Light Captures Beauty

Claudia Merrill

by Claudia Merrill

Story
Amsterdam 1647

1647

I was passing through the corridors when a voice called out to me. At first, I startled, almost tipping the trolley. The only voice in the house hounding me like a wretched dog was Mevrouw. But this voice was low and gruff. A tone that could only belong to Meneer.
“Hendrickje,” he called again.
I stopped in my tracks and walked dutifully towards the voice. Meneer was in his studio, sitting opposite an empty chair in the sunlit room.
He gestured to the window with a smile, “Please, sit.”
My cheeks started to flush bright pink. I nodded and trotted over to the chair, swishing my skirts as I sat. I felt my mouth move to a smile. Involuntarily, of course. 
Meneer was in his painting garb with a slouched hat and his copper brown curls poking out underneath. He looked a perfect gentleman, but only those of us in the house knew his sarcasm and quick wit.
He looked at me with attentive eyes. They jumped around from high to low, and soon he began to make quick strokes on the prepared paper in front of him. 
I‘d seen rich and noble families come by before to have their painting done, and from what I‘d seen it took many hours. I lay back against the chair, feeling the afternoon sun wash over my tired face. I‘d been up since sunrise and my legs were beginning to ache. Here, I felt perfectly serene.
“You look magnificent in the light.”
I opened my eyes and saw him looking back at me with a kind gaze and a wide grin. I felt my cheeks grow hot and flustered once again. Words escaped me.
“Light has a way of capturing beauty,” he said before turning back to continue his work.
“Soften your lips,” he said while looking intently at me.
I felt myself become more and more relaxed, looking back at him with curiosity and amazement.
“There,” he said with soft words.
He turned the paper to me and I saw a beautiful woman, delicate yet strong. There was something about her that I couldn‘t put my finger on. She looked to have a soul. She appeared a moving, breathing thing, captured in ink on a page.
In a moment, my eyes drifted from Meneer‘s kind face to a scowling one in the doorway.
“Don‘t you have work you ought to be doing?” Mevrouw scolded.
Like a bird being shot from the sky, I felt myself falling back down to the ground with a thud.

© Claudia Merrill 2024-04-25

Genres
Novels & Stories
Moods
Emotional, Inspirierend
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