ARTAND
THOUGHT
245
part,butaccepted.
Shehadastoreofwisesayings,
not new, but gratefully heard, and
as constantly
repeated.
And
sometimesshewouldwhisperher
too
practised instigationsintheearof
herlady
;
some-
times correctherlack
ofguile. Butmost,shesang
toTaste the praisesofhis mistress
andspreadher
portraitbeforehiseyes.
But the timecame—ahundredyears ago
—
when
Taste
grewwanton
andsighedforearlierloves. He
occupiedhis thoughts with far-offsongs; hismind
grew
busy with
forgotten fancies; he dreamed of
the maidens of strangelands and times. Thereat,
his.mistress, dismayed, sought
to
learn their arts,
and evenimitated, as she could, their quaint, old-
fashioned garments.
Wild weeds
clothed her, and
curious aprons. And for awhile the pair kept up
thistoofantasticdalliance.
But soon, as needs must, they fell out. Archi-
tecture,in
these
simulatedgraces,grewself-conscious
andtoolittlecharming
;
andanxiousyetto
please,
butpleasing
now
nolonger,studiedfreshposes,still
unlovely. She bared her limbs,
though in truth
theywere gaunt
;shemade herselfheavywith un-
imaginedjewels, and devised the
most astonishing
costumes. But Taste regarded her with a
jaded
and soon vacant eye. He took
no delightinthese
new vestures. Andoneday,withloudshouts
anda
noiseofmanypeoplefollowing,came
Comttierceand
