"
"Talking about charm," the sculptor broke in, enthusiastically, "I
suppose you haven't seen the new picture, 'Venus getting into the
Bath?' That is a feast of colour, and realism, if you like! She is
standing beside the bath with a dreamy look on her face. Her lovely
eyes are fixed on the water. One arched and blue-veined foot is
slightly raised as if the touch of the marble chilled her. Her limbs
are in an easy attitude, and beautifully modelled. She is represented
as a slight young girl, and the figure stands out in exquisite nudity
from a background of Pompeian red, and the dark green of myrtles. With
one hand she is holding aloft the masses of her rich brown hair--the
attitude suggests the stretching of the muscles after repose; with the
other"--but here his memory failed him. "What _is_ she doing with her
other hand?"
"Scratching herself!" slipped from Ideala, involuntarily, to her own
horror and the delight of some. But she recovered herself quickly, and
turning to the good Bishop, who was looking mildly astonished and much
amused, she said: "There, my Lord, is an instance of the corrupt state
of society in our own day.
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