-- `` Is doing one 's duty a good way to feed heart , soul , and imagination ? '' As if he had caught a glimpse of what was going on in her mind , Paul answered emphatically , -- `` Excellent ; for if one is good , one is happy , and if happy , one can work well . Moulding character is the highest sort of sculpture , and all of us should learn that art before we touch clay or marble . '' He spoke with the energy of a man who believed what he said , and did his best to be worthy of the rich gift bestowed upon him . The sight of her violets in a glass of water , and Giovanni staring at her with round eyes , suddenly recalled Psyche to a sense of the proprieties which she had been innocently outraging for the last ten minutes . A sort of panic seized her ; she blushed deeply , retreated precipitately to the door , and vanished , murmuring thanks and apologies as she went . `` Did you find him ? I thought you had forgotten , '' said Miss Dickenson , now hard at work . `` Yes , I found him . No , I shall not forget , '' returned Psyche , thinking of Gage , not Giovanni . She stood before her work eying it intently for several minutes ; then , with an expression of great contempt for the whole thing , she suddenly tilted her cherished Venus on to the floor , gave the classical face a finishing crunch , and put on her hat in a decisive manner , saying briefly to the dismayed damsels , -- `` Good-by , girls ; I sha n't come any more , for I 'm going to work at home hereafter . '' II The prospect of pursuing artistic studies at home was not brilliant , as one may imagine when I mention that Psyche 's father was a painfully prosaic man , wrapt in flannel , so to speak ; for his woollen mills left him no time for anything but sleep , food , and newspapers . Mrs. Dean was one of those exasperating women who pervade their mansions like a domestic steam-engine one week and take to their sofas the next , absorbed by fidgets and foot-stoves , shawls and lamentations . There were three riotous and robust young brothers , whom it is unnecessary to describe except by stating that they were boys in the broadest sense of that delightful word . There was a feeble little sister , whose patient , suffering face demanded constant love and care to mitigate the weariness of a life of pain . And last , but not least by any means , there were two Irish ladies , who , with the best intentions imaginable , produced a universal state of topsy-turviness when left to themselves for a moment . But being very much in earnest about doing her duty , not because it was her duty , but as a means toward an end , Psyche fell to work with a will , hoping to serve both masters at once . So she might have done , perhaps , if flesh and blood had been as plastic as clay , but the live models were so exacting in their demands upon her time and strength , that the poor statues went to the wall . Sculpture and sewing , calls and crayons , Ruskin and receipt-books , did n't work well together , and poor Psyche found duties and desires desperately antagonistic . Take a day as a sample .
`` The washing and ironing are well over , thank goodness , mother quiet , the boys out of the way , and May comfortable , so I 'll indulge myself in a blissful XXXXX after my own heart , '' Psyche said , as she shut herself into her little studio , and prepared to enjoy a few hours of hard study and happy day-dreams .
Dean Dickenson Paul Psyche Ruskin damsels day left week wrapt