The Hidden Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac
page 37 of 37 (100%)
page 37 of 37 (100%)
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for I despise thee. I admire thee; but thou hast filled me with
horror. I love, and yet already I hate thee." While Poussin listened to Gillette, Frenhofer drew a green curtain before his Catherine, with the grave composure of a jeweller locking his drawers when he thinks that thieves are near him. He cast at the two painters a look which was profoundly dissimulating, full of contempt and suspicion; then, with convulsive haste, he silently pushed them through the door of his atelier. When they reached the threshold of his house he said to them, "Adieu, my little friends." The tone of this farewell chilled the two painters with fear. * * * * * On the morrow Porbus, alarmed, went again to visit Frenhofer, and found that he had died during the night, after having burned his paintings. |
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