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Chapter 68: Henry and Bertha

Henry sat in front of a half-finished painting and looked at it despondently.

'I've lost my touch, Fred.'

It was a large work, a half-length portrait of a florid and abundant woman seated combing out her long flaxen hair. This was his latest model, Bertha, a woman he had picked up in a public house in Bermondsey. She had now moved in with him at his house in Cheyne Walk.

Fred surveyed the picture in question. 'I don't think so, Henry. Just that your style has changed of late. You seem content to paint this ...this ...Bertha ...and no one else. People will get a trifle bored with her face. Why not alter the portraits, try some other scenes, and find a different model? You always excelled in sea pictures. Take yourself off to Southend or Margate or somewhere for a spot of fresh air and some different scenery. Wean yourself from women for a little.'