Under the chaplain's
guidance they selected many hideous presents and mementoes--
florid little picture-frames that seemed fashioned in gilded
pastry; other little frames, more severe, that stood on little
easels, and were carven out of oak; a blotting book of vellum;
a Dante of the same material; cheap mosaic brooches, which the
maids, next Christmas, would never tell from real; pins, pots,
heraldic saucers, brown art-photographs; Eros and Psyche in
alabaster; St. Peter to match--all of which would have cost less
in London.
This successful morning left no pleasant impressions on Lucy. She
had been a little frightened, both by Miss Lavish and by Mr.
Eager, she knew not why. And as they frightened her, she had,
strangely enough, ceased to respect them. She doubted that Miss
Lavish was a great artist. She doubted that Mr. Eager was as full
of spirituality and culture as she had been led to suppose. They
were tried by some new test, and they were found wanting. As for
Charlotte--as for Charlotte she was exactly the same.
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