seven in the
evening
The younger set liked him because he handled a sword like a Saint George . Although a painter and son of a blacksmith , he was in every way a respectable person . The ladies flattered him with their most amiable smiles , hoping that the fashionable artist would honor them with a portrait gratis , as he had done with the duchess . In this period of high-life , always in dress clothes from seven in the evening , without painting anything but women who wanted to appear pretty and discussed gravely with the artist which gown they should put on to serve as a model , Renovales met his wife Josephina . The first time that he saw her among so many ladies of arrogant bearing and striking presence , he felt attracted towards her by force of contrast . The bashfulness , the modesty , the insignificance of the girl impressed him . She was small , her face offered no other beauty than that of youth , her body had the charm of delicacy .