Cold embrace

Author: (English) James
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: After I got my house, my sister Letty has been living with me. Before I got married, she was my little housekeeper, and now she has become my wife's companion and the "dear auntie" of my children. They go to her for advice, comfort, or help whenever they have troubles or setbacks. However, despite having a comfortable home and being loved by everyone around her, her expression is always so serious and melancholic, puzzling the unfamiliar and saddening her friends. What a sad past! Letty lost a lover. This is something people often encounter in life. After that, there were several good young men who proposed to her, but she no longer wanted to get involved in love again. My wife has a nephew named George Mason, a professional sailor. They met at our wedding and fell in love at first sight. George's father was also a sailor and was famous for his navigation in the Arctic Ocean. He had made multiple expeditions to the North Pole and the Northwest Passage. Therefore, when George volunteered to join the "Pioneer" to search for Franklin and continue his unfinished exploration, I was not surprised at all. Such a career is so appealing to people that I think even I would be unable to resist its temptation. Of course, Letty did not appreciate his idea at all. However, George convinced her that people in his profession did not disappear; and that the rewards of such an adventure in a year were greater than the hard work of ten or twenty years. I dare not say Letty was entirely satisfied with his explanation, but she no longer argued with him. However, when she thought no one was watching, her habitual, age-inappropriate serious expression would cross her face. My younger brother Harry was then a student at an art college and just beginning to learn painting. Now, however, he has become quite famous in the art world, and his works sell for very good prices. He could have become a Pre-Raphaelite painter, except that the Pre-Raphaelite movement had not yet been born then. His extraordinary passion clearly the influence of the Venetian school of painting. Coincidentally, George happened to have a perfect Italian face. So Harry persuaded him to sit for a portrait. The painting is indeed very similar, just a bit more modern. The background is pure black, making George's naval uniform stand out. The face is also strikingly pale. George's body occupies three-quarters of the painting, but only one hand is visible, tightly gripping the hilt of a sword. This painting gives the impression, as George said, that he looks like the captain of an ancient Venetian ship, not a modern sailor. P.33-34