1. That’s her, there on the wall. She looks just like she’s alive. It’s brilliant, that
painting. I hired this painter, Fra Pandolf, to do it, fresh onto the wet plaster, so
he only had a day to work. Fantastic.
2. Sit down. Have a good look at her. I’ll draw the curtain so you can see her. No
one else is allowed; it’s my painting, so it’s my curtain. Have a good look. See
that look on her face? Yes, I can see you do. There’s a bit of a blush, isn’t
there. Hmm. You’re not the only one to have asked about it. It wasn’t just me
she blushed for, you know. Might have been that painter. Might have been old
Fra Pandolf saying how his painting couldn’t possibly capture her exquisite
skin tones. Or could she move her sleeve up a bit. Hmm. Of course, she’d
have just thought he was being polite.
3. That was the trouble. She was too easily impressed. Too easily made happy.
She liked whatever she happened to be looking at and – her looks went
everywhere.
4. You know, it was all the same to her! Whether is was a little something I’d
given her to wear on her dress, or the sunset, or a branch of cherries some
damn fool servant brought for her, or that white mule she rode round on.. it got
thanks from her, or at the very least that…that blush. Oh yes, it was good that
she thanked people, but somehow it was as though my nine hundred year old
dukedom was no better than any other gift. From anybody.
5. So, who would lower themselves to deal with it? Even if you’re good with
words – and I’m not – to make your will clear to someone like that, to say “this
thing you do disgusts me”, or “you always go too far – or not far enough”, and
even if she let herself be spoken to like that, and didn’t set herself against
you…even then, you’d still be lowering yourself. And that’s not something I do.
Not ever. Sure, she smiled when I passed her. But, you know something?
Anyone who passed got the same smile. And it went on. I gave some
commands – and then all the smiles stopped.
6. Look at her there. Just like she was alive. Anyway, you’ll want to get up now,
and we need to meet the people downstairs. I’ve already said to you, your
master the Count is very generous; he understands I have a fair claim to her
dowry– though what I’m after is of course the daughter herself, as I’ve said
from the start. We’ll walk down together. Look at that, by the way – it’s a
statue of Neptune, rather fine don’t you think? I had it specially made for me by
Claus of Innsbruck…