Had she practised for whole hours before a mirror , she could not have caught the look so successfully . Had the picture itself been a mirror , it could not have thrown back her present aspect with stronger and more melancholy truth . She appeared quite unconscious of the dialogue between the artist and her lover . `` Elinor , '' exclaimed Walter , in amazement , `` what change has come over you ? '' She did not hear him nor desist from her fixed gaze till he seized her hand , and thus attracted her notice ; then with a sudden tremor she looked from the picture to the face of the original . `` Do you see no change in your portrait ? '' asked she . `` In mine ? None , '' replied Walter , examining it . `` But let me see . Yes ; there is a slight change -- an improvement , I think , in the picture , though none in the likeness . It has a livelier expression than yesterday , as if some bright thought were flashing from the eyes and about to be uttered from the lips . Now that I have caught the look , it becomes very decided . '' While he was intent on these observations Elinor turned to the painter . She regarded him with grief and awe , and felt that he repaid her with sympathy and commiseration , though wherefore she could but vaguely guess . `` That look ! '' whispered she , and shuddered . `` How came it there ? '' `` Madam , '' said the painter , sadly , taking her hand and leading her apart , `` in both these pictures I have painted what I saw . The artist -- the true artist -- must look beneath the exterior .
It is his gift -- his proudest , but often a melancholy one -- to see the inmost soul , and by a power indefinable even XXXXX himself to make it glow or darken upon the canvas in glances that express the thought and sentiment of years .
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