Madonna Litta

Madonna Litta
madonna with the yarnwinder painting
Mother and Child
My Sweet Rose painting
`Is he to have any?' she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.
`Get it ready, will you?' was the answer, uttered so savagely that I started. The tone in which the words were said revealed a genuine bad nature. I no longer felt inclined to call Heathcliff a capital fellow. When the preparations were finished, he invited me with--`Now, sir, bring forward your chair.' And we all, including the rustic youth, drew round the table: an austere silence prevailing while we discussed our meal.
I thought, if I had caused the cloud, it was my duty to make an effort to dispel it. They could not every day sit so grim and taciturn; and it was impossible, however ill-tempered they might be, that the universal scowl they wore was their everyday countenance.
oil painting
`It is strange,' I began, in the interval of swallowing one cup of tea and receiving another--`it is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the world as you spend, Mr Heathcliff; yet I'll venture to say, that, surrounded by your family, and with your amiable lady as the presiding genius over your home and heart--'
`My amiable lady!' he interrupted, with an almost diabolical sneer on his face. `Where is she--my amiable lady?'
`Mrs Heathcliff, your wife, I mean.'