“You could be right. Or perhaps he was one of the sponsors and his painting was included out of gratitude for his contribution. I guess we’ll never know unless we meet him.” Emilios wondered if the artist was at the ball tonight. If he was from a rich family and had used their influence to have his work displayed, it was likely. If he lived on his earnings as a painter, he had probably gone to the party on the pier. A starving artist might be able to coerce the food sellers to give him some free of charge.

“What is it you do?” he asked Albert as he moved to the next painting on the wall. This one was much better, but still not good enough to add to his personal collection.