'That is what I think, but I am not certain.'

'If Mademoiselle intends to study painting seriously.'

'Oh, but I do; I am very serious.'

'Then I do not think there can be any doubt which studio she should
choose.'

'Very well.'

'This studio is a hundred francs a month--for a lady; the ladies'
studio is sixty francs a month.'

'Why is that?'

'Because, if it were not so, we should be overcrowded. Ladies prefer
to work in this studio, it is much more advantageous. If you would
like to see the studio first?'

There were more than thirty in the studio; about twenty men and
fifteen women. Some sat on low stools close under the platform whereon
the model stood, some worked at easels drawn close together in a
semicircle round the room. The model was less shocking than Mildred
had imagined; he stood with his hands on his hip, a staff in his hand;
and, had it not been for a slight swaying motion, she would hardly
have known he was alive. She had never drawn before from the living
model, and was puzzled to know how to begin. She was going to ask
Elsie to tell her, when M. Daveau drew the curtain aside, and picking
his way through the pupils, came straight to her. He took the stool