Bella was a young woman of great beauty, and even more beautiful when she was smiling and laughing. She fell in love with James and then married him. James was a painter who was already famous for his art. And he was always studying and working. The great love of his life was his work and his painting.
His beautiful young wife was playful, full of life and light and smiles, as loving as a child when they just got married. But later Bella began to worry and she didn't like anything about painting because it kept him away from her, hour after hour.
So it was a terrible thing for Bella when James said he wanted to paint a picture of her. But she agreed because she loved him and wanted to please him.
For many weeks she sat in a dark high room where the light from above fell onto the painting and onto her. Day after day，Bella sat in silence, not moving, not speaking. But she went on smiling and smiling because she saw that James loved his work so much.
James painted hour after hour, not speaking a word, thinking only of his work. People who saw the painting looked and said softly. "It is your finest work. Oh, you do love your wife dearly! We can see this in the painting. "
And it was true. But James did not look at Bella now. He went on working, thinking and dreaming only of the painting and never of his wife. Day by day Bella looked more and more unhappy, and finally lost her hope that her husband would have a look at her. Bella's face and body were now thin, but James did not see it. James took the warm colour from Bella's face, and painted it into the face in his painting - but he could not, he would not see it.
After many weeks, James finished the painting of Bella. One last touch of paint on the mouth, a last touch to the eye. He stood back and looked at the painting of Bella. How wonderful it was! He cried out with a loud voice, "This is LIFE itself She LIVES in this painting!". And he turned suddenly to look at the woman he loved. She was dead!
