ortraits

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron loved his fiancée Lady Angela of Alpine Castle very much. Her birthday would be in six weeks and he wanted to do something extra special for her. He wanted to give her a gift that would be important to her always.

Usually in affairs of the heart Professor Hamblin, the Baron's chief advisor, preferred to stay out of discussions of love and romance. The Baron didn't need an advisor to discuss romance with at all. But the Baron asked the Professor anyway saying that this gift had to be something special. After some discussion the idea came to them both. As they walked down the great hall in Lilliland Castle they noticed with renewed interest all the old portraits of the Von Lodge ancestors and leaders of Lilliland. They both said the word "portrait" at the same time - a portrait of Lady Angela of Alpine Castle. A famous local portrait painter was called to the castle to arrange to paint the portrait. It would be at first from a favorite picture that the Baron had, and later from some close observations of Lady Angela in person without her knowing about the surprise gift.

Unknown to the Baron, at the same time Lady Angela had engaged the same portrait painter to do the same thing for the Baron. He was commissioned by Lady Angela to paint a portrait of the Baron. The painter had to keep two secrets from the two people he was to paint. All seemed to be going well.

When the Baron visited the painter's art gallery, the painter had to make sure Lady Angela's portrait was in sight and when Lady Angela came to the gallery he had to hide her portrait and put the Baron's portrait on display.

The evening of the portrait unveiling was at hand in the Grand Hall of Lilliland Castle. Both Lady Angela and the Baron were surprised that there were two portraits to be unveiled.

When the Baron pulled the cover off the first portrait and he saw himself, and Lady Angela pulled the cover off the second portrait and she saw herself, they looked at each other in surprise, apologized to their guests, and then the artist explained the mix up. After the confusion subsided, everyone had a good laugh with the couple that thought alike, and whose portraits would someday hang together in the hall with all of the ancestors.