“You smell like linseed oil. » My father spoke in a disconcerted tone. He didn't believe that simply cleaning a painter's studio would cause the smell to linger on my clothes, my skin, my hair. He was right. It was as if he guessed that I now slept with the oil in my room, sitting for hours painting and absorbing the scent. He guessed and yet he couldn't say it. His blindness took away his confidence, so he did not trust the thoughts in his mind. A year ago, I might have tried to help him, to suggest to him what he was thinking, to make him express what he was thinking. Now, however, I just watched him struggle silently, like a beetle fallen on its back and unable to turn around. Sometimes it's better not to tell my family, sometimes it's better to leave them in the dark, searching for something they think is there, sometimes it's just easier. My mother had guessed too, although she didn't know what she was thinking. had guessed. Sometimes I couldn't even meet his gaze. When I looked at it, it was a puzzle of restrained anger, curiosity and pain. She was trying to understand what had happened to her daughter. She was questioning his decision to allow me to work as a housekeeper in the Vermeer household. I had gotten used to the smell of linseed oil. I even kept a small bottle by my bed. In the morning, when I got dressed, I held it up to the window to admire the color, which looked like lemon juice with a drop of lead-tin yellow in it. I'm wearing this color now, I meant. He paints me this color. Instead, to take my mind off my father's smell, I described the other painting my master was working on. “A young woman sits in front of a harpsichord and plays. She wears a yellow and black bodice - the same one the baker's daughter wore for her father... middle of paper... the gift, still looking at my father, if he knew, if any of them knew, what would they think- they?Works Cited “Artist Paintings”. Earth Pigments.com. Earth Pigment Supplies, nd Web. December 1, 2010. http://www.earthpigments.com/artists-oil-paints/ “How to Make Oil Paint.” Printmaking.com. Johansen, Tony and Web. July 13, 2006. http://www.paintmaking.com/grinding_oils.htm "Johannes Vermeer". rijksmuseum. National Gallery, nd Web. February 24, 2009. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/explore-the-collection/overview/johannes-vermeer "Johannes Vermeer (Dutch painter)." , Wheelock, Arthur K. Web. January 24, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/626156/Johannes-Vermeer “The concert: 1665-1666”. Vermeer Foundation.com. Vermeer Foundation Gallery, nd Web. August 3, 2002. http://www.vermeer-foundation.org/The-Concert-1665-66.html