Note 96 — THE HÉGER PORTRAIT OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Reading edition
In this connection it is of interest to read the remarks of one of the jealous de Morville women on this portrait of the Irish governess:—"Patience! ... qui vivra verra. Je garde ce portrait de mademoiselle miss Mary, ça me fera souvent penser à elle—ça m'empêchera de l'oublier. Je vais la clouer à quatre épingles sur le papier de ma chambre".... She threatens to stick pins in it.... "Oui, oui, la belle Anglais!" she afterwards exclaims; "ce n'est pas seulement ton portrait que je perce à coups d'épingle, c'est toi-même!" Which would suggest that a portrait of Charlotte Brontë could have remained at the Héger establishment but at risk of being destroyed. I may observe these mysterious references occur only in the 1851 volume; not in the 1850 feuilleton.