Pearls before SWINE

Lady Graystone was determined to leave her family an heirloom they would never forget

So, what finally made you change your mind about having your portrait painted, Lady Graystone?’

Her Ladyship gave a small laugh. ‘Oh, come now, Sally. It seems a little silly still to be calling me Lady Graystone. Call me Vanessa. Or…’ she added, feeling a little daring, ‘Ness, if you like.’

Lady Graystone knew Sally wouldn’t be so familiar. She also knew that the artist didn’t really care about why she had finally dropped her long-held opposition to having her picture painted. It was just another tactic to keep her sitter from becoming bored or fidgety.

But she needn’t have worried. Lady Graystone was quite comfortable reclining on the chaise longue as the artist painted her. And she’d found the whole process so liberating and interesting that there had never been the least danger of her becoming bored.

Besides, today was the final sitting, and very soon now, she would see the finished portrait. Even so, it would have been rude not to answer Sally’s question, and one thing Lady Graystone’s mother had always insisted on was never to be rude.

‘Well, for centuries now, every member of the family has left behind exactly one portrait of him or herself in the Graystone Hall gallery. It’s believed that terrible misfortune will strike the family if any of us fail to do this.

‘You may look sceptical, my dear,’ Lady Graystone said as she saw Sally’s expression, ‘but back in the 17th century, Lord Sebastian Graystone refused to have his picture painted and, in 1612, on the very day he died, the entire west wing of the house collapsed.’