one out. See, the back ground is the same as the wood of the cabinet. He'll be furious. You know how haughty he can be. Well, then, when he goes to pick it up, he'll see it's only painted."
Yes, I see." Sarah said. "And I'm sure it would get the desired response out of Titian. It couldn't fail. It's absolutely perfect. Oh, Raphaelle, you have such a unique talent. Even your father couldn't have done this so well."Raphaelle's cheek twitched and his face became deadly serious as Sarah spoke. '"But you use your best talents for a joke. Why?"Raphaelle looked away. "Why not? It might entertain. It might...""Yes, it might what?" Sarah asked, putting tea into the pot."It might show them that I..." he paused."It might show them that you....what?" she continued. Raphaelle waved her question away, and sat back.
Sarah poured the steaming water into the teapot and sat across from him. "It might show them that you are more talented than any of the rest of us?"
Raphaelle was silent for a few seconds; then laughed. "Wonderful Sarah. You're too clever. But I think it's worse than that." His eyes glazed. "I do these things because when the trick works and someone is left feeling and looking a little foolish, then I look and feel smarter.
Don't you see how simple it is?" He lowered his head. "I have no public. To get a patron I must go out and beg. No one wants to pay a decent price to someone as anxious as I am for any morsel of honest work. People laugh at me and my jokes, and sometimes I don't know which." He engaged Sarah's eyes; then put his head in his hands. She walked around the table and stood behind him, laying her hands on his shoulders. Then her arms went around his neck and her cheek touched the top of his head. "Raphaelle, don't be so hard on yourself. Your butterfly is too exquisite to be a joke. Your talent shouldn't be laughed at. You are superior. It doesn't matter whether everyone knows. Some day life will be better for you." She poured the tea into a cup and put it before him.
"If I should suddenly find the world was made up of Sarah Peales, I should know I was in heaven."
Sarah patted his cheek. "Drink your tea, and admit what I say is true."
"It ought to be true. Only it does matter that no one knows and no one appreciates. I know that sounds egotistical; and it is. That's what's wrong with me, I fear." "That you want to be appreciated? We all do. Your father certainly worked for it, so does my father, so does Rembrandt. So..."
"My dear brother Rembrandt. He is a lesson for me, isn't he?" Raphaelle took a cautious sip of tea and leaned back smiling. "His ego is as strong as mine. No, his is stronger, but he has earned father's support. His pride in himself is justified."
"You are just as talented if not as lucky."
"Luck, is it?" Raphaelle said and gulped his tea. Sarah felt helpless.
She wanted to cheer him, but her talk had only set him on a melancholy track. She decided to turn his attention back to the party, and to help him with his joke, though she wouldn't like doing it to Titian. He did behave haughtily at times, and seeing what he thought was one of his prize specimens strewn about would make him surly if anything ' would.
"When you are feeling better," she said, "I'll put the butterfly on the cabinet so Titian will be sure to see it."
Raphaelle's gaze met hers. A thin smile crossed his face. "My best conspirator. Thank you."
"Are you still miserable?"
He nodded. "But I shall rally if I throw up, wash my face in stinging cold water, and come back and drink more of your insipid tea."
Raphaelle braced himself on the side of the table and stood up. "Give me a moment."
Sarah waited uneasily while Raphaelle went to the back stairs. Her thoughts were troubled as she looked at the lifelike butterfly stuck with a collector's pin. Her father and Uncle Charles would be here soon. Major Long was invited and would probably come. She would not want to have Titian laughed at in front of the leader of the expedition, but perhaps Titian would take it with such good humor, the major would actually be pleased. A good sense of humor would be a necessity on such an arduous journey into unknown lands. Sarah put the butterfly on the top of the display cabinet. Now when everyone gathered in the Long Room for music, Titian would be sure to notice. Sarah joined Margaretta, Anna and the visiting Richard Johnson.
Titian stood by the door of the Mammoth Room with his sister Sophy, brother Franklin, Tom Sully and Ben Blakely. Ben stared at Sarah, looking unhappy. She ought to talk to him, she thought, and she smiled his way. Charles came in and spoke to everyone he passed, becoming the focus of attention.
Sarah watched Titian and Raphaelle. She glanced uncomfortably at the butterfly, wishing the joke were over.
Ben left Titian's group and joined Sarah's. At the same time Charles paused nearby. He acknowledged everyone with a sweep of his head, settling his gaze on Richard Johnson, who stood beside Anna. "Good evening. I hope you are enjoying your visit to Philadelphia."
"Indeed I am," Richard said. "Anna has shown me around and made me feel welcome." He gazed at Anna, taking in the image from her upswept hair to the hem of her blue lace dress. Charles smiled. "We were all glad to see General Jackson cleared in Congress."
"Yes, it did him a world of good. And I believe he will pass through Philadelphia soon on his way to New York."
"Yes, I know," Charles said. "He visited Baltimore. My son Rembrandt was commissioned by the mayor of Baltimore to paint his portrait." As Charles talked, Sarah looked up and saw Raphaelle coming toward them.
"Rembrandt is painting Jackson?" Raphaelle said. "How fortunate!”
"Yes," Charles answered. "Rembrandt wrote that he was getting a good likeness. Everyone who'd seen it said it was his best painting yet."
"General Jackson is that kind of a subject," Richard said.
"I believe it," Raphaelle said. "I've seen the portraits Father and Anna took of him. He looks like a man who could be driven by some God of Glory to most noble heights. I envy such a man.""He is worth our envy," Richard replied.
Raphaelle's eyes glittered, and Charles looked at him askance. But Sarah laughed gaily and, to divert Charles, suggested that Richard would love to see Uncle Charles's marvelous farm at Belfield. "You have never seen lovelier gardens, I promise you," she said. Charles beamed and launched into a discussion of his gardens. Sarah excused herself and went to Titian's side.
"I'd love to be going with you," Tom Sully said to Titian. "But painting porcupine in the brush is not for me."
"It seems a dangerous thing," Sarah interjected, "to capture the likeness of a wild grizzly bear or whatever else roams the west. I think you will come back to us a genuine hero."
"This is to be a scientific expedition," Titian protested. "We will gather samples and take notes. It should be valuable to the Government, but we're not going to be doing anything heroic."
"We'll see," she said. "But come, the music will begin soon." Sarah, holding Titian's arm, led him away. She would walk him past the specimen cabinet with Raphaelle's butterfly on top. She felt a need to get the whole business over and done.
Tom Sully walked beside them. "It will seem lonely around here without you. I know Rubens will be here, but he's all business and I did so enjoy our strolls and..."
"Good Lord!" Titian stopped, stared at the painted butterfly for a second. "Damn! Look at that specimen left out. And they're so fragile."
He sputtered and reached for the collector's pin. "If Rubens is going to allow this kind of thing..." Then as he had been about to lift it, he stared at the butterfly with a look of astonishment. "Couldn't be," he muttered. "Too heavy. Good Lord!"
People were watching. Sarah saw Raphaelle standing a few feet away, inhaling deeply, filling his lungs with delight. As she watched him, he burst into laughter. Titian waved the painted butterfly in the air and looked at Raphaelle. "It was you," he shouted. "A beastly trick!" Then he smiled. "It gave me quite a start!"
People laughed and wanted to see. Tom Sully took the butterfly from Titian and admired it. It was passed around, everyone commenting on how lifelike it looked and how the