"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862
While there are few trumps of Sophia (Bleys has one, natch), people may have seen a small pen and ink etching of her in Bleys' quarters, rendered by another hand than his (there is no artist's signiture) ... he's never mentioned where he came by it, or why he didn't just draw it himself. This is what it looks like:
A young woman of beautiful figure stands in profile at a curtained window, one hand holding back the draperies to view the outside world. The heavy material and deep fringe of the curtains is an obvious counterpoint to her plain attire of a simple, laced bodice and full, undecorated skirt. While it is hard to determine with this medium, the artist has conveyed the sense of the subject's dusky skin, and large, thickly-lashed dark eyes. A single pale ribbon, her only adornment, holds her dark, thick hair at the nape of her neck with a simple
bow. The woman's posture is that of a true, neutral observer ... someone who is content to merely watch the actions of the word from the safety of her room, rather than be tossed into the maelstrom of life beyond those walls.
