“This is indeed a difficult decision.They’re all equally good.”Sophia paused before each of the six canvases, admiring the brushstrokes, the colors, the subjects rendered in beautiful detail.“Any of these would add grace to the drawing room.”She walked farther, tilting her head up and down to take in more of the art on display in the room, floor to ceiling.“Perhaps it should be a different painting altogether.”
Behind her, she heard the clacking of frames as Wallace and Mrs.Royston sorted through stacks to peruse other canvases and discussed their choices.
Some paintings were of exotic locales.She recognized the cathedral above the Duoro River in Porto, Portugal; a cathedral and cantina in Carunna, Spain; Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence, Italy.But it was the people that most caught her attention.
She suspected the young boys playing on the seashore were Fairfax and his brothers, though they could be any boys on any beach.Mrs.Digby probably would not appreciate the painting of her dozing in her armchair with Henry asleep on her lap being in the drawing room for every guest to see, but Sophia thought it darling.Immortalized on another canvas, she recognized Mr.Bickford, the coachman, leaning in to buss his wife, the cook, on the cheek as she stirred a pot on the hearth.
A family portrait caught her eye.The father, obviously a gentleman of means by his dress, stood with his hand resting on his wife’s shoulder.She sat beside him with a boy of about three on her lap.Another boy, perhaps five, leaned against her knee.A third boy, about seven, mimicked the adult male’s stance.
Sophia bent for a closer look, then compared the painting to Wallace, who currently had his head tilted back, looking at a painting hung close to the ceiling.The father in the portrait bore a striking resemblance to how she imagined Wallace would look a few years from now.The middle boy and the father shared the same curly light brown hair and blue eyes.The mother also had blue eyes, her hair the color of champagne, as did the toddler she was holding.That must be Xavier perched on the woman’s lap.Could the third boy be Fairfax?He looked so different from the rest of the family, with straight black hair and brown eyes that seemed to see right through her, even at such a young age, from a two-dimensional canvas.
Sophia couldn’t help looking at Wallace again, and back to the painting.
“Oh, my,” Mrs.Royston said reverently.“I haven’t looked at these in years.”She pulled a canvas out of a crate.The lid rested against the side, a pry bar at her feet.“I’d forgotten I even had them shipped here.”She leaned the painting of majestic, snow-capped mountains against the crate and pulled out another.“My, look how young Gert is here!”She propped it on an easel, setting aside an unfinished portrait of Henry rolling in a flowerbed to make room.
Sophia drifted over to look at it in the sunlight.
This portrait must have memorialized a wedding, as a young man and woman in clothing from fifty years ago held hands on the steps of a cathedral, flanked by what she guessed was family.The groom’s light brown hair was tied back with a black ribbon in a neat bow, revealing the same facial features as Wallace and his father.Next to him were two women, one of whom looked to be his mother.With a gasp, Sophia realized the other was the image of a young Mrs.Digby.
But the bride!Sophia couldn’t take her eyes off the bride.Nearly as tall as her husband, she wore a floral silk gown, lavishly decorated with ribbon rosettes and flounces displayed to advantage over panniers, in colors that flattered her onyx black hair and olive complexion.Her brown eyes seemed to look directly at Sophia.They sat above her aquiline nose, high cheekbones, and full lips set in a teasing smile that seemed familiar even though Sophia would wager she’d never seen this woman before, at any age.
Except…
Sophia gasped.
“Vincenza was eighteen when she married Gert’s elder brother,” Mrs.Royston quietly said beside Sophia.“Her mother, the Contessa, was too ill to travel to England so we converged upon Rome.Horatio and George were both able to get leave, so we were all there.”She cocked her head to one side, studying the painting.“I only had time to make a quick sketch before the festivities were in full swing.Months went by before I could actually paint this.The Army transferred us as soon as George returned to duty after the wedding.”
Sophia couldn’t help reaching out a finger to trace the features, though she stopped short of actually touching the painting.
Mrs.Royston dropped her voice to a whisper and winked at her.“Now you know why he’s named Vincenzo.”
“Is this the one you think we should hang in the drawing room?”Wallace had come up beside them.
Sophia flicked her gaze to the family portrait with seven-year-old Fairfax.Wallace followed her gaze and flinched.
Hmm.
She pointed at the wedding portrait.“As you are seeking my opinion, I would like to learn more about your grandparents and let them preside over the drawing room.”
Wallace bowed.“Then this is the one we shall hang above the fireplace.”He was all smiles and affability, betraying no hint of whatever bothered him about the family portrait that captured him and his brothers as children.
They all trooped downstairs.While Wallace arranged with Marshall to have the paintings swapped and Sophia paused to listen to the music she heard coming from the drawing room—a violin and the harpsichord now joined the pianoforte in a tune she’d never heard before—Kendall answered a knock at the front door.
“Theo?”Sophia rushed forward to greet her friend.
“I hope you don’t mind unexpected callers.”Theo squeezed Sophia’s hands in greeting.“We would not want to intrude on your work.”She entered the house, revealing Mildred on the steps just behind her.
Sophia almost sagged in relief at seeing the girl.
“You are always welcome in my home, Miss Burrell,” Mrs.Digby said, walking towards them.“And you, Miss Ebrington.”
They exchanged greetings.
“We were just about to go in to luncheon,” Mrs.Digby said.“I hope you will both join us.”
“Oh!We just came to, ah… Yes, thank you, we would love to join you.”Theo handed her workbasket to Kendall before removing her pelisse and bonnet.
“Yes, thank you,” Mildred added, removing her outerwear.
