He had never descended to the flouting of his own aims which it implied.

He threw himself into his pictures without reserve; it was the best of him that he painted, the strongest he could do, and all he could do; he was sincere enough to take it always seriously.

The possibility of caricature seemed to him to account admirably for his reluctance to paint "_A Fin de Siecle Tribute_,"-- it was a matter of conscience.

He found that the desire to paint it would not go, however; it took daily more complete possession of him, and fought his scruples with a strong hand.

It was a fortnight after, and he had not seen Elfrida in the meantime, when they were finally defeated by the argument that a sketch would show whether caricature were necessarily inherent or not.