He simply could not; the attempt to do so annoyed him.

All men are capable of stooping beneath their highest selves, and in several directions Priam Farll could have stooped.

But not on canvas! He could only produce his best.

He could only render nature as he saw nature.

And it was instinct, rather than conscience, that prevented him from stooping.
In three days, during which he kept Alice out of the attic partly by lies and partly by locking the door, the picture was finished; and he had forgotten all about everything except his profession.