Page 184 - The Grotesque Children's Book

“It's enough to change the light.”

“I can tip my head to fix the light back the way it was.”

“No, don't tip your head!” Allori raised his brush and continued with his fine, precise
work.

Carola smiled. “You called me Bianca.”

“I didn't. And stop smiling.”

Carola stopped smiling. “You did. When you yelled at me. You didn't call me Carola,
you called me Bianca.”

“Stop moving. Stop talking. Please, Carola mio, only a half-hour and we're finished for
the day.”

“She's prettier than I am, isn't she, the Duchess? I've never seen her, you know. It's so
strange I'm wearing her clothes and her jewels, but I've never seen her. I can see in the painting,
though, she's prettier than I am. Doesn't take much, though, to be prettier than I am,” she
prattled, “Those brutes at the Wheat and Chaff, they call me pretty, but they don't know what
they're looking at. They should come see this portrait.” She pulled at the neckline, which was
beginning to scratch.

“Carola, don’t pull at that!” said Alessandro Allori, setting the brush down. “Oh, never
mind. Don't come back tomorrow. I'll find someone else. Someone who knows her place and
can sit still.”

“No, no, please, Signore. I can be still. You watch!” And Carola sat suddenly
absolutely motionless, not speaking a word, not moving, not twitching, not even blinking her
piercing brown eyes. A tiny smirk played about her thin lips, but it was a smirk immoveable. A
fascinating smirk, actually just a hint of humor, of haughtiness, a look Allori had seen
occasionally on Her Majesty's face but could never get her to hold. Allori contemplated painting
that right now, the smile, the ever-so-slightly-dangerous look, but no, he needed to get a start on
the locket; it was very detailed and intricate, and important to the Lady Bianca. An odd thing to
wear on the top of a head, that locket, thought Allori. It was true; usually the ladies wear a jewel
in a setting atop their heads, or a thin crownlet, but it was rare to have a locket there. It's not as
though Her Majesty would open the locket to reveal a cameo or herself inside. Besides, it's a
little thick for a cameo. It's almost as though it were a small box, with something inside. Was
there something inside the locket? mused Allori. A short strand of her husband's hair or her
deceased son's? Whatever is inside isn't a portrait, Allori was convinced, for they would not
have trusted anyone but me for any royal cameo portraits, and I’m no miniaturist. Oh, Carola's
so still, so still! And that smirk....Hurry, Alessandro, stop distracting yourself with stray
thoughts; they're slowing you down! Hurry. You've fallen so far behind, first with the ceilings,
now with this portrait. Oh, those ceilings! Why did I ever agree to paint those ceilings! I'll
never finish in time. And those three worthless apprentices I hired: the young, the unfortunate
and the stupid. The stupid is always drunk every night and late every morning. The unfortunate
deaf one, I can't yell at him to speed him up. It’s only Santi del Meglio I can count on, and his

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