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CONTENTS
Art Represents Ideals 11
P refa c e xv
Art as a Declaration of Power 13
The Power to Convey Immortality 14
The Power to Change Our Beliefs 14
The Power to Shock 15
Art News:
Controversy Over the Vietnam Memorial 16
The Power to Touch Our Emotions 17
PA RT O N E The Power to Awaken Our Senses 17
The Power to Transform The Ordinary 18
Chapter 2:
The Pr imar y Elements 34
Space 34
Line 35
Shape 37
The Spirit of the Forms 39
Light, Shadow, and Value 40
Texture 41
Color 43
Describing Color 44
Color Wheel 45
The Science of Color 46
Art News:
J E A N D E C H E L L E S, rose window of the north transept, Notre
Augustus: In Living Color 47
Dame Cathedral, Paris, France, 1240–1250. Stained glass, Naturalistic Versus Arbitrary Color 50
iron, and lead stone-bar tracery, diameter 43'. Emotional Resonance 50
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viii
The Art i s t ’s Ma t e r i a ls
an d Tool s
Chapter 4: Drawing 72
Graphite 73
Art News:
The Lost Drawings of Michelangelo 74
Charcoal 76
Chalk And Pastel 76
Crayon 78 A Sand Mandala is constructed of grains of col-
ored sand during an eight-day ritual by monks
Pen And Ink 78 from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India.
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contents
ix
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x
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contents
xi
C h a p t e r 1 3 : T h e A g e o f Faith 247
Religious Images or Sacrilege? 249
Early Christian and Byzantine Art 250
The Early Middle Ages 252
Islam 255
A Global View:
A World Apart: Mesoamerica 256
Buddhism 260
Hinduism 262
The Middle Ages 264
The Romanesque Style 265
The Gothic Style 267
Art News:
The Dimming of National Treasures 269 F I L I P P O B R U N E L L E S C H I, Dome of the Florence
Medieval Art in Italy 270 Cathedral, 1420–1436. Florence, Italy.
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xii
C h a p t e r 1 6 : T h e B a t t l e of
t h e I s m s : N e o c l a s s i c i sm,
R o m a n t i c i s m , a n d R e a l ism 343
The Enlightenment 344
English Art Becomes Respectable: Reynolds 344
Thomas Gainsborough 345 WA LT E R G R O P I U S, Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany, 1925–1926.
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contents
xiii
Renoir 377
Morisot 378
Degas And Cassatt 379
Art News:
Artist vs. Critic 380
Rodin’s Touch 382
The Postimpressionists 383
Toulouse-Lautrec 384
Seurat and Pointillism 384
Gauguin and the Search For Paradise 386
Van Gogh: Father of Expressionism 387
A Global View:
Japonisme: Pictures of the Floating World 388
Cézanne’s Revolution 392
F R A N K L LOY D W R I G H T, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York, 1943–1959.
PA RT F O U R
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xiv
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P R E FA C E
E
arly in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 long sweep of his arm. Soon, a design of curling loops
Summer Olympics in Beijing, thousands of emerged on the electronic canvas.
spectators and millions of viewers around the The dance was accompanied by traditional Chinese
world were enchanted by an unexpected dis- music. Other dancers entered, their bodies and sleeves
play of the power of art. In the middle of the Bird’s Nest acting as paintbrushes, too. As they continued to dance,
Stadium (see 20-25), sparkling against the night sky, a the LED background around their canvas changed to one
giant cylinder appeared and unrolled across the floor. of the most famous paintings in China, “A Thousand Li of
What seemed to be an enormous ancient Chinese scroll Rivers and Mountains” from the twelfth century. By their
painting was actually a technological marvel—a flexible dance’s finale, the movements of the athletic artists had
LED screen one hundred sixty yards long and seventy- created their own ink painting of water and mountains,
two feet wide. Designs from prehistoric rock paintings too. So the giant scroll’s background and center shared a
filled the background. Drifting across this screen, art and theme that symbolizes harmony and balance in Chinese
artifacts from five thousand years of Chinese civilization culture.
emerged and floated slowly like clouds across the sky. What was just as impressive as the performance
At the screen’s center was a pure white rectangle was the silence in the stadium during it. Ninety thousand
that looked like an empty sheet of paper. Figures dressed people from nations all around the world sat enthralled
in black stood at the edge of this space, until one slowly by the magic of seeing a work of art created before their
stepped onto its surface and began an acrobatic dance. eyes. Only when the painting and choreography were fin-
Viewers were amazed when he tumbled across the page, ished did the audience burst into applause.
leaving what appeared to be a curving stroke of black On the other side of the globe, that same quiet can
ink. Mesmerized by the sight, a hush fell over the thou- be heard every day in a small room in Berlin’s Neues
sands in the stadium as he drew new lines with each Museum. The room is empty except for a tall glass
Dancers performing on giant L E D screen during opening ceremonies of Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.
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deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xvi
cabinet at its center. In it, lit simply from above, is a bust printing, have added even more tools to the deep tool-
of Nefertiti, ancient queen of Egypt (below and 12-3). box of today’s artists. Our access to information, images,
Unlike the scene in the Birds Nest Stadium, technology videos, and sounds is unprecedented in human history,
has little place here. Cameras and cell phones are not showering us with an embarrassment of riches. This text
permitted and the guards are very vigilant. Visitors see is designed to help you navigate this flood of imagery in
Nefertiti with only the glass of the cabinet between them a clear, understandable, and enjoyable way.
and a three thousand year-old masterpiece. They circle We do not expect that you will rush out to see each
around her slowly and typically stay for a long time staring of the works you will be introduced to in this book. That
at a woman who symbolized beauty not only in her time is the work of a lifetime, not a semester. These works
but for many centuries since. The museum that houses of art are held in museums and galleries all across the
the Sun Queen is enormous, made up of three floors world. The goal is to inspire you to look at art and to give
filled with fabulous ancient artifacts, including some of you the tools to enjoy the experience. We hope to help
the treasures of Ancient Troy. But it is an open secret that you understand why the visual arts are treasured by so
here Nefertiti has no rivals. The crowds have come to many people of all races and creeds. We also try to make
see her. She presides over them with a small regal smile, sense of why so much money has been spent (and will
forever patient, a queen for all time. continue to be spent) to preserve, conserve, and protect
The atmosphere in the room is one of reverence the most famous works of art, so the power of art can be
and respect for the power of art. The intensity of the enjoyed not only today, but tomorrow by your children and
viewers’ gazes and the mesmerized expressions seen future generations.
in Berlin could also be seen in the stadium in Beijing.
Whether ancient or twenty-first century, the power of
art seems to transcend time and geography. Why else
would over a billion people each year visit museums
across the globe? In the United States alone, eight hun-
dred fifty million people enter museums annually, many
more than the four hundred seventy million who go to
theme parks and all the major league sporting events
combined. The creative urge itself appears to be pri-
mal and something that is an essential part of being
a human being. Recently, prehistoric cave art made
by children over thirteen thousand years ago was dis-
covered in caves in both Europe and Australia. There
appears to be no society in history that didn’t make and
admire art of some kind.
The writing of this third edition comes just after the
end of the first decade of the twenty-first century—a good
time to take stock of recent changes in the art world. We
have made a special effort in this edition to reflect the
increasing impact of women and non-Western painters,
sculptors, architects, photographers, and designers in
the art world today. We also wanted to present artists as
real people, and have added a new series of boxes called
“Lives of the Artists” that will give you a peek behind
the curtain so you can better understand the lives they
lived. The exciting convergence of artistic media and
cross-pollination of artists across the globe enabled by
the internet, as described in our previous edition, has A woman looks at the bust of Queen Nefertiti, c. 1340 B C E,
only expanded. New technologies, like three-dimensional at the Neues Museum (New Museum) in Berlin, Germany.
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
preface
xvii
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xviii
Superhighway; Cory Arcangel, Super Mario Clouds (modi- College; Nancy Cason, Belmont University; Claire
fied videogame); Damien Hirst, For the Love of God (dia- Hampton, Volunteer State Community College; Stephen
mond encrusted platinum skull); Banksy, Cans Buffer Henderson, Quinnipiac University; Katherine Jones,
(street art); Takashi Murakami, 727; Yinka Shonibare, Central Michigan University; Jennie Klein, Ohio University;
The Swing (after Fragonard); El Anatsui, Between Earth Pamela Lee, Washington State University; Cynthia Mills,
and Heaven; and teamLab, Life Survives by the Power of Brookhaven College; Susan Mulcahy, Volunteer State
Life (computer animated video). Two new boxes: “The Community College; Carol Norman, Jackson State
Mud Angels (of the 1966 Florence flood)” and “British Community College; Aditi Samarth, Richland College;
Bad Boys: Hirst and Banksy.” Betty Siber, Collin College; Susana Sosa, Fresno City
College; Sherry Stephens, Palm Beach Community
College; Al Wildey, Central Michigan University; and Ted
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wygant, Daytona State College.
Like the art world, the publishing world is in the
This book is the product of many years of teaching—our midst of both a Digital and Global Age, too. The way this
own as well as that we received as students. We would text was produced reflects these important changes. The
like to acknowledge the excellence, dedication, and publishing team for Cengage Learning was not located
influence of Abe Ajay, Rudolf Arnheim, George Bayliss, in an office building, but was spread across the United
Antonio Frasconi, Al Hinton, Gerome Kamrowski, Al States and worked with sources all over the world.
Mullen, and Leonard Stokes, as well as Paul Berry, Despite the distances, we always felt a part of a talented
Dorothea Fisher, Eugenia Janis, Kenworth Moffet, and dedicated team. We want to thank our publisher,
Warren Roberts, and Clara Tucker. The following col- Clark Baxter, who contributed good spirits, a great sense
leagues at Marist College, Istituto Lorenzo de Medici, of humor, and his keen judgment to the entire project; our
and SUNY New Paltz were especially supportive during development editor, Sharon Adams Poore, who managed
this and previous revisions of The Power of Art: Artin to be the voice of reason, encouragement, and faith in
Arslanian, Fabrizio Guarducci, Dennis Murray, Steven the long process of revision and production; our project
Poskanzer, and Thomas Wermuth. manager, Lianne Ames, who kept a steady hand on the
As we revised the manuscript, many friends and col- steering wheel during the obstacle course that is publish-
leagues offered advice, inspiration, perceptive comments, ing today; Chad Kirchner, media editor; Ashley Bargende,
and analysis that aided us immensely. We are indebted assistant editor; Marsha Kaplan, editorial assistant; and
to Lorenzo Casamenti, Stefano Casu, Donise English, Kit to Joshua Adams and Lydia LeStar for their marketing
French, Thomas Goldpaugh, David Krikun, James Luciana, support.
Michele Rowe-Shields, Thomas Sarrantonio, Ed Smith, We also want to thank our production manager at
Steve Vinson, Tim Watson, Jerry White, and Beth E. Wilson. Lachina, Whitney Thompson, who calmly managed the
Over the years, we have been encouraged by enthusi- complicated production process; and our ingenious and
astic readers among younger friends like Sarah and Amy persistent photo researcher, Corey Anne Geissler at
Gross, Hannah Shreefter, Allison Oldehoff, and Elizabeth PreMediaGlobal, who surprised us with her ability to find
Moskowitz; and older art aficionados like Belle Bennett, the most challenging images so many times.
Marjorie Brockman, Dr. Jay Levine, Edward Lewis, Ruth Finally, we would like to thank our students, many of
Page, Abby Schlossberg, and Scott Skodnek. whom sent us links and brought us articles and catalogs,
In developing the third edition, we responded to the but more importantly, who showed us the way to create a
recommendations of the many instructors who used the book that could transmit the power of art. The enthusias-
first and second ones. We would like to thank in particu- tic love for art of Erich Alejandro, Nicholas Baish, Jessica,
lar the following reviewers whose perceptive comments Rachael, and Toni-Marie Chiarella, Zoe Christopher,
and analysis were extremely helpful in the preparation of Joe Concra, Zach Crittenden, Rich Dachtera, Matt
this book: Daly, Stefanie DeRario, Kim Dowd, Jessica Friedlander,
Nicholas Alley, Austin Peay State University; Melanie Ryan Khoury, Jonathan Kiselik, Heather Krumm, Kevin
Atkinson, Hinds Community College; Rodrigo Benavides, McKiernan, Mike Milano, Joe Molloy, Danielle Morrison,
St. Philip’s College; Shawn Camp, Austin Community Caitlin O’Hare, Matthew O’Neill, Christopher Perry, David
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
preface
xix
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CHAPTER 1
THE
POWER
OF ART
M
ore than eight million people enter the
Louvre Museum in Paris each year, mak-
ing it the world’s most visited museum. It
is estimated that the museum generates
the equivalent of nearly $1 billion in annual revenue for
France. Although the huge palace contains hundreds of
thousands of objects, many, if not most, visitors have
come to see the most famous painting in the world,
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1-1). Signs are posted
throughout the vast museum, marking the way to its leg-
endary masterpiece. Outside the room where the painting
hangs, there is often a long line just to enter and join the
crush of the crowd. Inside, there are other paintings by
some of the most talented artists in history, but viewers
surround only one, jostling each other, pushing toward it
to get a better look. Above the crowd, one can see arms
lifting cell phones and cameras and flashes going off.
Tourists treat the painting like a famous landmark, pos-
ing for their pictures beside it. Guards are always nearby,
and wooden barriers keep viewers at a distance. Deep
within a massive case of bulletproof glass that dwarfs
the small painting, the same elegant woman who has
L E O NA R D O DA V I N C I, Mona Lisa, c. 1503–1505. Oil
1/1
on wood, approximately 30" × 2 1". Louvre, Paris,
captivated generations of art lovers regards them with
France. her inscrutable smile.
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
A RT N EWS
TH E M O N A LISA
HAS BEEN STOLEN!
The Mona Lisa was actually stolen from the Louvre in and left flowers where she had once hung. Investigators
1911, causing a national scandal. Although the com- turned up few clues beyond the now-empty frame. In
plete story will never be known, an ironic twist, Picasso, then
it is believed that the theft was an a young, impoverished artist,
attempt to sell not only the origi- became a suspect after two small
nal Mona Lisa but also many forged statues from the Louvre were dis-
copies. The forger’s plan was that covered in his studio. Meanwhile,
upon the shocking announcement Vincenzo Peruggia, still in Paris,
of the painting’s theft, unscru- hid the painting under a stove in
pulous wealthy collectors around his room.
the world could be easily duped Two years passed before
into buying his forgeries of the Peruggia wrote to an antiques
masterpiece. dealer in Florence, Italy, and
The forger contacted a for- offered the painting for sale.
mer employee of the Louvre, Mona Lisa’s homecoming to the
Vincenzo Peruggia, to arrange the city where she was painted was
theft. Peruggia and his accom- far from glorious. In December
plices, dressed as staff members, 1913, she traveled by train in a
entered the museum as it closed wooden trunk, under a false bot-
on Sunday afternoon, August French officials examine the Mona tom, covered by old shoes and
1/2
20, 1911. The museum would not Lisa after its return. clothing. When Peruggia pre-
open again until Tuesday. The sented the missing masterpiece
thieves hid in a broom closet and to the dealer and a museum direc-
slept overnight in the museum. Early the next morning, tor, he was promptly turned over to the authorities.
they removed the painting from its frame and carried it At the trial, the thief, who was born in Italy, claimed
through the many galleries, planning to tell anyone who that he had stolen Leonardo’s masterpiece to return it
saw them that they were bringing the Mona Lisa to the to its rightful place in his own country. A sympathetic
staff photography lab. The only one who did see them Italian jury sentenced Peruggia to only a few months in
was a plumber, who helped them open a stuck door. jail. After the trial, the Mona Lisa was displayed briefly
No one knew the painting was missing until the next in her birthplace and then was finally returned to the
day. As the word spread, art lovers flocked to the Louvre Louvre (1-2).
Painted at the height of the Italian Renaissance, this What is it about this painting that has elevated it,
fascinating portrait of a woman has attracted attention for not simply to the height of a masterpiece but to the sym-
centuries. Poems and songs have been written, essays bolic pinnacle of Western art? How can a work of art
and scholarly works composed, about an oil painting that become so valuable that it is seen as priceless? What
measures less than two feet by three feet. Even in our gives the Mona Lisa its power over people from differ-
contemporary world awash in digital images, the power of ent centuries and cultures? Although many people have
da Vinci’s portrait continues to transcend time. Legends spoken of the air of mystery that surrounds the picture
have grown up around the picture—for instance, that the of the woman with the haunting smile, on first viewing
Mona Lisa’s eyes follow one around the room. Another it is common to find the picture a disappointment. The
legend suggests that the painting on display is no longer glass makes it difficult to see, and what we see is not
the genuine Mona Lisa (see “Art News” box). exactly what Leonardo painted. The art historian Kenneth
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
4 C H A P T E R 1: T H E POW E R O F A RT
Clark described the Mona Lisa as “the submarine god- Let’s return to the Mona Lisa and look at her care-
dess of the Louvre,” a phrase that accurately reflects fully. First, the image is beautiful. It is not simply that
the dominant greenish tone of the painting as well as its this is the portrait of an attractive woman—in fact, La
aquarium-like casing. Yet the earliest known description Gioconda (Lisa del Giocondo) looks less than ideal to
of the portrait raves about the warmth of the colors, the contemporary eyes. Although it is safe to assume that
rosy nostrils and red lips, as well as the overall tone of she was considered nice-looking by the standards of the
the face that “seemed not to be colored but to be living sixteenth century, Leonardo did not give her face (see
flesh.” Not only has the color faded, but also at some detail, 1-3) the same perfect beauty he gave to his draw-
point in its history the painting was made smaller, prob- ings of angels, for example. But what makes a work of
ably to fit into a frame, slicing off a pair of columns that art famous is less the quality of the subject than the way
once surrounded her. it is interpreted by the artist. The Mona Lisa is beauti-
fully and gracefully painted. Viewers are attracted to da
Vinci’s work through the power of his skill as a drafts-
L O O K I N G AT A R T man and painter and his remarkable ability to bring his
subject to life.
This lifelike quality made the Mona Lisa famous in
LEARNING HOW TO SEE its own time. According to the painter Giorgio Vasari,
Despite these ravages of time, it is possible to consider Leonardo’s contemporary:
what makes the Mona Lisa a masterpiece. Whatever
Altogether this picture was painted in
the type of art in question, the first step in learning to
a manner to make the most confident
appreciate art is simply learning to look. This is more
artists—no matter who—despair and lose
challenging than is usually believed. We often think of
looking as a passive act, as in watching TV or clicking
heart . . . in this painting of Leonardo’s
through pictures on a webpage. But studying the visual there was a smile so pleasing that it
arts requires more than empty viewing; seeing can be seemed divine rather than human; and
active rather than passive. When primitive people looked those who saw it were amazed to find that
at the world, they had to observe nature because they it was as alive as the original.
were hunters and gatherers; they depended on their eyes As Vasari recognized, the Mona Lisa revolutionized
for survival. In their world, everything was natural and the art of portraiture, adding movement and life in a way
real; very little was made by humans. We, on the other never seen before.
hand, live among literally millions of images, not only in
books or on a screen but also on almost everything we
touch—from cereal boxes to printed T-shirts. As opposed
to earlier periods, most of what we see and interact with
is human-made. This constant bombardment by printed,
video, and digital images has made us visually sophisti-
cated, but it can also leave our eyes numb.
Artists often say that someone can really “see,”
as if most people cannot. What an artist means by see-
ing is difficult to explain, but it is something like the
totally involved gaze of a newborn child, hungrily look-
ing at everything as if it had never been seen before,
not blinded by preconceptions. All of us like to see new
things, but in the midst of a busy life our seeing becomes
stale, our eyes jaded. Art can renew the pleasure of see-
ing and help us feel more alive. Many people have had
the exhilarating experience after leaving a museum of
noticing that the world outside looks much more interest- Detail of figure 1-1: face of
1/3
Mona Lisa.
ing and beautiful.
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has
deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
part 1
LO O K I N G AT A RT 5
M E T H O D S A N D M AT E R I A L S
Leonardo wrote in his notebooks, “moderated light will
add charm to every face,” as anyone who has been on
a date in a candle-lit restaurant knows. Leonardo used
oil paint to recreate this effect, which he called sfumato
lighting (in Italian, “the soft mist of a fountain”), a soft
light that dissolved edges and made details unclear. The
Mona Lisa’s eyes and mouth were bathed in sfumato light
by Leonardo because he knew those are the two most
important areas we look at on a face. Because they are
left unclear, our imagination fills them in; the lips seem
to move and give the Mona Lisa life. Leonardo’s use of
sfumato lighting is responsible for the legends surround-
ing this painting—her inscrutable smile and the eyes that
look at you and then away.
Leonardo generated a sense of movement in
another way. Notice how the background does not line
up on either side of the Mona Lisa’s shoulders. This was
intentional: Leonardo wanted to create the illusion that
his subject is shifting her shoulder while we are looking
at her. Leonardo understood how people see, perhaps
better than anyone who had ever lived, and he used this
knowledge in subtle ways to create the illusion that his
Mona Lisa was a real person. In fact, this is how viewers
have always responded to her.
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He was not used to dealing with women of her class, and though he was
ready to bully or bluster, he found nothing in her self-possessed, impersonal
manner which he could take hold of. Besides, he reflected, it was far better
not to frighten her. If he did, she might produce lawyers, or such other
undesired persons, to take part in the proceedings. He knew, far better than
she, the flimsiness of his own claims. He was not the girl's legal guardian,
and never had been. A moral claim was all that he could urge, joined to a
cunning by means of which he hoped to attain his end, for he was
convinced that it would be well worth his while to get hold of Rona. She
had grown into just such a woman as he had foreseen. He did not feel any
doubt of being able, with little difficulty, to reconcile her to the way of life
he had in view for her, when once she realized her own power, and what a
splendid time she could have if she were but sensible. But he knew well that
the tactics he had formerly adopted were woefully mistaken. Of all things
now, he must not scare her. As his mind flew rapidly over his intended
course, he felt that he could not do better than accept this dinner invitation.
He helped the two ladies into the carriage, little dreaming how the heart of
the haughty-looking Miss Rawson was knocking against her side.
Miss Rawson was seated in the victoria. She opened her card-case.
"Home," said she to the coachman, in the act of handing the card to Mr.
Leigh, with a bow and a condescending smile. The man touched his hat,
and started. They glided away, leaving Mr. Leigh staring fixedly at the card,
with a face suddenly crimson.
He hurried back to the second-rate inn where he had put up, and, in the
course of an hour or two, had found out something of some importance. The
Squire had just gone abroad—very unexpectedly. It was even known at the
post-office that he had had a cable from Siberia. This was good news. Leigh
determined upon his plan of action. He would ask humbly, but with
firmness, so as to imply that he could enforce obedience if he chose—he
would ask that his niece be allowed to come and stay with him in his flat in
London, to show that all was right between them. He would speculate; he
would hire a furnished flat in a good position for a month, no matter at what
cost. And he would take the girl about—give her clothes and a few jewels;
take her to the theater and to race-meetings—he believed that the men to
whom he could introduce her would do the rest.
For all the latter part of his life, the man had been a hanger-on at stage
doors, a theatrical agent, a go-between of the profession. He believed all
women to be like those with whom he was in daily contact—greedy,
grasping, pleasure-loving, non-moral. To him, the life he found Rona living
—going to church with a maiden lady—was a life from which any
handsome young girl would escape, if she could.
If she once found that her beauty would bring to her—and incidentally
to him—diamonds, motors, life on the champagne standard, he literally
could not conceive that she could hesitate. What was the good of having a
girl like that in your power if you could not make her keep you? He was
determined to have an old age of comfort, as a result of the earnings of
Rona. He knew all the ropes. He knew all there was to know about the
"Profession." He knew that, given material of the quality of that girl,
success, with the right steps taken, the right course adopted, was quite
certain.
He sat smoking, and thinking it over, with his whisky on the table
beside him. He considered what, or how much, he could or should tell Rona
of what he suspected of her parentage. He was himself the son of a solicitor,
and had received a good education. But there was a bad strain in the blood.
Both he and his brother had gone to the bad, and his brother had died
young, leaving an orphan girl, whose early associations were those of a life
of discreditable shifts, but who had developed the backbone lacking in her
father and uncle, had insisted upon qualifying to teach, and when her
education was complete, had obtained a post as governess in the family of
Mauleverer, a well-known old house of the Roman faith in the North of
England. But it seemed as if this girl, too, were infected by the obliquity of
the family morals, for, after a time, she disappeared from her uncle's view,
his letters being returned to him marked "Gone away. Address unknown."
One day he received a letter with a London postmark, written at her
dictation. It said that she was married, that she had just become a mother,
that she was dying. The letter, which bore no address, was only to be posted
in case of her actual death, and then not until after a month had elapsed. She
did not reveal the name of her husband, but said that her tiny daughter was
to be brought up in a certain convent—the address of which she gave him—
under the name of Leigh. She begged him to inquire from time to time of
the child's health.
Her uncle and she had never been in sympathy. Evidently she had
nobody else at all to whom she could appeal for her baby's sake to take
some interest in her. She had always been a good and very quiet, steady girl,
yet her uncle found it a little hard to believe in the story of her marriage.
Other young men had come and gone, visitors at the Abbey; and as all
these were Roman Catholics, the fact of the baby's being sent to a convent
was not of much significance. Young Mauleverer married, a wife of his own
rank, not long after the death of Veronica's mother. If he were the man, this
gave some color to the dead girl's solemn assertion that she had been
actually married. The fact that the supplies for Veronica's maintenance
stopped upon John Mauleverer's death made Rankin Leigh morally certain
that he was, after all, the father. He left a family of several children. Had
Veronica been a boy, it would have been worth her uncle's while to incur the
expense and trouble of hunting up evidence, and establishing her claims on
the property. But since she was a girl, and her father had sons, he did not
care to follow up the clew. And when, summoned to the convent by a letter
from the solicitors explaining that the supplies had ceased, he saw his niece,
he felt that she would be a more lucrative and less risky source of income
than the levying of blackmail.
But what he had not cared to set on foot, he had little doubt that the
Vanstons might be willing to undertake, if he told them the truth. Should
he? He was still meditating on the subject, when the waiter looked in.
Burnett, the detective, came in with a twinkle. He sat down, and when
he had refreshed himself at his host's invitation, he produced a letter from
his pocket. "You're wanted, Leigh, seemin'ly," he remarked, with humor.
"I'm wanted, am I?" said Rankin, with a stare. "And who wants me?"
"Here's the letter, if you don't believe me. Got it yesterday. So I've come
to ask—do you want to be traced or don't you?"
"No need, my dear friend," said Leigh, in an off-hand way. "I introduced
myself this morning to Mr. Vanston's aunt, and to my own niece, who has
lived with them ever since I had the pleasure of putting you on her track. If
ever there was a confounded fool, it is you, Burnett, if you'll give me leave
to pass the remark. I'm dining there Tuesday," he added, with nonchalance.
CHAPTER XXIII
The victoria fled swiftly along the pretty country road for some
moments without either occupant saying a word. Rona sat as if the falling
of the long-expected blow had stunned her. Aunt Bee, watching her set lips
and tragic eyes, felt vaguely alarmed.
"Rona," she said, in low tones, almost a whisper, "had you any sort of
idea that he was in the neighborhood—before we set out for church?"
The girl hesitated. At last—"I thought I saw him," she said, reluctantly,
"at the station the other day, when we went to see Denzil off. A race train
came in from Virginia Water, and I turned, glancing idly along the carriage
windows, and felt almost sure that I saw his face. I had the idea that he had
suddenly risen from his seat, and was looking at me. But at that moment the
train moved, and I—I could not be sure. But he must have been sure, and he
must have spent all these days searching the neighborhood for me. It was a
clever idea to go to church, wasn't it?"
Aunt Bee remained silent for a swift moment or two. Then she turned
suddenly, stooping, her lips close to the girl's ear. "Rona—how long shall
you take to pack?"
The girl started, a light came into her eyes and color into her cheeks.
"For how long?" she rejoined, with bated breath.
"Good girl. I expect we can have our two hours. But I must study a
time-table. I see nothing for it but flight, and before he can suspect us of
anything of the sort. I cannot deal with him in Denzil's absence."
"No," said Rona, her eyes glowing. "You are simply splendid! Oh, what
a relief! I have been so sick with fear. I am not a coward, really, but my
nerves cannot bear the sight of him. If you could know the things he recalls!
I feel like a thrashed slave when you show her the whip."
Miss Rawson caught her hand and held it tight. "Courage, darling! You
know Denzil does not think he can really do much. Of course, it depends a
great deal upon the exact terms of your father's will. But even if he is
legally your guardian, I don't think he can actually force you to live with
him. If he is not, Denzil says we can snap our fingers. But, for all that, I
dare not tackle him alone. We must be off, and at once. And nobody must
know, not even the servants, that we are going beyond London. I have about
fifteen pounds in the house here, and I will write to my bankers, with a
check, instructing them to cable out more money to me to Paris, or
Brussels, or wherever it is we start from—I'll look out the route."
"Oh, how wonderful you are! But we shall want a passport for Russia,
shall we not?"
"I could get that anywhere where there is an English Embassy. Let me
see, we had better take Gorham, I think."
Upon consulting the time-table, they found that all Was easy. By driving
to Weybridge they could catch a 5.56 train, reaching Waterloo at 6.49, in
plenty of time to dine comfortably and catch the 9 p.m. boat train, by which
means they would arrive in Paris at five o'clock next morning.
Rona flung her arms about her neck. "I think it is too much," she said, in
a choked voice. "Let me go—let me disappear! Why should you lavish
money, time, health, on me? Who am I? Nobody knows. And I have done
nothing but harm. I have made them both unhappy. Give me ten pounds and
let me go away and hide, and earn my own living—ah, let me!"
Her mouth was stopped with a kiss, and an injunction not to be a little
fool. "I enjoy it," said Aunt Bee, with an air of evident sincerity. "I never
got a chance to do a desperate thing like this before. Who would think of
staid old Miss Rawson, the mainstay of the Girls' Friendly Society and the
Clothing Club, telling tarradiddles to her servants, and rushing off across
Europe, in defense of a helpless beauty with villains in pursuit! I feel as if I
were in a book by Stanley Weyman!"
In fact, her capacity and energy carried all before them, and triumphed
even over Gorham's consternation when, upon arriving in London, she
found that, so far from having reached their goal, they were but at the
starting-point of their journey.
The obtaining of their passport and waiting for their money delayed
them in Paris for four-and-twenty hours. But they felt fairly safe, and made
up their minds not to worry. They arrived at St. Petersburg absolutely
without adventure, and found themselves in a spacious, well-appointed
hotel, where English was spoken, and in a capital which did not seem to
differ much from other foreign capitals, except in the totally unknown
character of the language, and a curious Oriental feeling which seemed to
hover in the air rather than to express itself in any form of which me could
take note.
Miss Rawson was much inclined to plume herself upon her successful
disappearance. They had written to Denzil to inform him of the step they
had taken, and why. On reaching St. Petersburg, they telegraphed to him
their arrival and address. If all had gone well with his journey, he should
have been almost a week at Savlinsky by now, and might have important
news for them.
A telegram arrived the following morning. "No news Felix. Please await
letter—Denzil."
That was all. They could not tell, from its necessary brevity, whether he
was displeased at their daring dash or no. But there was nothing for it but to
stay on in their hotel for a week or two, until the arrival of the letter alluded
to.
And then their first misfortune suddenly befell them. Miss Rawson, in
stepping out of a droshky, wrenched the knee which had been troubling her
that summer, displacing the bone in its socket, and tearing and bruising the
ligaments, so as to produce acute inflammation.
It was the kind of accident which happens one hardly knows how or
why. One may get out of a cab every morning for five-and-twenty years,
and the following day injure oneself seriously in so doing. The doctor called
in—an English doctor was at once forthcoming—thought very gravely of it.
It was a far worse matter than a simple fracture, he said. Absolute rest was
the only thing possible. He used every effort to reduce the inflammation.
But the pain was so great and so continuous that the patient could not obtain
any sleep; and the day after the accident she was so ill that Rona was very
anxious about her.
That same day came a letter from Denzil. He said he was very glad to
hear that they had come out, though he could hardly have advised so
extreme a course had he known it to be in contemplation. As they were
there, he hoped they were fairly comfortable, and would not mind staying
on until he had some idea as to what was best to be done. He said that the
place where he was was far from civilization, and though the Russian,
Vronsky, did all he could for his comfort, he found himself very unwell, as
a result, he supposed, of his long journey, or the difference in climate, or
way of living, or anxiety. There was no news of Felix. He related the
circumstances of his disappearance, and of the pursuit of Cravatz. He said
that Vronsky was far from hopeless, for the Governor suggested that Felix
was perhaps keeping out of harm's way until he heard that the Nihilist was
laid by the heels. He himself could not but think that had Felix intended to
go into hiding, he would have informed Vronsky, and not left him to fret
and distress himself. Vronsky's devotion to his brother was touching. He
meant to leave him everything of which he died possessed. He was in a
large way of business. He had confided to Denzil that he believed Nadia
Stepanovna, the Governor's daughter, was interested in Felix——
("Dear me, what a good way out of our difficulty that would be!" sighed
Aunt Bee.)
They had every hope of hearing of the arrest of Cravatz in a few days.
The police had been put on his track by a wandering Kirgiz. ("What on
earth is a Kirgiz?" said Aunt Bee.) When his arrest was a known fact, they
might hope to ascertain where Felix was, unless he had been the victim of
foul play. But an exhaustive search all along the route between Nicolashof
and the mines had resulted in no discovery; and his attached servant, Max,
was missing also. He concluded by remarking how fortunate it was that,
owing to the proximity of the Governor's summer residence, they had a line
of telegraph in so remote a spot. He recounted his own journey there, and
added that he would write more, but that he felt increasingly unwell, and
was afraid he should have to go and lie down.
It was a disquieting letter. They did not like to think of Denzil being ill,
so far from them, or from a doctor, or from any friends. He could not speak
a word of Russian; and though Vronsky had improved in his English under
the tuition of Felix, he had had of late little use for that tongue, and it had
grown rusty.
Aunt Bee almost forgot her pain in discussing the hard case in which
Denzil must find himself. They talked of little else all day.
Next morning, when poor Miss Rawson awoke from the only nap she
had been able to snatch during a night of agony, it was to hear that another
telegram had arrived.
Miss Rawson buried her face in the pillow and sobbed. What was to be
done? It was an impossibility for her to think of traveling. Yet the idea of
Denzil alone and ill in that awful place was torment to her. Rona made up
her mind.
If she could not offer to the man who loved her the devotion which he
craved, she could at least offer service. She remembered his extreme
kindness when she, the frightened, penniless little fugitive, had lain ill at the
Cottage Hospital.
The least she could do would be to hasten to him, ill as he was, and
lonely among aliens.
"I shall go, Aunt Bee," she said, quietly. "It is of no use your trying to
stop me. I can manage quite well. I have Denzil's letter here, giving a full
account of his journey. I have only got to get into the right train at Moscow,
get out of it at Gretz, and hire a carriage to take me on. You have Gorham
here to stay with you, and I shall be all right, I have plenty of common
sense."
"Denzil will not know until it is over," was the quiet answer. "Now,
dear, it is of no use to fuss. What have the two Vanstons done for me? What
have I ever done in return? Here is a thing I can do. Why, women do such
things every day. I know a girl who went back to her husband from England
to Japan, right along this trans-Siberian line, by herself. You must not
hinder me, for I am going, dearest."
It was in vain to argue with her. Her mind was quite made up. She went
out to Cook's Office, took her ticket, made her passport arrangements, and
came back triumphant to pack her trunks. The doctor, when called into
consultation, thought the plan a little daring, but by no means beyond the
bounds of possibility. He had, as it chanced, a patient, a lady who lived
farther along the line, and who was, by a fortunate coincidence, going that
way, so that she could travel with Rona as far as Gretz. "As for the drive,"
he said, "it is a main road almost all the way; there are posting-stations and
good horses. I think the drivers are an honest set of men; and I do not see
why she should not be safe."
In short, the girl's determination carried the day. "Do not let us think of
Mrs. Grundy," said she; "let us only think that Denzil is ill, and wants me.
He has every right to have me, if I can get to him by any means in my
power."
CHAPTER XXIV
In after days, when Veronica looked back upon that journey, it seemed
to her as if it had lasted for months.
As its slow hours crept by, she grew to have a feeling that she had been
traveling ever since she could remember, and must go on traveling till she
died. The train moved on, and on, and on, like a thing which, once started,
can never stop again. After the first twelve hours she had a bad attack of
train sickness, an ailment from which she had never before suffered; and
she lay sleepless during the night hours, with aching head and parched
mouth, tossing about on her berth, and with her mind unable to detach
itself, even for a moment, from a thought so dreadful that never, till faced
by this dreary solitude, had she dared to put it into words.
She knew, she had known, ever since their interview in the rock garden,
that she no more loved Denzil than she loved his absent brother. She did not
love him, and she vehemently desired not to marry him. Yet, somehow or
other, she had caused him to believe that she returned his affection. She
was, practically, engaged to him. She had deceived both brothers, and it
seemed to her that, search as deeply as might be into her own heart, she had
not done so wittingly.
The case simply was that her heart had never been aroused. Her hour
had not come. She did not know love. Each of these two young men had
wanted of her something which she had not to bestow. To each she had
offered in return something else. There was, however, one notable
distinction between the two affairs. Felix had excited her best feelings. She
had felt for him pity, sympathy, the instinctive womanly desire to comfort
and sympathize with the lonely, the unfortunate. Denzil, on the other hand,
had stood in her imagination for home, peace, safety, well-being. It had
been her selfishness which had responded to his call. He could give her an
assured position, and life in the surroundings which she loved. Felix was
the asker, Denzil the bestower. To marry Felix demanded sacrifice; to marry
Denzil was to accept benefits at his hands.
But, if she considered which of the two had the more claim upon her
allegiance, she found herself bewildered, divided. Felix had saved her life,
but Denzil had preserved it. As she envisaged the situation, she felt that the
die was cast. Her letter to Felix had bound her to Denzil. She wondered,
over and over to herself, whether Felix had received that letter, and what he
had felt upon reading it. Here, in her isolated loneliness, far from Aunt Bee,
far from Denzil, she began to have an inkling as to what letters would mean
to the exile, and to realize what Felix might have experienced, upon seeing
her writing, snatching open the envelope, and reading the complete
extinction of her own feeling for himself....
Such thoughts poisoned the weary hours of the endless night. And
through them all beat upon her brain the knowledge that Denzil was ill, so
ill that he had wired for them to come to him. He would not have taken so
extreme a course, had his sickness not been serious—had he not been in
danger.
What should she do, if after the bitter strain of her long journey, she
found him dead when she arrived at Savlinsky?
She pictured herself alone, in the mining village, with no woman near,
with nobody but Vronsky, the Russian! Was it, after all, mad of her to
undertake such a journey?
She was thankful to rise from her sleepless couch, and shake off the
wild dreams which visited her with every moment of unconsciousness. The
varying country, the dim Ural Mountains, into the heart of which they
ascended, the increasingly strange garb of the people, left hardly any
impression upon her usually active mind. But during the day she rallied
from her misgivings of the previous night, and girded at herself for a
coward.
There was nothing to take off her mind from its treadmill of
apprehensions. The lady who was her fellow-traveler spoke English, but
was very dull, and most likely herself thought the girl unresponsive. It had
proved impossible to get English books for the journey, and she was
without refuge from the harassing thoughts which yelped about her like
snapping wolves.
As the train bore her along the endless road, as day faded into night and
morning dawned again along the illimitable plain, and sun shone and wind
blew and clouds drifted, and meal-times came and passed like telegraph
posts, the thought of her treachery—her double treachery—was ever in her
mind, aching, desolating.
Of itself, the idea of escape from the noise and motion of the train was
something to be eagerly anticipated. To walk upon firm ground, to stand
still, to sit upon a chair—these were boons indeed.
But when the train had departed, bearing with it the one creature with
whom she was on speaking terms, and she stood upon the platform at the
station and looked around at the dull, dirty town and the wild-looking
people, she had a moment of sheer panic. How isolated she was! How the
days had rolled by, without her being able to hear, either from the beloved
aunt she had left, or the lover to whom she journeyed!
She shivered as she stood, for a heavy rainstorm had but just passed
over the town, and everything seemed dank and dripping.
She drew out her paper, upon which the doctor had written down for
her, "Drive me to the Moscow Hotel." "I want to stop at the post-office." "I
want a carriage and horses to go to Savlinsky," and various such necessary
formulæ.
It was only half-past ten o'clock in the morning, so she was determined,
if a carriage could be secured, to stay only for lunch at the hotel, and start
upon her journey at once. The friendly St. Petersburg doctor had seen that
she had a store of tinned food with her, but it was with a sharp pang that she
realized that however much she wished to supplement her stores she could
not do so, as she could not say one word of Russian.
Just as she did so, two men came out from the door-way which she was
approaching, and stood upon the stone step in the full light of day. One was
presumably the Russian stable-keeper, a wild kind of person, but apparently
amiable. He was in eager converse with a tall man, very well dressed, who
held a cigar between his fingers.
The clouds were breaking, and a watery sun at this moment lit up the
squalid scene. It shone upon this unexpected figure, and it shone also upon
the far more surprising appearance of the English girl, in her dainty apparel,
picking her way through the muck.
The stranger's keen, alert gray eyes grew fixed, and for a moment he
stood, rigid and still as a stone, while his bronzed, finely-cut face turned
pale.
Rona stopped short. There was no recognition at first upon her face. But
something in the change which passed over his struck a wild conviction into
her mind.
* * * * * *
*
How changed! That was her first thought. The image in her memory of
a gaunt, pale, bearded youth, thin and stooping, faded and died away. This
was a Man, in the fullest sense of all that word can mean. It was fortunate
that his own recognition of her had been instantaneous. Even now she was
not sure, until he came towards her, through the rotting straw.
His color had not changed, while hers was now fading visibly from the
cheeks to which it had rushed in tumult. He was wholly self-possessed and
dignified, though his surprise must have been greater than hers. As he came
nearer she had a conviction, deep and certain. He had received and read her
letter. She could have declared that the lines of his mouth expressed a light,
scornful contempt.
But, whatever the young man's feelings at the meeting, hers must be
predominantly those of relief. In spite of the violent shock which his
appearance gave her, she was conscious of almost frantic joy, at sight, in
that weird place, not merely of a compatriot, but of a friend.
He was quite close to her now. She felt dizzy, and as though she could
hardly bear such nearness. She thought, suddenly and irrelevantly, of the
way in which they had clung together, she and he, in the little arbor at
Normansgrave—clung each to each, and felt that to part was terrible.
... He was speaking. She must listen, must bear herself rationally. He
was holding her hand, lightly—for an instant—then he had dropped it, and
she heard his voice. That, too, was changed, with the subtle transmutation
which had passed over him.
She made a mighty effort then, and brought out a few gasping words.
"Then, for pity's sake, let me travel with you! I—I will try not to be
troublesome. I hope you don't mind, but it would be such a relief—I feel
much less courageous than I expected. I can't understand a single word, and
it makes me feel helpless."
Felix bowed. "At what time would you wish to start?" he asked.
"As soon as I have had some lunch. I am very hungry. Eating upon the
train made me feel ill."
"Let me put you into your carriage, and, if you will wait a minute for
me, I will give the order and escort you to the inn."
He piloted her through the dirt, seated her in her carriage with a few
words to the driver, whose manner at once became more respectful, and,
having returned to the stable-keeper, soon rejoined her, and in a few
minutes they were seated, side by side, clattering through black, gluey mud,
among swarms and swarms of excited people, who thronged the streets in
dense crowds.
"Indeed!" she replied, anxious only to avert silence, "what was the sight
they have come to see?"
She grew crimson, and flashed a look at him. He was staring in the
opposite direction. "Was it—was it Cravatz?" she asked, under her breath.
She was silenced, and they drove on some little distance, until a thought
flashed into her mind.
"Oh," she said, "I was forgetting! Please ask him to drive to the post-
office. I must see if there is a message from Mr. Vronsky about Denzil."
Felix called an order to the driver, and then turned to her. "Do you really
tell me that my brother demanded of you that you should take this
formidable journey to him alone?"
"Oh, no, no! Please don't imagine that! He thought Miss Rawson would
come too. We were both at St. Petersburg, but Aunt Bee had an accident,
and hurt herself so seriously that she could not move. So I determined to
come alone. Mr. Vronsky's telegram was alarming."
"I congratulate you upon your devotion," remarked Felix, as the carriage
stopped at a wooden house. "My brother is a lucky man."
"He is a very good man," said the girl, nettled by the sneer. "Please ask
for the name of Rawson," she added, pettishly.