John Collier Spring painting

John Collier Spring paintingJohn Collier Priestess of Delphi paintingJohn Collier In the Venusberg Tannhauser painting
want to believe in God.Gradually, during the years following her funeral, an unexpected hope grew in him, desperate and fragile but enduring. Yet he remains too much the old Dunny, mired in old habits of thought and action.Hope is a cloudy radiance, but he doesn’t sample them.[234] He could call any of several beautiful women to share the bed with him. Some would expect money; others would not. Among them are women for whom sex is an act of love and grace, but also women who revel in their own debasement. The choice is his, any tenderness or any thrill that he desires.. He has not learned how to distill it into something pure, clear, more powerful.And now he never will.In the master bedroom, he stands at a rain-washed window, gazing northwest. Beyond the storm-blurred city lights, beyond the lushly landscaped and mansioned slopes of Beverly Hills, lies Bel Air and Palazzo Rospo, that foolish yet nonetheless brave monument to hope. All who ever owned it have died—or will.He turns from the window and stares at the bed. The maid has removed the spread, turned down the sheets, and left a tiny gold box on one of the pillows.The box holds four bonbons. Elegantly formed and decorated, they appear to be delicious