"M. Rickert - Cold Fires" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rickert Mary)

"'You haven't seen it yet, have you?'

"'Theresa, he just arrived.'

"'We saw some of those other paintings he did of Elizabeth.'

"Ed snorts.

"'Well, he wasn't a quitter, you have to give him that.'

"Ed bites into a cookie and glares at the teapot.

"'What inspired him, well, what inspired him was Elizabeth but what kept him at it was Our Lady.'

"'So are you saying, do you mean to imply that this painting, this Our Lady is magical?'

"'Not magic, a miracle.'

"'I'm not sure I understand.'

"'It's an icon, Mr. Delano, surely you've heard of them?'
"'Well, supposedly an icon is not just a painting, it is the holy manifested in the painting, basically.'

"'You must see it. Tomorrow. After the rain stops.'

"'Maybe he shouldn't.'

"'Why do you keep saying that, Edward? Of course he should see it.'

"Ed just shrugged.

"'Of course we didn't sell it to him and over time he stopped asking. They fell in love.'

"'He wanted her instead.'

"'Don't make it sound like that. He made her happy during what none of us knew were the last days of
her life.'

"'After she died, he started the paintings.'

"'He wanted to keep her alive.'

"'He wanted to paint an icon.'

"'He never gave up until he succeeded. Finally, he painted our Elizabeth.'

"'Are you saying Emile Castor painted that, in the foyer?'

"'It took years.'