, dear," he said soothingly. "I have no real right to ask you, and I don't wish to know." ¡¡¡¡ "I shall tell you!" said she, with the perverseness that was part of her. "This is what I have done: I have promised--I have promised-- that I will marry him when I come out of the training-school two years hence, and have got my certificate; his plan being that we shall then take a large double school in a great town--he the boys' and I the girls'--as married school-teachers often do, and make a good income between us."

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
girl with a pearl earring vermeer
Gustav Klimt Kiss painting
Head of Christ
Hylas and the Nymphs
She told him about the school as it was at that date, and the rough living, and the mixed character of her fellow-students, gathered together from all parts of the diocese, and how she had to get up and work by gas-light in the early morning, with all the bitterness of a young person to whom restraint was new. To all this he listened; but it was not what he wanted especially to know-- her relations with Phillotson. That was what she did not tell. When they had sat and eaten, Jude impulsively placed his hand upon hers; she looked up and smiled, and took his quite freely into her own little soft one, dividing his fingers and coolly examining them, as if they were the fingers of a glove she was purchasing. ¡¡¡¡ "Your hands are rather rough, Jude, aren't they?" she said. ¡¡¡¡ "Yes. So would yours be if they held a mallet and chisel all day." ¡¡¡¡ "I don't dislike it, you know. I think it is noble to see a man's hands subdued to what he works in.... Well, I'm rather glad I came to this training-school, after all. See how independent I shall be after the two years' training! I shall pass pretty high, I expect, and Mr. Phillotson will use his influence to get me a big school." ¡¡¡¡ She had touched the subject at last. "I had a suspicion, a fear," said Jude, "that he--cared about you rather warmly, and perhaps wanted to marry you."

Dance Me to the End of Love

Dance Me to the End of Love
Evening Mood painting
female nude reclining
flaming june painting
¡¡¡¡ She wore a murrey-coloured gown with a little lace collar. It was made quite plain, and hung about her slight figure with clinging gracefulness. Her hair, which formerly she had worn according to the custom of the day was now twisted up tightly, and she had altogether the air of a woman clipped and pruned by severe discipline, an under-brightness shining through from the depths which that discipline had not yet been able to reach. ¡¡¡¡ She had come forward prettily, but Jude felt that she had hardly expected him to kiss her, as he was burning to do, under other colours than those of cousinship. He could not perceive the least sign that Sue regarded him as a lover, or ever would do so, now that she knew the worst of him, even if he had the right to behave as one; and this helped on his growing resolve to tell her of his matrimonial entanglement, which he had put off doing from time to time in sheer dread of losing the bliss of her company. ¡¡¡¡ Sue came out into the town with him, and they walked and talked with tongues centred only on the passing moments. Jude said he would like to buy her a little present of some sort, and then she confessed, with something of shame, that she was dreadfully hungry. They were kept on very short allowances in the college, and a dinner, tea, and supper all in one was the present she most desired in the world. Jude thereupon took her to an inn and ordered whatever the house afforded, which was not much. The place, however, gave them a delightful opportunity for a TETE-A-TETE, nobody else being in the room, and they talked freely.

Monday, October 29, 2007

the Night Watch

the Night Watch
The Nut Gatherers
The Painter's Honeymoon
the polish rider
"Now don't be such a silly boy!" ¡¡¡¡ "He has said something about it, I expect." ¡¡¡¡ "If he had, what would it matter? An old man like him!" ¡¡¡¡ "Oh, come, Sue; he's not so very old. And I know what I saw him doing ¡¡¡¡ "Not kissing me--that I'm certain!" ¡¡¡¡ "No. But putting his arm round your waist." ¡¡¡¡ "Ah--I remember. But I didn't know he was going to." ¡¡¡¡ "You are wriggling out if it, Sue, and it isn't quite kind!" ¡¡¡¡ Her ever-sensitive lip began to quiver, and her eye to blink, at something this reproof was deciding her to say. ¡¡¡¡ "I know you'll be angry if I tell you everything, and that's why I don't want to!" ¡¡¡¡ "Very well, then, dear," he said soothingly. "I have no real right to ask you, and I don't wish to know."

The Jewel Casket

The Jewel Casket
The Kitchen Maid
The Lady of Shalott
the night watch by rembrandt
She told him about the school as it was at that date, and the rough living, and the mixed character of her fellow-students, gathered together from all parts of the diocese, and how she had to get up and work by gas-light in the early morning, with all the bitterness of a young person to whom restraint was new. To all this he listened; but it was not what he wanted especially to know-- her relations with Phillotson. That was what she did not tell. When they had sat and eaten, Jude impulsively placed his hand upon hers; she looked up and smiled, and took his quite freely into her own little soft one, dividing his fingers and coolly examining them, as if they were the fingers of a glove she was purchasing. ¡¡¡¡ "Your hands are rather rough, Jude, aren't they?" she said. ¡¡¡¡ "Yes. So would yours be if they held a mallet and chisel all day." ¡¡¡¡ "I don't dislike it, you know. I think it is noble to see a man's hands subdued to what he works in.... Well, I'm rather glad I came to this training-school, after all. See how independent I shall be after the two years' training! I shall pass pretty high, I expect, and Mr. Phillotson will use his influence to get me a big school." ¡¡¡¡ She had touched the subject at last. "I had a suspicion, a fear," said Jude, "that he--cared about you rather warmly, and perhaps wanted to marry you."

Spring Breeze

Spring Breeze
Sweet Nothings
The Abduction of Psyche
The British Are Coming
The Broken Pitcher
¡¡¡¡ She had come forward prettily, but Jude felt that she had hardly expected him to kiss her, as he was burning to do, under other colours than those of cousinship. He could not perceive the least sign that Sue regarded him as a lover, or ever would do so, now that she knew the worst of him, even if he had the right to behave as one; and this helped on his growing resolve to tell her of his matrimonial entanglement, which he had put off doing from time to time in sheer dread of losing the bliss of her company. ¡¡¡¡ Sue came out into the town with him, and they walked and talked with tongues centred only on the passing moments. Jude said he would like to buy her a little present of some sort, and then she confessed, with something of shame, that she was dreadfully hungry. They were kept on very short allowances in the college, and a dinner, tea, and supper all in one was the present she most desired in the world. Jude thereupon took her to an inn and ordered whatever the house afforded, which was not much. The place, however, gave them a delightful opportunity for a TETE-A-TETE, nobody else being in the room, and they talked freely.

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride
Return of the Prodigal Son
Samson And Delilah
seated nude
Though she had been here such a short while, she was not as he had seen her last. All her bounding manner was gone; her curves of motion had become subdued lines. The screens and subtleties of convention had likewise disappeared. Yet neither was she quite the woman who had written the letter that summoned him. That had plainly been dashed off in an impulse which second thoughts had somewhat regretted; thoughts that were possibly of his recent self-disgrace. Jude was quite overcome with emotion. ¡¡¡¡ "You don't--think me a demoralized wretch--for coming to you as I was-- and going so shamefully, Sue?" ¡¡¡¡ "Oh, I have tried not to! You said enough to let me know what had caused it. I hope I shall never have any doubt of your worthiness, my poor Jude! And I am glad you have come!" ¡¡¡¡ She wore a murrey-coloured gown with a little lace collar. It was made quite plain, and hung about her slight figure with clinging gracefulness. Her hair, which formerly she had worn according to the custom of the day was now twisted up tightly, and she had altogether the air of a woman clipped and pruned by severe discipline, an under-brightness shining through from the depths which that discipline had not yet been able to reach.

precious time

precious time
Red Hat Girl
Red Nude painting
Regatta At Argenteuil
Rembrandt Biblical Scene
lamps now began to be lighted, and turning to the west front he walked round. He took it as a good omen that numerous blocks of stone were lying about, which signified that the cathedral was undergoing restoration or repair to a considerable extent. It seemed to him, full of the superstitions of his beliefs, that this was an exercise of forethought on the part of a ruling Power, that he might find plenty to do in the art he practised while waiting for a call to higher labours. ¡¡¡¡ Then a wave of warmth came over him as he thought how near he now stood to the bright-eyed vivacious girl with the broad forehead and pile of dark hair above it; the girl with the kindling glance, daringly soft at times--something like that of the girls he had seen in engravings from paintings of the Spanish school. She was here-- actually in this Close--in one of the houses confronting this very west facade. ¡¡¡¡ He went down the broad gravel path towards the building. It was an ancient edifice of the fifteenth century, once a palace, now a training-school, with mullioned and transomed windows, and a courtyard in front shut in from the road by a wall. Jude opened the gate and went up to the door through which, on inquiring for his cousin, he was gingerly admitted to a waiting-room, and in a few minutes she came.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

jesus christ on the cross

jesus christ on the cross
klimt painting the kiss
leonardo da vinci self portrait
Madonna Litta
madonna with the yarnwinder painting
¡¡¡¡ The boy Jude assisted in loading some small articles, and at nine o'clock Mr. Phillotson mounted beside his box of books and other IMPEDIMENTA, and bade his friends good-bye. ¡¡¡¡ "I shan't forget you, Jude," he said, smiling, as the cart moved off. "Be a good boy, remember; and be kind to animals and birds, and read all you can. And if ever you come to Christminster remember you hunt me out for old acquaintance' sake." ¡¡¡¡ The cart creaked across the green, and disappeared round the corner by the rectory-house. The boy returned to the draw-well at the edge of the greensward, where he had left his buckets when he went to help his patron and teacher in the loading. There was a quiver in his lip now and after opening the well-cover to begin lowering the bucket he paused and leant with his forehead and arms against the framework, his face wearing the fixity of a thoughtful child's who has felt the pricks of life somewhat before his time. The well into which he was looking was as ancient as the village itself, and from his present position appeared as a long circular perspective ending in a shining disk of quivering water at a distance of a hundred feet down. There was a lining of green moss near the top, and nearer still the hart's-tongue fern.

girl with a pearl earring vermeer

girl with a pearl earring vermeer
Gustav Klimt Kiss painting
Head of Christ
Hylas and the Nymphs
¡¡¡¡ Tears rose into the boy's eyes, for he was not among the regular day scholars, who came unromantically close to the schoolmaster's life, but one who had attended the night school only during the present teacher's term of office. The regular scholars, if the truth must be told, stood at the present moment afar off, like certain historic disciples, indisposed to any enthusiastic volunteering of aid. ¡¡¡¡ The boy awkwardly opened the book he held in his hand, which Mr. Phillotson had bestowed on him as a parting gift, and admitted that he was sorry. ¡¡¡¡ "So am I," said Mr. Phillotson. ¡¡¡¡ "Why do you go, sir?" asked the boy. ¡¡¡¡ "Ah--that would be a long story. You wouldn't understand my reasons, Jude. You will, perhaps, when you are older." ¡¡¡¡ "I think I should now, sir." ¡¡¡¡ "Well--don't speak of this everywhere. You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching. My scheme, or dream, is to be a university graduate, and then to be ordained. By going to live at Christminster, or near it, I shall be at headquarters, so to speak, and if my scheme is practicable at all, I consider that being on the spot will afford me a better chance of carrying it out than I should have elsewhere."

Evening Mood painting

Evening Mood painting
female nude reclining
flaming june painting
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
¡¡¡¡ The blacksmith, the farm bailiff, and the schoolmaster himself were standing in perplexed attitudes in the parlour before the instrument. The master had remarked that even if he got it into the cart he should not know what to do with it on his arrival at Christminster, the city he was bound for, since he was only going into temporary lodgings just at first. ¡¡¡¡ A little boy of eleven, who had been thoughtfully assisting in the packing, joined the group of men, and as they rubbed their chins he spoke up, blushing at the sound of his own voice: "Aunt have got a great fuel-house, and it could be put there, perhaps, till you've found a place to settle in, sir." ¡¡¡¡ "A proper good notion," said the blacksmith. ¡¡¡¡ It was decided that a deputation should wait on the boy's aunt-- an old maiden resident--and ask her if she would house the piano till Mr. Phillotson should send for it. The smith and the bailiff started to see about the practicability of the suggested shelter, and the boy and the schoolmaster were left standing alone. ¡¡¡¡ "Sorry I am going, Jude?" asked the latter kindly.

William Bouguereau Biblis painting

Biblis painting
William Bouguereau Biblis
Charity painting
Christ In The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee
Dance Me to the End of Love ¡¡¡¡ "Yea, many there be that have run out of their wits for women, and become servants for their sakes. Many also have perished, have erred, and sinned, for women.... O ye men, how can it be but women should be strong, seeing they do thus?" --ESDRAS. ¡¡¡¡ I ¡¡¡¡ THE schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small white tilted cart and horse to carry his goods to the city of his destination, about twenty miles off, such a vehicle proving of quite sufficient size for the departing teacher's effects. For the schoolhouse had been partly furnished by the managers, and the only cumbersome article possessed by the master, in addition to the packing-case of books, was a cottage piano that he had bought at an auction during the year in which he thought of learning instrumental music. But the enthusiasm having waned he had never acquired any skill in playing, and the purchased article had been a perpetual trouble to him ever since in moving house. ¡¡¡¡ The rector had gone away for the day, being a man who disliked the sight of changes. He did not mean to return till the evening, when the new school-teacher would have arrived and settled in, and everything would be smooth again.

Mother and Child

Mother and Child
My Sweet Rose painting
Naiade oil painting
Nighthawks Hopper
Nude on the Beach
¡¡¡¡ He said to himself, in the melodramatic tones of a whimsical boy, that the schoolmaster had drawn at that well scores of times on a morning like this, and would never draw there any more. "I've seen him look down into it, when he was tired with his drawing, just as I do now, and when he rested a bit before carrying the buckets home! But he was too clever to bide here any longer--a small sleepy place like this!" ¡¡¡¡ A tear rolled from his eye into the depths of the well. The morning was a little foggy, and the boy's breathing unfurled itself as a thicker fog upon the still and heavy air. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden outcry: ¡¡¡¡ "Bring on that water, will ye, you idle young harlican!" ¡¡¡¡ It came from an old woman who had emerged from her door towards the garden gate of a green-thatched cottage not far off. The boy quickly waved a signal of assent, drew the water with what was a great effort for one of his stature, landed and emptied the big bucket into his own pair of smaller ones, and pausing a moment for breath, started with them across the patch of clammy greensward whereon the well stood--nearly in the centre of the little village, or rather hamlet of Marygreen.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Spring Breeze

Spring Breeze
Sweet Nothings
The Abduction of Psyche
The British Are Coming
The Broken Pitcher
Somewhat unwillingly, Craddock allowed himself to be guided round the corner of the house and along to the stable yard. Stoddart-West pushed open a heavy door, stretched up, and turned on a rather feeble electric light. The harness room, once the acme of Victorian spit and polish, was now the sad repository of everything that no one wanted. Broken garden chairs, rusted old garden implements, a vast decrepit mowing-machine, rusted spring mattresses, hammocks, and disintegrated tennis nets.
"We come here a good deal," said Alexander. "One can really be private here."
There were certain tokens of occupancy about. The decayed mattresses had been piled up to make a kind of divan, there was an old rusted table on which reposed a large tin of chocolate biscuits, there was a hoard of apples, a tin of toffee, and a jig-saw puzzle.
"It really is a clue, sir," said Stoddart-West eagerly, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles. "We found it this afternoon."
"We've been hunting for days. In the bushes –"
"And inside hollow trees –"
"And we went all through the ash bins –"
"There were some jolly interesting things there, as a matter of fact –"

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride

Rembrandt The Jewish Bride
Return of the Prodigal Son
Samson And Delilah
seated nude
eager whisper made the inspector jump.
He had been just on the point of ringing the front-door bell.
Alexander and his friend Stoddart-West emerged cautiously from the shadows.
"We heard your car, and we wanted to get hold of you."
"Well, let's come inside." Craddock's hand went out to the door bell again, but Alexander pulled at his coat with the eagerness of a pawing dog.
"We've found a clue," he breathed.
"Yes, we've found a clue." Stoddart-West echoed.
"Damn that girl," thought Craddock unamiably.
"Splendid," he said in a perfunctory manner. "Let's go inside the house and look at it."
"No," Alexander was insistent. "Someone's sure to interrupt. Come to the harness room. We'll guide you."

Vermeer Girl with a Red Hat

Red Hat Girl
Red Nude painting
Regatta At Argenteuil
Vermeer Girl with a Red Hat
Now there," said the doctor, "you have got something odd. It is exactly that fact that leads to believe that I have been, as old Morris puts it, a damned fool. You see, it's obviously not a case of small doses of arsenic administered regularly – which is what you might call the classic method of arsenic poisoning. Crackenthorpe has never had any chronic gastric trouble. In a way, that's what makes these sudden violent attacks seem unlikely. So, assuming they are not due to natural causes, it looks as though the poisoner is muffing it every time – which hardly makes sense."
"Giving an inadequate dose, you mean?"
"Yes. On the other hand, Crackenthorpe's got a strong constitution and what might do in another man, doesn't do him in. there's always personal idiosyncrasy to be reckoned with. But you'd think that by now the poisoner – unless he's unusually timid – would have stepped up the dose. Why hasn't he?"
"That is," he added, “if there is a poisoner which there probably isn't! Probably all my ruddy imagination from start to finish."
"It's an odd problem, the inspector agreed. It doesn't seem to make sense."

Nighthawks Hopper

Nighthawks Hopper
Nude on the Beach
One Moment in Time
precious time
Quimper grinned.
"I got a flea in the ear. I was more or less told not to be a damned fool. Well - he shrugged his shoulders – presumably I was a damned fool."
"I wonder." Craddock was thoughtfully.
Then he decided to speak frankly.
"Throwing discretion aside, Doctor, there are people who stand to benefit pretty considerably from Luther Crackenthorpe's death." The doctor nodded. "He's an old man - and a hale and hearty one. He may live to be ninety odd?"
"Easily. He spends his life taking care of himself, and his constitution is sound."
"And his sons - and daughter - are all getting on, and they are all feeling the pinch?"
"You leave Emma out of it. She's no poisoner. These attacks only happen when the others are there – not when she and he are alone."
"An elementary precaution – if she's the one," the inspector thought, but was careful not to say aloud.
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"Surely - I'm ignorant in these matters - but supposing just as a hypothesis that arsenic was administered - hasn't Crackenthorpe been very lucky not to succumb?"

madonna with the yarnwinder painting

madonna with the yarnwinder painting
Mother and Child
My Sweet Rose painting
Naiade oil painting
see. You were quite satisfied? You were not at all - shall we say - puzzled?"
"All right. All right. Yes, I was Yours Truly Puzzled! Does that please you?"
"It interests me," said Craddock. "What actually did you suspect – or fear?"
"Gastric cases vary, of course, but there were certain indications that would have been, shall we say, more consistent with arsenical poisoning than with plain gastro-enteritis. Mind you, the two things are very much alike. Better men than myself have failed to recognise arsenical poisoning – and have given a certificate in all good faith."
"And what was the result of your inquiries?"
"It seemed that what I suspected could not possibly be true. Mr. Crackenthorpe assured me that he had similar attacks before I attended him - and from the same cause, he said. They had always taken place when there was too much rich food about."
"Which was when the house was full? With the family? Or guests?"
"Yes. That seemed reasonable enough. But frankly, Craddock, I wasn't happy. I went so far as to write to old Dr. Morris. He was my senior partner and retired soon after I joined him. Crackenthorpe was his patient originally. I asked about these earlier attacks that the old man had had."
"And what response did you get?"

Marc Chagall Painting

Marc Chagall Painting
"In fact," said Lucy, “they've all made what you might call advances to me in a way. Harold's was very correct – an advantageous financial position in the City. I don't think it's my attractive appearance – they must think I know something."
She laughed.
But Inspector Craddock did not laugh.
"Be careful," he said. "They might murder you instead of making advances to you.
"I suppose it might be simpler," Lucy agreed.
Marc Chagall Painting

Marc Chagall Painting

The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
When Miss Marple uttered the word “gentlemen" she always gave it its full Victorian flavour - an echo from an era actually before her own time. You were conscious at once of dashing full-blooded (and probably whiskered) males, sometimes wicked, but always gallant.
"You're such a handsome girl," pursued Miss Marple, appraising Lucy. "I expect they pay you a good deal of attention, don't they?"
The Birth of Venus
Lucy flushed slightly. Scrappy remembrances passed across her mind. Cedric, leaning against the pigsty wall. Bryan sitting disconsolately on the kitchen table. Alfred's fingers touching hers as he helped her collect the coffee cups.
"Gentlemen," said Miss Marple, in the tone of one speaking of some alien and dangerous species, “are all very much alike in some ways - even if they are quite old…."
"Darling," cried Lucy. "A hundred years ago you would certainly have been burned as a witch!"
And she told her story of old Mr. Crackenthorpe's conditional proposal of marriage.
The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
When Miss Marple uttered the word “gentlemen" she always gave it its full Victorian flavour - an echo from an era actually before her own time. You were conscious at once of dashing full-blooded (and probably whiskered) males, sometimes wicked, but always gallant.
"You're such a handsome girl," pursued Miss Marple, appraising Lucy. "I expect they pay you a good deal of attention, don't they?"
The Birth of Venus
Lucy flushed slightly. Scrappy remembrances passed across her mind. Cedric, leaning against the pigsty wall. Bryan sitting disconsolately on the kitchen table. Alfred's fingers touching hers as he helped her collect the coffee cups.
"Gentlemen," said Miss Marple, in the tone of one speaking of some alien and dangerous species, “are all very much alike in some ways - even if they are quite old…."
"Darling," cried Lucy. "A hundred years ago you would certainly have been burned as a witch!"
And she told her story of old Mr. Crackenthorpe's conditional proposal of marriage.
The Birth of Venus

Bouguereau William

Bouguereau William
They're all furious with Emma for going to you about it - and with Dr. Quimper who, it seemed, encouraged her to do so. Harold and Alfred think it was a try on and not genuine. Emma isn't sure. Cedric thinks it was phoney, too, but he doesn't take it as seriously as the other two. Bryan, on the other hand, seems quite sure that it's genuine."
"Why, I wonder?"
Bouguereau William
Well, Bryan's rather like that. Just accepts things at their face value. He thinks it was Edmund's wife - or rather widow – and that she had suddenly to go back to France, but that they'll hear from her again sometimes. The fact that she hasn't written, or anything, up to now, seems to him to be quite natural because he never writes letters himself. Bryan's rather sweet. Just like a dog that wants to be taken for a walk."
"And do you take him for a walk, dear?" asked Miss Marple. "To the pigsties, perhaps?"
Lucy shot a keen glance at her.
"So many gentlemen in the house, coming and going," mused Miss Marple.Bouguereau William

Gustav Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt Painting
Craddock smiled.
"I shook them up a little. Asked them to account for their movements on Friday, 20th December."
"And could they?"
"Harold could. Alfred couldn't - or wouldn't."
"I think alibis must be terribly difficult," said Lucy. "Times and places and dates. They must be hard to check up on, too."
"It takes time and patience – but we manage." He glanced at his watch. "I'll be coming along to Rutherford Hall presently to have a word with Cedric, but I want to get hold of Dr. Quimper first."

You'll be just about right. He has his surgery at six and he's usually finished about half past. I must get back and deal with dinner."
"I'd like your opinion on one thing, Miss Eyelesbarrow. What's the family view about this Martine business - amongst themselves?"
Lucy replied promptly Gustav Klimt Painting.

Gustav Klimt The Kiss

Gustav Klimt The Kiss
"And leave Rutherford Hall? Never! I'm the complete sleuth by now. Almost as bad as the boys. They spend their entire time looking for clues. They looked all through the dustbins yesterday. Most unsavoury - and they hadn't really the faintest idea what they were looking for. If they come to you in triumph, Inspector Craddock, bearing a torn scrap of paper with Martine - if you value your life keep away from the Long Barn! On it, you'll know that I've taken pity on them and concealed it in the pigsty!"
Gustav Klimt The Kiss
"Why the pigsty, dear?" asked Miss Marple with interest. "Do they keep pigs?"
"Oh, no, not nowadays. It's just - I go there sometimes."
For some reason Lucy blushed. Miss Marple looked at her with increased interest.
"Who's at the house now?" asked Craddock.
"Cedric's there, and Bryan's down for the weekend. Harold and Alfred are coming down tomorrow. They rang up this morning. I somehow got the impression that you had been putting the cat among the pigeons, Inspector Craddock
Gustav Klimt The Kiss

Modern Art Painting

Modern Art Painting
So old?" said Miss Marple smiling a little. "But Dr. Quimper isn't much over forty, I should say, though he's going grey on the temples, and it's obvious that he's longing for some kind of home life; and Emma Crackenthorpe is under forty – not too old to marry and have a family. The doctor's wife died quite young having a baby, so I have heard."
"I believe she did. Emma said something about it one day."
"He must be lonely," said Miss Marple. "A busy hardworking doctor needs a wife – someone sympathetic - not too young."
Modern Art Painting
"Listen, darling," said Lucy. "Are we investigating crime, or are we match-making?"
Miss Marple twinkled.
"I'm afraid I am rather romantic. Because I am an old maid, perhaps. You know, dear Lucy, that, as far as I am concerned, you have fulfilled your contract. If you really want a holiday abroad before taking up your next engagement, you would have time still for a short trip."
Modern Art Painting

Art Painting

Art Painting
Jenkins at the garage," Miss Marple replied promptly. "He didn't exactly appropriate tools? - but he used to exchange a broken or inferior jack for a good one. And I believe he wasn't very honest over batteries - though I don't understand these things very well. I know Raymond left off dealing with him and went to the garage on the Milchester road. As for Emma," continued Miss Marple thoughtfully, "she reminds me very much of Geraldine Webb - always very quiet, almost dowdy – and bullied a good deal by her elderly mother. Quite a surprise to everybody when the mother died unexpectedly and Geraldine came into a nice sum of money and went and had her hair cut and permed, and went off on a cruise, and came back married to a very nice barrister. They had two children."
Art Painting
The parallel was clear enough. Lucy said, rather uneasily: "Do you think you ought to have said what you did about Emma marrying? It seemed to upset the brothers."
Miss Marple nodded.
"Yes," she said. "So like men - quite unable to see what's going on under their eyes. I don't believe you noticed yourself."
"No," admitted Lucy. "I never thought of anything of that kind. They both seemed to me –"
Art Painting

Famous painting

Famous painting
Lucy looked a little puzzled, but Craddock nodded comprehendingly.
"But you've been to tea there, haven't you?" he said.
"Yes, indeed. Most pleasant. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see old Mr. Crackenthorpe – but one can't have everything."
"Do you feel that if you saw the person who had done the murder, you'd know?" asked Lucy.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, dear. One is always inclined to guess - and guessing would be very wrong when it is a question of anything as serious as murder. All one can do is to observe the people concerned - or who might have been concerned - and see of whom they remind you."
Famous painting
"Like Cedric and the bank manager?"
Miss Marple corrected her.
"The bank manager's son, dear. Mr. Eade himself was far more like Mr. Harold - a very conservative man - but perhaps a little too fond of money - the sort of man, too, who would go a long way to avoid scandal."
Craddock smiled, and said:
"And Alfred?"
Famous painting

Famous artist painting

Famous artist painting
I told you we had met before," said Miss Marple to Lucy. "Sir Henry Clithering is his godfather - a very old friend of mine."
"Would you like to hear, Miss Eyelesbarrow, what my godfather said about her - the first time we met? He described her as just the finest detective God ever made - natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil. He told me never to despise the" – Dermot Craddock paused for a moment to seek for a synonym for “old pussies" – “– er – elderly ladies. He said they could usually tell you what might have happened, what ought to have happened, and even what actually did happen! And," he said, "they can tell you why it happened, he added, that this particular - er - elderly lady - was at the top of the class."
Famous artist painting
Well!" said Lucy. "That seems to be a testimonial all right."
Miss Marple was pink and confused and looked unusually dithery.
"Dear Sir Henry," she murmured. "Always so kind. Really I'm not at all clever - just, perhaps, a slight knowledge of human nature - living, you know, in a village –"
She added, with more composure:
"Of course, I am somewhat handicapped, by not actually being on the spot. It is so helpful, I always feel, when people remind you of other people - because types are alike everywhere and that is such a valuable guide."
Famous artist painting

Decorative painting

Decorative painting
When Craddock got to 4 Madison Road he found Lucy Eyelesbarrow with Miss Marple.
He hesitated for a moment on his plan of campaign and then decided that Lucy Eyelesbarrow might prove a valuable ally.
After greetings, he solemnly drew out his notecase, extracted three pound notes, added three shillings and pushed them across the table to Miss Marple.
"What's this Inspector?"
Decorative painting
Consultation fee. You're a consultant - on murder! Pulse, temperature, local reactions, possible deep-seated cause of said murder. I'm just the poor harassed local G.P."
Miss Marple looked at him and twinkled. He grinned at her. Lucy Eyelesbarrow gave a faint gasp and then laughed.
"Why, Inspector Craddock – you're human after all."
"Oh, well, I'm not strictly on duty this afternoon."
Decorative painting

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Abstract Painting

Abstract Painting
the woman in the sarcophagus was not Anna Stravinska, where was Anna now?
To that, Madame Joliet's answer was simple and inevitable.
"With a man!"
And it was probably the correct answer, Craddock reflected ruefully.
One other possibility had to be considered – raised by the casual remark that Anna had once referred to having an English husband.
Had that husband been Edmund Crackenthorpe?
Abstract Painting
seemed unlikely, considering the word picture of Anna that had been given him by those who knew her. What was much more probable was that Anna had at one time known the girl Martine sufficiently intimately to be acquainted with the necessary details. It might have been Anna who wrote that letter to Emma Crackenthorpe and, if so, Anna would have been quite likely to have taken fright at any question of an investigation. Perhaps she had even thought it prudent to sever her connection with the Ballet Maritski. Again, where was she now?
And again, inevitably, Madame Joliet's answer seemed the most likely.
Abstract Painting

Rembrandt Painting

Rembrandt Painting
Even in London," said the first girl, "she threw out hints about a very rich man who was going to take her on a cruise round the world, because she reminded him of his dead daughter who had died in a car accident. Quelle blague!"
"She told me she was going to stay with a rich lord in Scotland," said the second girl. "She said she would shoot the deer there."
Rembrandt Painting
None of this was helpful. All that seemed to emerge from it was that Anna Stravinska was a proficient liar. She was certainly not shooting deer with a peer in Scotland, and it seemed equally unlikely that she was on the sun deck of a liner cruising round the world. But neither was there any real reason to believe that her body had been found in a sarcophagus at Rutherford Hall. The identification by the girls and Madame Joliet was very uncertain and hesitating. It looked something like Anna, they all agreed. But really! All swollen up - it might be anybody!
The only fact that was established was that on the 19th of December Anna Stravinska had decided not to return to France, and that on the 20th December a woman resembling her in appearance had travelled to Brackhampton by the 4.33 train and had been strangled.
Rembrandt Painting

The Singing Butler

The Singing Butler
I can give you two or three names – but she was not very intimate with anyone."
They could get nothing else useful from Madame Joliet.
Shown the compact, she said Anna had one of that kind, but so had most of the other girls. Anna had perhaps bought a fur coat in London – she did not know. "Me, I occupy myself with the rehearsals, with the stage lighting, with all the difficulties of my business. I have not time to notice what my artists wear."
The Singing Butler
After Madame Joliet, they interviewed the girls whose names she had given them. One or two of them had known Anna fairly well, but they all said that she had not been one to talk much about herself, and that when she did, it was, so one girl said, mostly lies.
"She likes to pretend things – stories about having been the mistress of a Grand Duke – or of a great English financier - or how she worked for the Resistance in the war. Even a story about being a film star in Hollywood."
Another girl said:
"I think that really she had had a very tame bourgeois existence. She liked to in ballet because she thought it was romantic, but she was not a good dancer. You understand that if she were to say, ‘My father was a draper in Amiens.' that would not be romantic! So instead she made up things."
The Singing Butler

Jack Vettriano Painting

Jack Vettriano Painting
Very annoying for you."
"Ah! Me - I do not care. No doubt she passes the Christmas holiday with some man she has picked up. It is not my affair. I can find other girls - girls who will leap at the chance of dancing in the Ballet Maritski and who can dance as well – or better than Anna."
Madame Joliet paused and then asked with a sudden gleam of interest:
"Why do you want to find her? Has she come into money?"
"On the contrary," said Inspector Craddock politely. "We think she may have been murdered."
Jack Vettriano Painting
Madame Joliet relapsed into indifference.
"Ca se peut! It happens. Ah, well! She was a good Catholic. She went to Mass on Sundays, and no doubt to confession."
"Did she ever speak to you, Madame, of a son?"
"A son? Do you mean she had a child? That, now, I should consider most unlikely. These girls, all - all of them know a useful address to which to go. M. Dessin knows that as well as I do."
"She may have had a child before she adopted a stage life," said Craddock. "During the war, for instance."
"Ah! Dans la guerre. That is always possible. But if so, I know nothing about it."
"Who amongst the other girls were her closest friends?"
Jack Vettriano Painting

Mary Cassatt painting

Mary Cassatt painting
"I take my company to London for six weeks. We play at Torquay, at Bournemouth, at Eastbourne, at somewhere else I forget and at Hammersmith. Then we come back to France, but Anna - she does not come. She sends message only that she leaves the company, that she goes to live with her husband's family - some nonsense of that kind. I did not think it is true, myself. I think it more likely that she has met a man, you understand."
Inspector Craddock nodded. He perceived that that was what Madame Joliet would invariably think.
Mary Cassatt painting
And it is no loss to me. I do not care. I can get girls just as good and better to come and dance, so I shrug the shoulders and do not think of it any more. Why should I? They are all the same, these girls, mad about men."
"What dates was this?"
"When we return to France? It was – yes - the Sunday before Christmas. And Anna she leaves two - or is it three - days before that? I cannot remember exactly…. But the end of the week at Hammersmith we have to dance without her - and it means rearranging things…. It was very naughty of her – but these girls - the moment they meet a man they are all the same. Only I say to everybody. ‘Zut, I do not take her back, that one!’"
Mary Cassatt painting

Edward Hopper Painting

Edward Hopper Painting
On the contrary, big box-office business," said Dessin. "And that was three years ago. You should not bear malice. Now about this girl, Anna Stravinska."
"Well, what about her?" said Madame cautiously.
"Is she Russian?" asked Inspector Craddock.
"No, indeed. You mean, because of her name? But they all call themselves names like that, these girls. She was not important, she did not dance well, she was not particularly good-looking. Elle etait assez bien, c’est tout. She danced well enough for the corps de ballet – but no solos."
Edward Hopper Painting
Was she French?"
"Perhaps. She had a French passport. But she told me once that she had an English husband."
"She told you that she had an English husband? Alive - or dead?"
Madame Joliet shrugged her shoulders.
"Dead, or he had left her. How should I know which? These girls - there is always some trouble with men –"
"When did you last see her?"
Edward Hopper Painting

Van Gogh Sunflower

Van Gogh Sunflower
It could be," he said. "I can't go further than that. Who was she? What do you know about her?"
"Almost less than nothing," said the other cheerfully. "She was not important, you see. And the Ballet Maritski - it is not important, either. It plays in suburban theatres and goes on tour – it has no real names, no stars, no famous ballerinas. But I will take you to see Madame Joliet who runs it."
Madame Joliet was a brisk business-like
Van Gogh Sunflower
"Me, I do not like the police!" She scowled at them, without camouflaging her dislike of the visit. "Always, if they can, they make me embarrassments."
"No, no, Madame, you must not say that," said Dessin, who was a tall thin melancholy-looking man. "When have I ever caused you embarrassments?"
"Over that little fool who drank the carbolic acid," said Madame Joliet promptly. "And all because she has fallen in love with the chef d’orchestre - who does not care for women and has other tastes. Over that you made the big brouhaha! Which is not good for my beautiful Ballet."
Van Gogh Sunflower

Henri Matisse Painting

Henri Matisse Painting
never thought of such a thing."
"Sorry. My mistake."
"I just wanted to know if you've a timetable in the house?"
"Is that all? There's one on the hall table."
"You know," said Cedric, reprovingly, "you shouldn't go about thinking everyone wants to marry you. You're quite a good-looking girl but not as good-looking as all that. There's a name for that sort of thing - it grows on you and you get worse. Actually, you're the last girl in the world I should care to marry. The last girl."
"Indeed?" said Lucy. "You needn't rub it in. perhaps you’d prefer me as a stepmother."
Henri Matisse Painting
Dermot Craddock was fraternising with Armand Dessin of the Paris Prefecture. The two men had met on one or two occasions and got on well together. Since Craddock spoke French fluently, most of their conversation was conducted in that language.
"It is an idea only," Dessin warned him, "I have a picture here of the corps de ballet – that is she, the fourth from the left - it says anything to you, yes?"
Inspector Craddock said that actually it didn't. A strangled young woman is not easy to recognise, and in this picture all the young women concerned were heavily made up and were wearing extravagant bird headdresses.
Henri Matisse Painting

The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
suggest that having very kindly seen us through this lamentable crisis, you call upon me in London. If you will ring up and make an appointment, I will leave instructions with my secretary. The truth is that we could use someone of your outstanding ability in the firm. We could discuss fully in what field your talents would be most ably employed. I can offer you, Miss Eyelesbarrow, a very good salary indeed, with brilliant prospects. I think you will be agreeably surprised."
His smile was magnanimous.
Lucy said demurely:
"Thank you, Mr. Crackenthorpe, I'll think about it."
The Birth of Venus
Don't wait too long. These opportunities should not be missed by a young woman anxious to make her way in the world."
Again his teeth flashed.
"Good night, Miss Eyelesbarrow, sleep well."
"Well," said Lucy to herself, "well… this is all very interesting…."
On her way up to bed, Lucy encountered Cedric on the stairs.
"Look here, Lucy, there's something I want to say to you."
"Do you want me to marry you and come to Iviza and look after you?"
Cedric looked very much taken aback, and slightly alarmed.The Birth of Venus

Gustav Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt Painting
Would later do, Mr. Crackenthorpe? I'm rather behind hand."
"Certainly. Certainly. After dinner?"
"Yes, that will do."
Dinner was duly served and appreciated. Lucy finished washing up and came out into the hall to find Harold Crackenthorpe waiting for her.
"Yes, Mr. Crackenthorpe?"
Gustav Klimt Painting
Shall we come in here?" He opened the door of the drawing-room and led the way. He shut the door behind her.
"I shall be leaving early in the morning," he explained, "but I want to tell you how struck I have been by your ability."
"Thank you," said Lucy, feeling a little surprised.
"I feel that your talents are wasted here – definitely wasted."
"Do you? I don't."
At any rate, he can't ask me to marry him, thought Lucy. He's got a wife already.
Gustav Klimt Painting

Art Painting

Art Painting
Oh, it wasn't a touch! I'll be laying my hands on some before long. My revered Papa can't live forever, mean old brute. When he pops off, I lay my hands on some real money. What about it, Lucy?"
"What are the terms?"
"Marriage if you fancy it. Women seem to, no matter how advanced and self-supporting they are. Besides, married women can't be made to give evidence against their husbands."
"Not so flattering!"
"Come off it, Lucy. Don't you realise I've fallen for you?"
Art Painting
Rather to her surprise Lucy was aware of a queer fascination. There was a quality of charm about Alfred, perhaps due to sheer animal magnetism. She laughed and slipped from his encircling arm.
"This is not time for dalliance. there's dinner to think about."
"So there is, Lucy, and you're a lovely cook. What's for dinner."
"Wait and see! You're as bad as the boys!"
They entered the house and Lucy hurried to the kitchen. She was rather surprised to be interrupted in her preparations by Harold Crackenthorpe.
"Miss Eyelesbarrow, can I speak to you about something?"
Art Painting

Famous painting

Famous painting
Against what?"
"The powers that be! All the silly pettifogging rules and regulations that hamper us all nowadays. The interesting thing is there's always a way round them if you're smart enough to find it. And you're smart. Come now, does the idea appeal to you?"
"Possibly."
Lucy manoeuvred the car into the stableyard.
"Not going to commit yourself?"
"I'd have to hear more."
"Frankly, my dear girl, I could use you. You've got the sort of manner that's invaluable – creates confidence."
"Do you want me to help you sell gold bricks?"
Famous painting
Nothing so risky. Just a little by-passing of the law - no more." His hand slipped up her arm. "You're damned attractive girl, Lucy. I'd like you as a partner."
"I'm flattered."
"Meaning nothing doing? Think about it. Think of the fun, the pleasure you'd get out of outwitting all the sobersides. The trouble is, one needs capital."
"I'm afraid I haven't got any."
Famous painting

Famous artist painting

Famous artist painting
Lucy took Miss Marple home. On her way back a figure stepped out of darkness and stood in the glare of the headlights just as she was about to turn into the back lane. He held up his hand and Lucy recognised Alfred Crackenthorpe.
"That's better," he observed, as he got in. "Brrr, it's cold! I fancied I'd like a nice bracing walk. I didn't. Taken the old lady home all right?"
"Yes. She enjoyed herself very much."
"One could see that. Funny what a taste old ladies have for any kind of society, however dull. And, really, nothing could be duller than Rutherford Hall. Two days here is about as much as I can stand. How do you manage to stick it out, Lucy? Don't mind if I call you Lucy, do you?"
Famous artist painting
Not at all. I don't find it dull. Of course with me it's not a permanency."
"I've been watching you - you're a smart girl, Lucy. Too smart to waste yourself cooking and cleaning."
"Thank you, but I prefer cooking and cleaning to the office desk."
"So would I. But there are other ways of living. You could be a freelance."
"I am."
"Not this way. I mean, working for yourself, pitting your wits against –"
Famous artist painting

Famous artist painting

Famous artist painting
Lucy took Miss Marple home. On her way back a figure stepped out of darkness and stood in the glare of the headlights just as she was about to turn into the back lane. He held up his hand and Lucy recognised Alfred Crackenthorpe.
"That's better," he observed, as he got in. "Brrr, it's cold! I fancied I'd like a nice bracing walk. I didn't. Taken the old lady home all right?"
"Yes. She enjoyed herself very much."
"One could see that. Funny what a taste old ladies have for any kind of society, however dull. And, really, nothing could be duller than Rutherford Hall. Two days here is about as much as I can stand. How do you manage to stick it out, Lucy? Don't mind if I call you Lucy, do you?"
Famous artist painting
Not at all. I don't find it dull. Of course with me it's not a permanency."
"I've been watching you - you're a smart girl, Lucy. Too smart to waste yourself cooking and cleaning."
"Thank you, but I prefer cooking and cleaning to the office desk."
"So would I. But there are other ways of living. You could be a freelance."
"I am."
"Not this way. I mean, working for yourself, pitting your wits against –"
Famous artist painting

Decorative painting

Decorative painting
Her eyes, gentle and mischievous, went from one to another.
It was clear that she suggested to them something that they had never thought of and which they did not find overpleasing.
Miss Marple rose to her feet, dropping as she did so, several little woolly scarves and her bag.
The three brothers were most attentive picking things up.
"So kind of you," fluted Miss Marple. "Oh, yes, and my little blue muffler. Yes – as I say - so kind to ask me here. I've been picturing, you know, just what your home was like – so that I can visualise dear Lucy working here."
"Perfect home conditions – with murder thrown in," said Cedric.
Decorative painting
"Cedric!" Harold's voice was angry.
Miss Marple smiled up at Cedric.
"Do you know who you remind me of? Young Thomas Eade, our bank manager's son. Always out to shock people. It didn't do in banking circles, of course, so he went to the West Indies…. He came home when his father died and inherited quite a lot of money. So nice for him. He was always better at spending money than making it."
Decorative painting

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Abstract Painting

Abstract Painting
He went along the passage and tapped at the same door as the doctor hadentered. I hesitated a moment.The girl was staring in front of her. "What are you thinking of,Miss Grey?" She turned her eyes towards me. "I'm wondering where he is now......the murderer,I mean.It's not twelvehours yet since it happened......Oh!aren't there any real clairvoyants whocould see where he is now and what he is doing......" "The police are searching-"I began. My commonplace words broke the spell.Thora Grey pulled herself together. "Yes,"she said."Of course." In her turn she descended the staircase.I stood there a moment longerconning her words over in my mind.
Abstract Painting
Mr Alexander Bonaparte Cust came out with the rest of the audience fromthe Torquay Palladium,where he had been seeing and hearing that highlyemotional film,Not a Sparrow...... He blinked a little as he came out into the afternoon sunshine andpeered round him in that lost-dog fashion that was characteristic of him. He murmured to himself:"It's an idea......" Newsboys passed along crying out: "Latest......Homicidal Maniac at Churston......" They carried placards on which was written: CHURSTON MURDER.LATEST.
Abstract Painting

Rembrandt Painting

Rembrandt Painting
"I'll just go in and see Lady Clarke." A hospital nurse came out of a room farther along the corridor and thedoctor joined her. We went into the room out of which the doctor had come. I came out again rather quickly.Thora Grey was still standing at thehead of the stairs. There was a queer scared expression on her face. "Miss Grey-"I stopped."Is anything the matter?" She looked at me. "I was thinking,"she said,"about D." "About D?"I stared at her stupidly. "Yes.The next murder.Something must be done.It's got to be stopped." Clarke came out of the room behind me. He said:
Rembrandt Painting
"What's got to be stopped,Thora?" "These awful murders." "Yes."His jaw thrust itself out aggressively."I want to talk to M. Poirot some time......Is Crome any good?"He shot the words outunexpectedly. I replied that he was supposed to be a very clever officer. My voice was perhaps not as enthusiastic as it might have been. "HE's got a damned offensive manner,"said Clarke."Looks as though heknows everything-and what does he know?Nothing at all as far as I can makeout." He was silent for a minute or two.Then he said: "M.Poirot's the man for my money.I've got a plan.But we'll talk of thatlater."
Rembrandt Painting

The Singing Butler

The Singing Butler
Isn't it?Why people want to go abroad to the Riviera when they've gotthis!I've wandered all over the world in my time and,honest to God,I'venever seen anything as beautiful." Then,as though ashamed of his eagerness,he said in a morematter-of-fact tone: "This was my brother's evening walk.He came as far as here,then back upthe path,and turning to the right instead of the left,went past the farmand across the fields back to the house." We proceeded on our way till we came to a spot near the hedge,half-wayacross the field where the body had been found. Crome nodded. "Easy enough.The man stood here in the shadow.Your brother would havenoticed nothing till the blow fell."
The Singing Butler
The girl at my side gave a quick shiver. Franklin Clarke said: "Hold up,Thora.It's pretty beastly,but it's no use shirking facts." Thora Grey-the name suited her. We went back to the house where the body had been taken after beingphotographed. As we mounted the wide staircase the doctor came out of a room,blackbag in hand. "Anything to tell us,doctor?"inquired Clarke. The doctor shook his head. "Perfectly simple case.I'll keep the technicalities for the inquest. Anyway,he didn't suffer.Death must have been instantaneous." He moved away.
The Singing Butler

Jack Vettriano Painting

Jack Vettriano Painting
"What time did Sir Carmichael usually come back from his walk?" "About a quarter to ten.He used to let himself in by the side door andthem sometimes he went straight to bed,sometimes to the gallery where hiscollections were.That is why,unless the police had rung up,he wouldprobably not have been missed till they went to call him this morning." "It must have been a terrible shock to his wife?" "Lady Clarke is kept under morphia a good deal.I think she is in toodazed a condition to appreciate what goes on round her." We had come out through a garden gate on to the golf links.Crossing acorner of them,we passed over a stile into a steep,winding lane.
Jack Vettriano Painting
"This leads down to Elbury Cove,"explained Franklin Clarke."But twoyears ago they made a new road leading from the main road to Broadsands andon to Elbury,so that now this lane is practically deserted." We went on down the lane.At the foot of it a path led between bramblesand bracken down to the sea.Suddenly we came out on a grassy ridgeoverlooking the sea and a beach of glistening white stones.All round darkgreen trees ran down to the sea.It was an enchanting spot-white,deepgreen-and sapphire blue. "How beautiful!"I exclaimed. Clarke turned to me eagerly.
Jack Vettriano Painting

Mary Cassatt painting

Mary Cassatt painting
"I suppose he never received a letter or letters signed A B C?" "A B C?"She shook her head."No,I'm sure he didn't." "He didn't mention having seen anyone hanging about during his eveningwalks lately?" "No.He never mentioned anything of the kind." "And you yourself have noticed no strangers?" "Not exactly hanging about.Of course,there are a lot of people what youmight call wandering about at this time of year.One often meets peoplestrolling with an aimless look across the golf links or down the lanes otthe sea.In the same way,practically everyone one sees this time of year isa stranger."
Mary Cassatt painting
Poirot nodded thoughtfully. Inspector Crome asked to be taken over the ground of Sir Carmichael'snightly walk.Franklin Clarke led the way through the french window,and MissGrey accompanied us. She and I were a little behind the others. "All this must have been a terrible shock to you all,"I said. "It seems quite unbelievable.I had gone to bed last night when thepolice rang up.I heard voices downstairs and at last I came out and askedwhat was the matter.Deveril and Mr Clarke were just setting out withlanterns."Mary Cassatt painting

Edward Hopper Painting

Edward Hopper Painting
"So you don't think a stranger would be noticed?" "Not unless he looked-well,off his head." "This man doesn't look off his head,"said Crome with certainty."You seewhat I'm getting at,Mr Clarke.This man must have been spying out the landbeforehand and discovered your brother's habit of taking an evening stroll.Isuppose,by the way,that no strange man came up to the house and asked tosee Sir Carmichael yesterday?" "Not that I know of-but we'll ask Deveril." He rang the bell and put the question to the butler. "No,sir,no one came to see Sir Carmichael.And I didn't notice anyonehanging about the house either.No more did the maids,because I've askedthem."
Edward Hopper Painting
The butler waited a moment,then inquired:"Is that all,sir?" "Yes,Deveril,you can go." The butler withdrew,drawing back in the doorway to let a young womanpass. Franklin Clarke rose as she came in. "This is Miss Grey,gentlemen.My brother's secretary." My attention was caught at once by the girl's extraordinary Scandinavianfairness.She had the almost colourless ash hair-light-grey eyes-andtransparent glowing pallor that one finds amongst Norwegians and Swedes.Shelooked about twenty-seven and seemed to be as efficient as she was decorative. "Can I help you in any way?"she asked as she sat down. Clarke brought her a cup of coffee,but she refused any food. "Did you deal with Sir Carmichael's correspondence?"asked Crome. "Yes,all of it."
Edward Hopper Painting

Van Gogh Sunflower

Van Gogh Sunflower
"Quite frankly,I should have jumped to the conclusion that it wassuicide,"said Clarke. "Encore!"said Poirot. "What is that?" "A fact that repeats itself.It is of no matter." "Anyway,it wasn't suicide,"said Crome with a touch of curtness."Now Ibelieve,Mr Clarke,that it was your brother's habit to go for a strollevery evening?" "Quite right.He always did." "Every night?" "Well,not if it was pouring with rain,naturally." "And everyone in the house knew of this habit?" "Of course." "And outside?"
Van Gogh Sunflower
"I don't quite know what you mean by outside.The gardener may have beenaware of it or not,I don't know. "And in the village?" "Strictly speaking,we haven't got a village.There's a post office andcottages at Churston Ferrers-but there's no village or shops." "I suppose a stranger hanging round the place would be fairly easilynoticed?" "On the contrary.In August all this part of the world is a seething massof strangers.They come over every day from Brixham and Torquay and Paigntonin cars and buses and on foot.Btoadsands,which is down there (he pointed),is a very popular beach and so is Elbury Cove-it's a well-known beauty spotand people come there and picnic.I wish they didn't!You've no idea howbeautiful and peaceful this part of the world is in June and the beginningof July."
Van Gogh Sunflower

Van Gogh Painting

Van Gogh Painting
"At any rate such a man cannot escape detection long,"said Clarkethoughtfully. "Vous croyez?Ah,but they are cunning-ces gens la!And you must remembersuch a type has usually all the outer signs of insignificance-he belongs tothe class of person who is usually passed over and ignored or even laughedat!" "Will you let me have a few facts,please,Mr Clarke,"said Crome,breaking in on the conversation. "Certainly." "Your brother,I take it,was in his usual health and spiritsyesterday?He received no unexpected letters?Nothing to upset him?" "No.I should say he was quite his usual self."
Van Gogh Painting
"Not upset and worried in any way." "Excuse me,inspector.I didn't say that.To be upset and worried was mypoor brother's normal condition." "Why was that?" "You may not know that my sister-in-law,Lady Clarke,is in very badhealth.Frankly,between ourselves,she is suffering from an incurable cancer,and cannot live very much longer.Her illness had preyed terribly on mybrother's mind.I myself returned from the East not long ago and I wasshocked at the change in him." Poirot interpolated a question. "Supposing,Mr Clarke,that your brother had been found shot at the footof a cliff-or shot with a revolver beside him.What would have been yourfirst thought?"
Van Gogh Painting

Henri Matisse Painting

Henri Matisse Painting
There were no dissentient voices and we were soon doing justice toexcellent eggs and bacon and coffee. "Now for it,"said Franklin Clarke."Inspector Wells gave me a rough ideaof the position last night-though I may say it seemed one of the wildesttales I have ever heard.Am I really to believe,Inspector Crome,that mypoor brother is the victim of a homicidal maniac,that this is the thirdmurder that has occurred and that in each case an A B C railway guide hasbeen deposited beside the body?" "That is substantially the position,Mr Clarke." "But why?What earthly benefit can accrue from such a crime-even in themost diseased imagination?" Poirot nodded his head in approval.
Henri Matisse Painting
"You go straight to the point,Mr Franklin,"he said. "It's not much good looking for motives at this stage,Mr Clarke,"saidInspector Crome."That's a matter for an alienist-though I may say that I'vehad a certain experience of criminal lunacy and that the motives are usuallygrossly inadequate.There is a desire to assert one's personality,to make asplash in the public eye-in fact,to be a somebody instead of a nonentity." "Is that true,M.Poirot?" Clarke seemed incredulous.His appeal to the older man was not too wellreceived by Inspector Crome,who frowned. "Absolutely true,"replied my friend.
Henri Matisse Painting

Marc Chagall Painting

Marc Chagall Painting
it was not long before a search-party discoveredhis body.Death was due to a crashing blow with some heavy instrument on theback of the head.An open A B C had been placed face downwards on the deadbody. We arrived at Combeside (as the house was called)at about eight o'clock. The door was opened by an elderly butler whose shaking hands anddisturbed face showed how much the tragedy had affected him. "Good morning,Deveril,"said the police officer. "Good morning,Mr Wells." "These are the gentlemen from London,Deveril." "This way,gentlemen."He ushered us into a long dinning-room wherebreakfast was laid."I'll get Mr Franklin."
Marc Chagall Painting
A minute or two later a big fair-haired man with a sunburnt face enteredthe room. This was Franklin Clarke,the dead man's only brother. He had the resolute competent manner of a man accustomed to meeting withemergencies. "Good morning,gentlemen." Inspector Wells made the introductions. "This is Inspector Crome of the CID,Mr Hercule Poirot and-er-CaptainHayter." "Hastings,"I corrected coldly. Franklin Clarke shook hands with each of us in turn and in each case thehandshake was accompanied by a piercing look. "Let me offer you some breakfast,"he said."We can discuss the positionas we eat."
Marc Chagall Painting

The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
Churston,lying as it does between Brixham on the one side and Paigntonand Torquay on the other,occupies a position about half-way round the curveof Torbay.Until about ten years ago it was merely a golf links and below thelinks a green sweep of countryside dropping down to the sea with only afarmhouse or two in the way of human occupation.But of late years there hadbeen big building developments between Churston and Paignton and thecoastline is new dotted with small houses and bungalows,new roads,etc.
The Birth of Venus
Sir Carmichael Clarke had purchased a site of some two acres commandingan uninterrupted view of the sea.The house he had built was of moderndesign-a white rectangle that was not unpleasing to the eye.Apart from twobig galleries that housed his collection it was not a large house. Our arrival there took place about 8am.A local police officer had met usat the station and had put us au courant of the situation. Sir Carmichael Clarke,it seemed,had been in the habit of taking astroll after dinner every evening.When the police rang up-at some time aftereleven-it was ascertained that he had not returned.Since his stroll usuallyfollowed the same course
The Birth of Venus

Bouguereau William

Bouguereau William
"One must not give way to the nerves......This is no worse than anyordinary crime......" "It is......It is......" "Is it worse to take the life or lives of strangers than to take thelife of someone near and dear to you-someone who trust and believes in you,perhaps?" "It's worse because it's mad......" "No,Hastings.It is not worse.It is only more difficult." "No,no,I do not agree with you.It's infinitely more frightening." Hercule Poirot said thoughtfull
Bouguereau William
"It should be easier to discover because it is mad.A crime committed bysomeone shrewd and sane would be far more complicated.Here,if one could buthit on the idea......This alphabetical business,it has discrepancies.If Icould once see the idea-then everything would be clear and simple......" He sighed and shook his head. "These crimes must not go on.Soon,soon,I must see the truth......Go,Hastings.Get some sleep.There will be much to do tommorrow."
Bouguereau William

Gustav Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt Painting
"Eh bien,"said Poirot."It is possible that publicity may do whatprivate efforts have failed to do.The whole country now will be looking forA B C." "Unfortunately,"I said,"that's what he wants." "True.But it may,all the same,be his undoing.Gratified by success,hemay become careless......That is what I hope-that he may be drunk with hisown cleverness." "How odd all this is,Poirot,"I exclaimed,struck suddenly by an idea. "Do you know,this is the first crime of this kind that you and I haveworked on together?All our murders have been-well,private murders,so tospeak."
Gustav Klimt Painting
"You are quite right,my friend.Always,up to now,it has fallen to ourlot to work from the inside.It has been the history of the victim that wasimportant.The important points have been:"Who benefited by the death? What opportunities had those around him to commit the crime?"It hasalways been the "crime intime."Here,for the first time in our association,it is cold-blooded,impersonal murder.Murder from the outside." I shivered. "It's rather horrible......" "Yes.I felt from the first,when I read the original letter,that therewas something wrong-misshapen......" He made an impatient gesture.
Gustav Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt The Kiss

Gustav Klimt The Kiss
"Even if by some unbelievable luck nothing happened,Churston is theplace to be.Our murderer is there,or has been there today.One of my men ison the phone here up to the last minute in case anything comes through." Just as the train was leaving the station we saw a man running down theplatform.He reached the inspector's sleeper. "You have news-yes?"demanded Poirot. Crome said quickly: "It's about as bad as it can be.Sir Carmichael Clarke has been foundwith his head bashed in." Sir Carmichael Clarke,although his name was not very well known to thegeneral public,was a man of some eminence.He had been in his time a verywell-known throat specialist.Retiring from his profession very comfortablyoff,he had been able to indulge what had been one of the chief passions ofhis life-a collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain.A few years later
Gustav Klimt The Kiss
inheriting a considerable fortune from an elderly uncle,he had been able toindulge his passion to the full,and he was now the possessor of one of thebest-known colletions of Chinese art.He was married but had no children andlived in a house he had built for himself near the Devon coast,only comingto London on rare occasions such as when some important sale was on. It did not require much reflection to realize that his death,followingthat of the young and pretty Betty Barnard,would provide the best newspapersensation for years.The fact that it was August and that the papers werehard up for subject matter would make matters worse.Gustav Klimt The Kiss

Modern Art Painting

Modern Art Painting
Taking his suitcase from me firmly,he took the packing into his ownhands. He explained that we were to take the letter and envelope to Paddingtonwith us.Someone from Scotland Yard would meet us there. When we arrived on the platform the first person we saw was InspectorCrome. He answered Poirot's look of inquiry. "No news as yet.All men available are on the look-out.All persons whosename begins with Care being warned by phone when possible.There's just achance.Where's the letter?" Poirot gave it to him. He examined it,swearing softly under his breath. "Of all the damned luck.The stars in their courses fight for thefellow."
Modern Art Painting
"You don't think,"I suggested,"that it was done on purpose?" Crome shook his head. "No.He's got his rules-crazy rules-and abides by them.Fair warning.Hemakes a point of that.That's where his boastfulness comes in.I wondernow-I'd almost bet the chap drinks White Horse Whisky." "Ah,c'est ingenieux,ca!"said Poirot,driven to admiration in spite ofhimself."He prints the letter and the bottle is in front of him." "That's the way of it,"said Crome."We've all of us done much the samething one time or another,unconsciously copied something that's just underthe eye.He started off White and went on horse instead of haven......" The inspector,we found,was also travelling by the train.
Modern Art Painting

Famous painting

Famous painting
Poirot caught up the torn envelope from the floor.Something unusualabout the address had registered itself vaguely in my brain,but I had beentoo anxious to get at the contents of the letter to pay more than fleetingattention to it. Poirot was at the time living in Whitehaven Mansions.The address ran: M.Hercule Poirot,Whitehorse Mansion,across the corner wasscrawled:"Not known at Whitehorse Mansions,EC1,nor at Whitehorse Court-tryWhitehaven Mansions." "Mon Dieu!"murmured Poirot."Does even chance aid this madman? Vite-vite-we must get on to Scotland Yard."
Famous painting
A minute or two later we were speaking to Crome over the wire.For oncethe self-controlled inspector did not reply "Oh,yes?"Instead a quicklystifled curse came to his lips.He heard what we had to say,then rang off inorder to get a trunk connection to Churston as rapidly as possible. "C'est trop tard,"murmured Poirot. "You can't be sure of that,"I argued,though without any great hope. He glanced at the clock. "Twenty minutes past ten?An hour and forty minutes to go.Is it likelythat A B C will have held his hand so long?" I opened the railway guide I had previously taken from its shelf.
Famous painting