“Mama suggested it. I created a small statuette for Alix’s Christmas gift, and Mama was impressed. So now I’ve begun a small sculpture of Beatrice, and Mama says she is pleased with the progress.” “Who is this sculptress?” Sybil asked. Louise grasped her friend’s hands. “Prepare yourself. She exhibited at the Royal Academy and then the Great Exhibition in 1851.” “Mary Thornycroft or Susan Durant?” Louise loved that Sybil knew the sculptresses’ names. “Susan Durant. I want to be everything like her. Creating real art that will last centuries.”
