I’m not familiar with the work of Henry James, though of course I know of him.

This story is about an artist who draws sketches for books, magazines and so on and thus requires models.

A middle-aged couple, the Monarchs, turn up looking for work.

Mr Monarch is a “perfect gentleman” while Mrs Monarch is “smart” with an “irreproachably ‘good’” figure; they are both good-looking.

But their was a “blankness”” in their faces, and to me they seem to have no substance. Who are they really?

They are willing to do anything - “I’d be anything”.

We’re told of another model the artist has - Miss Churm. She was no gentlewoman, was “a trifle blowsy” and couldn’t spell. But she was excellent as a model because she could “represent” everything,

The story is partly about the artist – though he liked the Monarchs at first – “they looked so well everywhere”, “they were not superficial”” “they kept themselves up”, he gets bored with them.

They’re so keen to be employed by him, and they are in such acute need of money, apparently. So they keep coming, pressing him for work.

The problem with Mrs Monarch was that she “had no sense of variety”, She was always a lady but always the same lady.

The value of Mis Churm was that she had “no positive stamp”. She was always in demand, never in want of employment.

He tried to find other employment for the Monarchs but ”they didn’t take”,so that made them even more desperate to get work from him.

I confess I found the story boring because James goes into excessive detail about the Monarchs, their qualities and drawbacks, and about everything else.

A friend returns from abroad, and tells him that he doesn’t like his types – they won’t do.

“Ce sont des gens qu’il faut mettre à la porte” - they re people you need to get rid of.

The artist had really tried to find all sorts of, any sort of, work for them, Eventually, he got rid of them, but it was difficult.

I didn’t care for this story. ( )