Those Oldchester persons who considered Miss Piper's artistic tendencies
responsible for her occasional freedom of speech would have been
confirmed in their opinion as to the demoralizing tendency of Art and
Continental travel had they known how the daughters of the late Reverend
Reuben Piper employed Sunday afternoon in London. Miss Patty herself had
been startled at first by the idea of not only receiving callers, but
listening to profane music on that day; and the sisters had had some
discussion about it. When Patty demurred to the suggestion, Polly
inquired whether she truly and conscientiously considered that there was
anything more intrinsically wrong in seeing one's friends and opening
one's piano on a Sunday than on a Monday.
"No; of course not _that_," answered Patty. "If I thought it wrong, I
shouldn't discuss it even with you. I should simply refuse to have
anything to do with it."
"I know that, Patty," said her sister. "And I hope I am not altogether
without a conscience either."
"No, Polly; but would you do this in Oldchester?"
"Certainly not."
"Then that's what I say. We ought not to have two weights and two
measures. If a thing is objectionable in Oldchester, it is objectionable
in London."
"Not at all. Circumstances alter cases. I may think it a good thing to
take a sponge-bath every morning; but I should not take it in public."
"Polly! How can you?"
"What I mean is, that, so long as we are not a stumbling-block of
offence to other people, we have a right to please ourselves in this
matter."
So Miss Polly's will prevailed, as it prevailed with her sister upon
most occasions; and the Sunday receptions became an established custom.
The house in which the Miss Pipers lodged when they came to London was
in a street leading out of Hanover Square. The lower part of it was
occupied by a fashionable tailor--a tailor so genteel and exclusive that
he scorned any appeal to the general public, and merely had the word
"Groll" (which was his name) woven into the wire blind that shaded his
parlour window. The rooms above were sufficiently spacious, and were,
moreover, lofty--a great point in Miss Polly's opinion, as being good
for sound. They were furnished comfortably, albeit rather dingily. But a
few flower-pots, photographic albums, and bits of crochet-work,
scattered here and there, answered the purpose--if not of decoration, at
least of showing decorative intention. A grand pianoforte, bestriding a
large tract of carpet in the very middle of the front drawing-room,
conspicuously asserted its importance over all the rest of the
furniture.
May and her uncle, accompanied by the two little boys, were shown
upstairs, and, the door of the drawing-room being thrown open, they
found themselves confronted by a rather numerous assembly. The last bars
of a pianoforte-piece were being performed amidst the profound silence
of the auditors, and the newly arrived party stood still near the door,
waiting until the music should come to an end.
At the piano sat a smooth-faced young gentleman playing a series of
incoherent discords with an air of calm resolve. Immediately behind him
stood an elderly man of gentleman-like appearance, whom May found
herself watching, as one watches a person swallowing something nauseous,
and involuntarily expecting him to "make a face" as each new dissonance
was crashed out close to his ear. But his amiable countenance remained
so serene and satisfied, that the doubt crossed her mind whether he
might not possibly be deaf. In the embrasure of a window stood a very
tall, thin man, whose bald head was encircled by a fringe of grizzled
red hair, and whose eyes were fast shut. But as he stood up perfectly
erect, with his hands folded in a prayerful attitude on his waistcoat,
it was obvious that he was not asleep. Miss Piper was seated with her
back towards the door and her face towards the pianist, so that May
could not see it. But the composer of "Esther" nodded her head
approvingly at every fresh harmonic catastrophe which convulsed the
keyboard. Her satisfaction seemed to be shared by a stout lady of
majestic mien, who sat near her and fired off exclamations of eulogium,
such as "Charming!" "Wonderful modulation!" "Intensely wrought out," and
so on--like minute guns; and with a certain air of suppressed
exasperation, as though she suspected that there _might_ be persons who
didn't like it, and was ready to defy them to the death. A dark-eyed
girl, very plainly dressed, and holding a little leather music-roll in
her hand, occupied a modest place behind this lady. Sitting close to the
dark-eyed girl was a man of about thirty-five years old, well-featured,
short in stature, and with reddish blonde hair and moustaches. This
personage's countenance expressed a singular mixture of audacity and
servility. His smile was at once impudent and false, and he listened to
the music with a pretentious air of knowledge and authority. The rest of
the company, with Miss Patty, were relegated, during the performance, to
the back drawing-room, where tea was served; and the folding-doors were
closed, lest the clink of a teaspoon, or the sibillation of a whisper,
should penetrate to the music-room. But, in truth, nothing less than a
crash of all the crockery on the table, and a simultaneous bellow from
all the guests, could have competed successfully with the
pianoforte-piece then in progress.
At length, with one final bang, it came to an end, and there was a
general stir and movement among the company. The amiable-looking elderly
man advanced towards Miss Piper with a most beaming smile, and said, in
a soft refined voice--
"That is the right way, isn't it? One knows the sort of thing said by
people who don't understand this school of music, the only music, in
fact; but I have long been sure that this is the right way."
"Of course, it is the right way," exclaimed the stout lady, breathing
indignation, not loud but deep, against all heretics and schismatics.
"We are so very, very much obliged to you, Mr. Turner," said the
hostess. "That new composition of yours is really wonderful!" (And so,
indeed, it was.)
As Miss Piper went up to the young gentleman who had been playing the
piano, and who remained quite cool and unmoved by the demonstrations of
his audience, she caught sight of the group near the door, and hastened
to welcome them. May was received with enthusiasm, and her uncle with
one of Miss Piper's best old-fashioned curtsies. Mr. Dormer-Smith began
to apologize for bringing his little boys, and to explain that he had
not expected to find so numerous an assembly; but Miss Piper cut him
short with hearty assurances that they were very welcome, and that her
sister in particular was very fond of children. Then, the doors being by
this time reopened, she ushered them all into the back room, crying--
"Patty! Patty! Who do you think is here? May Cheffington!" and then Miss
Patty added her welcome to that of her sister.
Harold and Wilfred had been shyly dumb hitherto, although once or twice
during the pianoforte-playing Wilfred had only saved himself from
breaking into a shrill wail and begging to be taken home, by burying his
face in the skirts of May's dress; but on beholding plum-cake and other
good things set forth on the tea-table, they felt that life had
compensations still. They took a fancy also to the Miss Pipers, finding
their eccentric ornaments a mine of interest; and before three minutes
had elapsed Harold was devouring a liberal slice of cake, and Wilfred,
seated close to kind Miss Patty, was diversifying his enjoyment of the
cake by a close and curious inspection of that lady's bracelet, taken
off for his amusement, and endeavouring to count the various geological
specimens of which it was composed.
As soon as May appeared in the back drawing-room, Constance Hadlow rose
from her seat in a corner behind the tea-table, and greeted her.
"Dear Conny," cried May, "I am so glad to see you! Then you are staying
with the Miss Pipers! I guessed you were."
Mr. Dormer-Smith was then duly presented to Miss Hadlow. Constance was
in very good looks, and her beauty and the quiet ease of her manner made
a very favourable impression on May's uncle.
Miss Hadlow found a seat for him near herself; and then turned again to
May, saying, "There is another Oldchester friend whom you have not yet
spoken to. You remember my cousin Owen?"
May's experience of society had not yet toned down her manner to "that
repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere." She heartily shook hands
with the young man, exclaiming, "This is a day of joyful surprises. I
didn't expect to see you, Mr. Rivers. Now, if we only had the dear
canon, and Mrs. Hadlow, and granny, I think I should be _quite_ happy."
"You are not a bit changed," said Owen Rivers, giving May his chair, and
standing beside her in the lounging attitude so familiar to her in the
garden at College Quad.
"Changed! What should change me?"
"The world."
"What nonsense!" cried May, with her old schoolgirl bluntness. "As if I
had not been living in the world all my life!"
Mr. Rivers raised his eyebrows with an amused smile.
"Well, _isn't_ it nonsense," pursued May, "to talk as if a few hundred
or thousand persons in one town--though that town is London--made up the
world?"
"It is a phrase which every one uses, and every one understands."
"But every one does not understand it alike."
"Perhaps not."
"What did you mean by it, just now?"
"What could I mean but the world of fashion, _the_ world par excellence?
Rightly so-called, no doubt, since it affords the best field for the
exercise of the higher and nobler human faculties. Those who are not in
it exist, indeed; but with a half-developed, inferior kind of life, like
a jelly-fish."
May laughed her frank young laugh.
"You're not changed either!" she said emphatically.
"Did you enjoy the performance with which that young gentleman has been
obliging us?" asked Rivers.
"I only heard the end of it."
"Very diplomatically answered."
"Are you fond of music, Mr. Rivers?"
"Yes, of _music_--very fond."
"So am I; but I know very little about it. Granny is a good musician."
"How fond you are of Mrs. Dobbs!" said Rivers.
"I am very proud of her, too," answered May quickly.
Owen Rivers looked at her with a singular expression, half-admiring,
half-tenderly, pitying--as one might look at a child whose innocent
candour is as yet "unspotted from the world."
"I suppose you know all the people here," said May, looking round on the
assembly.
"I know who they are, most of them."
"That gentleman who was standing by himself at the window--the tall
gentleman--who is he?"
"Mr. Jawler, a great musical critic."
"And the pleasant-faced man who seemed so delighted with the playing?"
"Mr. Sweeting. He is an enthusiastic admirer and patron of young
Cleveland Turner, the pianist: a very kindly, amiable, courteous
gentleman, with much money and leisure, as I am told."
"That stout lady talking to Miss Piper seems to be musical also?"
"That is Lady Moppett: a very good sort of woman, I dare say, but
fanatical. She would bowstring all us dogs of Christians who believe in
melody."
"And who is that disagreeable little man in the corner?"
"Disagreeable----?"
"The little man with moustaches. There. Close to the nice-looking,
dark-eyed girl."
"Oh, that man? But he is not considered disagreeable by the world in
general, Miss Cheffington! He is by way of being a rather fascinating
individual: Signor Vincenzo Valli, singing-master, and composer of
songs. I wonder why he condescends to favour Miss Piper with his
presence."
"Is it a condescension?"
"A great condescension. Signor Valli is nothing, if not aristocratic."
At this moment there was a general movement in the other room. The young
pianist seated himself once more at the instrument. The various groups
of talkers dispersed, and took their places to listen. May whispered
nervously to Miss Patty, that perhaps she and her uncle had better go,
and take away the children before the music commenced.
"I am so afraid," she said naively, "that Willy may cry if that
gentleman plays again."
Miss Patty found a way out of the difficulty by taking the children away
to her own room. It was no deprivation to her, she said, not to hear Mr.
Turner play.
So the two little boys, laden with good things, and further enticed by
the promise of picture-books, trotted off very contentedly under Miss
Patty's wing. Mr. Dormer-Smith had passed into the front drawing-room,
where he was chatting with Lady Moppett, who proved to be an old
acquaintance of his. May was following her uncle to explain to him about
the children, when Miss Piper hurried up to her with an anxious and
important mien.
"Sit down, my dear," she said; "sit down. Cleveland Turner is going to
play that fine Beethoven, the one in F minor, the opera 57, you know.
Mr. Jawler particularly wishes to hear him perform it."
May glanced round, and seeing no place vacant near at hand, returned to
the other room, and took a seat close to the folding-doors, which were
now left open.
"What is our sentence?" asked Rivers.
"Do you mean what is he going to play? A piece of Beethoven's."
"Ah! Well, at least he will have something to say this time. Remains to
be seen whether he can say it."
Mr. Cleveland Turner performed the _sonata appassionata_ correctly,
although coldly, and with a certain hardness of style and touch. But the
beauty of the composition made itself irresistibly felt, and when the
piece was finished there was a murmur of applause. Mr. Jawler opened his
eyes, inclined his head, opened his eyes again, and said, apparently to
himself, "Yes, yes--oh yes!" which seemed to be interpreted as an
expression of approval; for Miss Piper looked radiant, and even the icy
demeanour of Mr. Cleveland Turner thawed half a degree or so. Signor
Valli had applauded in a peculiar fashion--opening his arms wide, and
bringing his gloved hands together with apparent force, but so as to
produce no sound whatever. And as he went through this dumb show of
applause, he was talking all the time to the dark-eyed girl near him,
with a sneering smile on his face.
Miss Piper bustled up to them. "Dear Miss Bertram," she said, "you must
let us hear your charming voice. Mr. Jawler has heard of you. He would
like you to sing something. Signor Valli," with clasped hands, "_might_
I entreat you to accompany Miss Bertram in one of your own exquisite
compositions? It would be such a treat--such a musical feast, I may
say!"
Miss Bertram unrolled her music-case in a business-like way, and spread
its contents before the singing-master.
"What are you going to sing, Clara?" asked Lady Moppett, turning her
head over her shoulder.
"Signor Valli will choose," answered the young lady quietly.
Valli selected a song and offered his arm to Miss Bertram to lead her to
the piano. She did not accept it instantly, being occupied in replacing
the rest of her music in its case; and with a sudden, impatient gesture,
Valli wheeled round and walked to the piano alone. Miss Bertram followed
him composedly, and took her place beside him. May looked at her with
interest, as she stood there during the few bars of introduction to the
song.
Clara Bertram was not beautiful, but she had a singularly attractive
face. Her dark eyes were not nearly so large, nor so finely set, as
Constance Hadlow's, but they were infinitely more expressive, and her
rather wide mouth revealed a magnificent set of teeth when she smiled or
sang. The song selected for her was one of those compositions which, if
ill-sung, or even only tolerably sung, would pass unnoticed. But Miss
Bertram sang it to perfection. Her voice was very beautiful, with
something peculiarly pathetic in its vibrating tones, and she pronounced
the Italian words with a pure, unaffected, and finished accent.
"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed May, under her breath, when the song was
over.
"Isn't it?" said Miss Piper, who happened to be near enough to catch the
words. "I am so glad you are pleased with her! Do you think Mrs.
Dormer-Smith would like her to sing now and then at a _soiree_? She
wants to get known in really good houses."
Before May could answer the little woman had hurried off again, and in
another minute was leading Miss Bertram up to Mr. Jawler, who spoke to
the young singer with evident affability, keeping his eyes open for a
full minute at a time.
Meanwhile Valli was left alone at the piano, and an ugly look came into
his face as he glanced round and saw himself neglected. But his
expression changed in an instant with curious suddenness when Miss
Hadlow drew near, and, leaning on the instrument, addressed some words
of compliment to him.
"Will you not let us hear you sing, Signor Valli?" she said presently.
Valli merely shook his head in answer, keeping his eyes fixed on Miss
Hadlow's face with a look of bold admiration, and letting his fingers
stray softly over the keys.
"Oh, that is a terrible disappointment!"
"I don't think so," replied the singing-master, speaking very good
English.
"It is, indeed."
Again he shook his head.
"It is to me, at all events."
"Well, I shall sing for you; a little song _sotto voce_, all to
ourselves."
"Oh, but that would be too selfish on my part, to enjoy your singing all
to myself."
"It is a very good plan to be selfish," returned Valli; and forthwith he
began a little Neapolitan love-song--murmuring, rather than singing
it--and still keeping his eyes fixed on Miss Hadlow.
At the first sound of his voice, low and subdued though it was, Miss
Piper held up her finger to bespeak silence. There was a general hush.
Every one looked towards the piano, against which Constance was still
leaning, with her back to the rest of the company. She made a little
movement to withdraw to a seat, but Valli immediately ceased singing,
and, under cover of a noisy _ritournelle_ which he played on the piano,
said to her, "I am singing for you. If you go away, my song will go away
too."
"But I can't stand here by myself, Signor Valli," protested Constance,
by no means displeased. At this moment Miss Piper approached to implore
the _maestro_ to continue, and Constance whispered to her in a few words
the state of the case.
"Caprices of genius, my dear," said the little woman. "When you have
seen as much of professional people as I have, you will not be
astonished." Then to Valli, "Will you not continue that exquisite air?
We are all dying to hear it."
"Yes; on condition that you both stay there and inspire me," answered
he, with an unconcealed sneer.
Miss Piper, however, took him at his word, and, linking her arm in
Constance's, remained standing close to the instrument. Valli, upon
this, resumed his song. He gave it now at the full pitch of his voice,
addressing it ostentatiously to Miss Hadlow, and throwing an exaggerated
amount of expression into the love passages. Miss Piper was enchanted,
and led off the applause enthusiastically. Valli was soon surrounded by
a group of admirers, Mr. Dormer-Smith among them. May was conscious of a
painful impression, which destroyed any pleasure she might have had in
the song. And that Owen Rivers shared this impression was proved by his
walking up to the piano, and unceremoniously putting his cousin's hand
on his arm to lead her away.
"Oh, don't take Conny away, Mr. Rivers," cried Miss Piper. "Signor Valli
is going to favour us with some more of his delicious national airs."
"Come and sit down, Constance," said Owen authoritatively. "Let me get
you a seat also, Miss Piper," he added. "It can scarcely be necessary
for the due exhibition of this gentleman's national airs to keep two
ladies standing."
"Oh no, no; please don't mind me. I'm quite comfortable," said Miss
Piper, with a shade of vexation on her good-humoured round face.
Constance remained perfectly calm and self-possessed; only a faint smile
and a sparkle in her eyes revealed a gratified vanity as she took the
chair near May, to which her cousin conducted her.
Miss Piper shrugged up her shoulders and pursed up her mouth. "He has no
idea what artists are," she whispered in Lady Moppett's ear. "And,
besides, poor dear young man, he's so desperately in love with his
cousin that he can't bear her to be even looked at. I only hope Signor
Valli won't take offence."
But Valli, finding himself now the object of general attention, was very
gracious. He sang song after song without the inspiration of Miss
Hadlow's handsome face opposite to him; and he sang far better than
before;--with less exaggeration, and managing his naturally defective
voice with singular skill and _finesse_. But the praise and flattery
which his hearers poured forth unstintingly did not seem quite to
satisfy him. His glance wandered restlessly, as though in search of
something; and finally, after a very clever rendering of an old air by
Carissimi, he addressed himself suddenly to Miss Bertram, who was
standing somewhat apart in the background, and asked, in Italian--
"Is the Signorina content?"
"I always like your singing of that aria," she answered, in a quiet,
matter-of-fact tone.
"Like it, indeed!" exclaimed Lady Moppett, with her severest manner. "I
should think you did like it, Clara! And you ought to profit by it. To
hear singing so finished--of such a perfect school--is a lesson for
you."
Valli, upon this, made a low bow to Lady Moppett--a bow so low as to
seem almost burlesque. As he raised his face again he turned it towards
Miss Bertram with a subtle smile, saying, "Miladi is such a judge! Her
praise is very precious." Clara, however, kept an impassive countenance,
and declined to meet the glance he shot at her. Then Valli made a second
and equally low bow to the hostess, and, cutting short her ecstatic
compliments and thanks, left the room without further ceremony.
The party now broke up. Lady Moppett departed with Miss Bertram and Mr.
Jawler, to whom she offered a seat in her carriage. Mr. Cleveland Turner
and his patron, Mr. Sweeting, went away together. In a few minutes there
remained Mr. Dormer-Smith, with his niece, and Owen Rivers. Miss Patty
bustled in with the two children.
"Dear me," said she. "Is the music all over? Well, now let us be
comfortable."
But Mr. Dormer-Smith declared he must reluctantly bring his visit to an
end. "I don't know how to thank you," said he to Miss Patty, "for your
kindness to my children. I hope you will forgive me for bringing them."
Miss Patty heartily assured him that there was nothing to forgive, and
that she hoped he would bring them again. She had gathered from the
artless utterances of Harold and Wilfred an idea of their home life,
which made her feel compassionately towards them.
As for Miss Polly, she was in the highest spirits. Mr. Jawler and Signor
Valli, both stars of considerable magnitude in the musical world, had
shone for her with unclouded lustre. It had been, she thought, a highly
successful afternoon. So also thought Harold and Wilfred. And perhaps
these were the only three persons who had enjoyed themselves thoroughly
and unaffectedly.