The Secret Daughter by Anne Gracie

Author:Anne Gracie [Gracie, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

That afternoon, Izzy and Clarissa went out to make morning calls. They explained that they’d rather Zoë not go out into society until she’d been presented—not to the Queen; illegitimate girls, even pretend French cousins, didn’t do that. They were terribly apologetic, but they wanted her to meet all their friends and acquaintances at the reception Leo and Izzy were organizing for after Christmas, and since Lucy and Gerald had brought her back to England earlier than expected, it had caught them out.

Especially since it was winter and the Season wouldn’t really start until spring.

Zoë assured them that far from being disheartened at the delay, it suited her down to the ground. It was, after all, what she’d done when she’d first come to live with Clarissa and Lady Scattergood.

Her sisters put her reluctance to move in society down to shyness, or perhaps anxiety about the masquerade as a French cousin. But Zoë wasn’t shy, and she knew she could handle society events with ease—Lucy had trained her well. She simply wasn’t interested in society life. And far from being disappointed, she was secretly delighted because the delay would give her more time to paint.

She was keen to start establishing a reputation as a portraitist, and she knew she’d have Lady Scattergood’s approval.

She started by painting another portrait of the old lady. The one she’d painted of her three years ago was promising, for a beginner, and Lady Scattergood liked it very much, but Zoë knew she was much better now and was keen to paint something that showed off her new skills.

Lady Scattergood was, of course, delighted. Zoë painted her seated like some kind of Eastern potentate in her peacock chair, wearing one of the large, flamboyant turbans she’d taken to wearing to disguise the thinning of her hair, and draped in multicolored shawls, with her beloved dogs around her. In the background were some of the fascinating and unusual objects her late husband had sent her from his travels to the far-flung corners of the world.

Her time painting people with Reynard had given Zoë experience in painting people who moved and talked and came and went, and so she told Lady Scattergood that she would be quite happy for her to receive visitors while she painted. Which, of course, she did.

It brought an unexpected bonus. The old lady’s visitors were fascinated by the painting process and returned again and again to watch the portrait emerge. Before it was even finished, she had several more commissions. All were of old ladies, but Zoë didn’t mind that at all. She wasn’t the kind of portraitist who wanted to paint only beautiful people. She preferred evidence of character and personality in a subject, and she found old people endlessly absorbing and frequently beautiful.

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