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EBOOK THE HIDDEN MASTERPIECE ***
Produced by John Bickers and Dagny
THE HIDDEN MASTERPIECE
BY
HONORE DE BALZAC
Translated By
Katharine Prescott Wormeley
THE HIDDEN MASTERPIECE
CHAPTER I
On a cold morning in December, towards the close of the year 1612, a
young man, whose clothing betrayed his poverty, was standing before
the door of a house in the Rue des Grands-Augustine, in Paris. After
walking to and fro for some time with the hesitation of a lover who
fears to approach his mistress, however complying she may be, he ended
by crossing the threshold and asking if Maitre Francois Porbus were
within. At the affirmative answer of an old woman who was sweeping out
one of the lower rooms the young man slowly mounted the stairway,
stopping from time to time and hesitating, like a newly fledged
courier doubtful as to what sort of reception the king might grant
him.
When he reached the upper landing of the spiral ascent, he paused a
moment before laying hold of a grotesque knocker which ornamented the
door of the atelier where the famous painter of Henry IV.--neglected
by Marie de Medicis for Rubens--was probably at work. The young man
felt the strong sensation which vibrates in the soul of great artists
when, in the flush of youth and of their ardor for art, they approach
a man of genius or a masterpiece.
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