The Well of Loneliness

Valérie's rooms were already crowded when Stephen and Mary arrived at her reception, so crowded that at first they could not see their hostess and must stand rather awkwardly near the door -- they had not been announced; one never was for some reason, when one went to Valérie Seymour's. People looked at Stephen curiously; her height, her clothes, the scar on her face, had immediately riveted their attention.

"Quel type! " murmured Dupont the sculptor to his neighbour, and promptly decided that he wished to model Stephen. "It's a wonderful head; I adore the strong throat. And the mouth -- is it chaste, is it ardent? I wonder. How would one model that intriguing mouth? " Then being Dupont, to whom all things were allowed for the sake of his art, he moved a step nearer and stared with embarrassing admiration, combing his greyish beard with his fingers.