The real thing and other tales (Henry James)

The main character, an aspiring artist, hires a faded noble couple, Monarchs, as models after they have lost most of their money and need to find some kind of work. They are „real” in the sense that they are beautifully of the aristocratic type, but they turn out to be inappropriate for the artist’s work. The artist must finally get rid of the monarchs, especially after his friend and colleague, artist Jack Hawley, criticized the work in which monarchs are represented.