We finally saw a very strange and gloomy castle that had been recently abandoned. Pedro knew that I couldn’t remain in my condition, so he decided to break into the castle.

When he had broken in, he took me to a small room in a turret of the castle. This room had many very old paintings, tapestries and arms. I also found a book that told the story of each of the paintings in the room.

The light of the candles illuminated a strange little painting in a dark niche. It was the portrait of a lovely adolescent girl.

The expression on her face was almost perfectly lifelike. And this lifelikeness had confused me, startled me and filled me with horror.

The girl in the portrait was extremely beautiful and extremely joyous. But it was an evil hour when she married the painter. He was passionate, austere and studious; and he already had a “wife”: his Art.

The girl in the portrait was as happy as a fawn, and she loved and cherished all things; she only hated the Art, which was her rival. She was only afraid of the palette and brushes that took her man away.

It was therefore a terrible thing for her when her husband asked her to pose for a painting. But she was very humble and obedient, and she agreed to pose.

She posed for his portrait in a cold, unhealthy room of a turret oh the castle. The only light in the room came from a small window in the ceiling.