“Would you paint a woman as she really is if the public would accept it?”
“Yes, I would,” said Sir Pentland. “Of course you think me a hypocrite for failing to do so.”
“Artists must paint what the public permits or they would soon be out of business, I suppose,” Alice said. “Who was it who said, ‘We that live to please must please to live.’”
“Let me show you something,” Sir Pentland said, getting to his feet. He went to a cabinet set against the wall and opened a large drawer. From it he took the reproduction of a painting and laid it on top of the cabinet. “Pray take a look, Miss Marlowe,” he said.
Alice looked at the picture. It displayed the naked torso of a woman. Her thighs were spread open. At the base of her belly was a thicket of dark pubic hair, through which could be glimpsed
