“All art that is worthy,” she said smartly. “I even studied a bit myself in London. Though that was years ago and I’m afraid I was not very good at it.”
“Did you?” Jeanne asked. “What sort of things did you draw?”
“Oh, still life mostly. It’s easy when the subject cannot move, although the light does change every hour or so, changing the entire feel of the theme,” she said, a small smile coming to her lips. “Actually, I’ve just recently started a landscape of the loch that I’m rather excited about.”
“What about portraits?” Logan asked, unable to stop himself.
Jeanne gave him a questioning look as his father spoke.
“Logan has become obsessed with portraits as of late. He can’t seem to get enough of them in his collection.”
“‘Obsessed’ isn’t an accurate descriptor. I would say I’ve becomeinterestedin them. That’s all.”
“Oh,” Faith said. “Well, I have done a few portraits, but I never was very good at capturing likenesses. I’ve only managed to do a few of my family members any justice. In fact, there was one particular piece that nearly caused my friend Renee to break down into tears. Thankfully, her brother explained that it simply wasn’t my forte.”
“Her brother?” Arabella said.
“Yes. He was my art instructor when I came back to painting.”
“Came back?” Logan repeated. “Where did you go?”
The crest of Faith’s cheeks suddenly became pink and a tiny crease formed between her brows. It was strange, but Logan was intrigued by the small line. He wasn’t sure why or how, but he knew that whatever would next come out of her mouth would be a lie.
“Oh, I had taken a year off. To pursue other things.”
“Such as?” he pressed.
Faith stared him directly in the eye.
“Piano.”
“And did you have a proficiency for that?”
“No, so I came back to painting.”
“I see.”
“I’m glad,” she said sarcastically.
After a moment, he realized that their back and forth had caused the others to glance between the two with concern.
“Well,” Arabella began, unsure. “While you two are here, I insist that you see the greenhouse. It is my pride and joy. Mybrother very kindly commissioned it when he built this house. It spans three floors.”
“Three floors?” Jeanne said, turning in her seat. “How peculiar.”
“It is, and it holds the most amazing plants. I’m something of an amateur gardener.”
“You are being too modest, sister,” Logan said, looking around the table. “Arabella has a proverbial green thumb when it comes to exotic plants.”
“How lovely,” Faith said.
Arabella smiled.
“And as I told you before, Faith, Logan has an extensive art collection that you really must see to believe. You are welcome to view it. I would be glad to give you a tour of it, although I’m not as knowledgeable as my brother.”
Faith gave his sister a pained smile, and Logan suddenly found himself wanting to annoy their guest.
“I’d be happy to show it to you myself,” he smirked. “And Jeanne, of course, if she is interested.”
