At last the day came, and having excited myself the whole morning
about the Redferns, I left off thinking of them, and returned to
myself. Although it portends little, I may transmit to posterity the
fact that my new clothes came home at half-past three, and my mother
beheld me arrayed in them at five. Davy had all our parts and the
songs of Miss Benette, for she was to sing alone if requested to do
so, and was to be ready, when I should call, to accompany me.
I was at length pronounced at liberty to depart,--that is, everybody
had examined me from head to foot. I had a sprig of the largest myrtle
in the greenhouse quilted into the second and third button-holes, and
my white gloves were placed in my pocket by Clo, after she had wrapped
them in white paper. I privately carried a sprig of myrtle, too, for
Miss Benette: it was covered with blossom, and of a very fine species.
Thone never answered the door in St. Anthony's Lane, but invariably
the same extraordinary figure who had startled me on my first visit.
She stared so long with the door in her hand, this time, that I rushed
past her and ran up the stairs.
Still singing! Yes, there she was, in her little bonnet, but from head
to foot enveloped in a monstrous cloak; I could not see what dress she
wore. It was November now, and getting very dusk; but we had both
expressed a wish to walk, and Davy always preferred it. How curious
his shell looked in the uncertain gleam! The tiny garden, as
immaculate as ever, wore the paler shine of asters and Michaelmas
daisies; and the casement above, being open, revealed Davy watching
for us through the twilight. He came down instantly, sweeping the
flower-shrubs with his little cloak, and having locked the door and
put the key into his pocket, he accosted us joyously, shaking hands
with us both. But he held all the music under his cloak too, nor would
I proceed until he suffered me to carry it. We called for Mr. Newton,
our companion tenor, who lived a short way in the town. He met us with
white gloves ready put on, and in the bravery of a white waistcoat,
which he exhibited through the opening of his jauntily hung
great-coat. I left him behind with Davy, and again found myself with
Miss Benette. I began to grow nervous when, having passed the shops
and factories of that district, we emerged upon the Lawborough Road,
lit by a lamp placed here and there, with dark night looming in the
distant highway. Again we passed house after house standing back in
masses of black evergreen; but about not a few there was silence, and
no light from within. At length, forewarned by rolling wheels that had
left us far behind them, we left the gate of the Priory and walked up
to the door.
It was a very large house, and one of the carriages had just driven
off as Davy announced his name. One of three footmen, lolling in the
portico, aroused and led us to a room at the side of the hall,
shutting us in. It was a handsome room, though small, furnished with a
looking-glass; here were also various coats and hats reposing upon
chairs. I looked at myself in the glass while Davy and our tenor gave
themselves the last touch, and then left it clear for them. I
perceived that Miss Benette had not come in with us, or had stayed
behind. She had taken off her bonnet elsewhere, and when we were all
ready, and the door was opened, I saw her once more, standing
underneath the lamp. I could not find out how she was dressed; her
frock was, as usual, black silk, but of the very richest. She wore
long sleeves, and drooping falls upon her wrists of the finest black
lace; no white against her delicate throat, except that in front she
had placed a small but really magnificent row of pearls. Her silky
dark hair she wore, as usual, slightly drooped on either temple, but
neither curled nor banded. I presented her with the myrtle sprig,
which she twisted into her pearls, seeming pleased with it; but
otherwise she was very unexcited, though very bright. I was not
bright, but very much excited; I quite shook as we walked up the soft
stair-carpet side by side. She looked at me in evident surprise.
"You need not be nervous, Master Auchester, I assure you!"
"It is going into the drawing-room, and being introduced, I hate; will
there be many people, do you think?"
She opened her blue eyes very wide when I asked her, and then, with a
smile quite new to me upon her face, a most enchanting but sorely
contemptuous smile, she said,--
"Oh! we are not going in there,--did you think so? There is a separate
room for us, in which we are to sip our coffee."
I was truly astonished, but I had not time to frame any expression; we
were ushered forward into the room she had suggested. It was a sort of
inner drawing-room apparently, for there were closed folding-doors in
the wall that opposed the entrance. An elegant chandelier hung over a
central rosewood table; on this table lay abundance of music,
evidently sorted with some care. Two tall wax-candles upon the
mantelshelf were reflected in a tall mirror in tall silver sticks; the
gold-colored walls were pictureless, and crimson damask was draperied
and festooned at the shuttered window. Crimson silk chairs stood
about, and so did the people in the room, whom we began, Clara and I,
to scrutinize. Standing at the table by Davy, and pointing with a
white kid finger to the music thereon arranged, was an individual with
the organs of melody and of benevolence in about equal development; he
was talking very fast. I was sure I knew his face, and so I did. It
was the very Mr. Westley who came upon us in the corridor at the
festival. He taught the younger Miss Redferns, of whom there was a
swarm; and as they grew they were passed up to the tuition of Monsieur
Mirandos, a haughtily-behaved being, in the middle of the rug, warming
his hands, gloves and all, and gazing with the self-consciousness of
pianist primo then and there present. It was Clara who initiated me
into this fact, and also that he taught the competent elders of that
exclusively feminine flock, and that he was the author of a grand
fantasia which had neither predecessor nor descendant. Miss Benette
and I had taken two chairs in the corner next the crimson curtain, and
nestling in there we laughed and we talked.
"Who is the man in a blue coat with bright buttons, now looking up at
the chandelier?" I inquired.
"That is a man who has given his name an Italian termination, but I
forget it. He has a great name for getting up concerts, and I daresay
he will be a sort of director to-night."
So it was, at least so it seemed, for he at last left the room, and
returning presented us each with a sheet of pink-satin note-paper, on
which were named and written in order the compositions awaiting
interpretation. We looked eagerly to see where our first glee came.
"Oh! not for a good while, Master Auchester. But do look, here is that
Mirandos going to play his _grande fantaisie sur des motifs
militaires_. Oh! who is that coming in?"
Here Miss Benette interrupted herself, and I, excited by her accent,
looked up simultaneously.
As for me, I knew directly who it was, for the gentleman entering at
the door so carelessly, at the same time appearing to take in the
whole room with his glance, had a violin-case in his hand. I shall not
forget his manner of being immediately at home, nodding to one and
another amiably, but with a slight sneer upon his lip, which he
probably could not help, as his mouth was very finely cut. I felt
certain it was Santonio; and while the gentleman upon the rug
addressed him very excitedly, and received a cool reply, though I
could not hear what it was, for all the men were talking, Davy came up
to us and confirmed my presentiment.
"What a handsome gentleman he is, but how he stares!" said Clara, in a
serious manner that set me laughing; and then Davy whispered "Hush!"
But it was of little use, for Santonio came up now to our corner, and
deposited his case on the next chair to Miss Benette, looking at her
all the while and at me, so that we could well see his face. It was
certainly very handsome,--a trifle too handsome, perhaps, yet full of
harmonious lines, and the features were very pure. His complexion was
glowing, yet fair, and passed well by contrast into the hue of his
eyes, which were of that musical gray more blue than slate-colored.
Had he been less handsome, the Hebrew contour might have been more
easily detected; as it was, it was clear to me, but might not have
occurred to others who did not look for it. A brilliant person, such
as I have seldom seen, he yet interested more by his gestures, his way
of scanning, and smiling to himself, his defiant self-composure,
something discomposing to those about him, than by his positive
personal attractions. Having examined us, he examined also Davy, and
said specially, "How are you?"
"Quite well, thank you," replied our master; "I had no right to expect
you would remember me, Mr. Santonio."
"Oh! I never forget anybody," was the reply; "I often wish I did, for
I have seen everybody now, and there is no one else to see."
"Oh!" thought I to myself, but I said nothing, "you have not seen
_one_." For I felt sure, I knew not why, that he had not.
"Is this your son, Davy?" questioned he, once more speaking, and
looking down upon me for an instant.
"Certainly not; my pupil and favorite alto."
"Is he for the profession, then?"
"What do you say, Charles?"
"Yes, Mr. Davy, certainly."
"If I don't mistake, it will not be alto long, though," said Santonio,
with lightness; "his arm and hand are ready made for me."
I was so transported that I believe I should have knelt before
Santonio but that, as lightly as he had spoken, he had turned again
away. It was as if he had not said those words, so unaltered was his
face, with those curved eyebrows; and I wished he had left me alone
altogether, I felt so insignificant. It was a good thing for me that
now there entered footmen very stately, with silver trays, upon which
they carried coffee, very strong and cold, and chilly green tea. We
helped ourselves, every one, and then it was I really began to enjoy
the exclusion with which we had been visited; for we all seemed shut
in and belonging to each other. The pianist primo joked with Santonio,
and Mr. Westley attacked Davy, while Newton and the man in the blue
coat with bright buttons wore the subject of the festival to a thread;
for the former had been away, and the latter had been there, and the
latter enlightened the former, and more than enlightened him, and
where his memory failed, invented, never knowing that I, who had been
present, was listening and judging,--as Clara said, "he was making up
stories;" and indeed it was a surprise for me to discover such an
imagination dwelling in a frame so adipose.
Santonio at last attracted our whole attention by pouring his coffee
into the fire, and asking a footman, who had re-entered with wafers
and tea-cakes, for some more coffee that was hot; and while we were
all laughing very loud, another footman, a shade more pompous than
this, threw back the folding-doors that divided us from the
impenetrable saloon. As those doors stood open we peeped in.
"How many people there are!" said I.
"Yes," said Clara, "but they are not very wise."
"Why do you suppose not?"
"First, because they have set the piano close up against the wall. Mr.
Davy will have it out, I know."
"I see a great many young ladies in pink frocks,--I suppose the Miss
Redferns."
"See that man, Master Auchester, who is looking down at the legs of
the piano, to find out how they are put on."
And thus we talked and laughed until Santonio had finished his coffee,
quite as if no one was either in that room or in the next.
"It was not warm, after all," said he to Mirandos; but this was in a
lower tone, and he put on an air of hauteur withal that became him
wonderfully. Then I found that we had all become very quiet, and there
had grown a hush through the next room, so that it looked like a vast
picture, of chandeliers all light, tall glasses, ruddy curtains, and
people gayly yet lightly dressed. The men in there spoiled the
picture, though,--they none of them looked comfortable: men seldom do
in England at an evening party. Our set, indeed, looked comfortable
enough, though Davy was a little pale; I very well knew why. At last
in came the footman again; he spoke to the gentleman in the blue coat
with bright buttons. _He_ bowed, looked red, and walked up to Davy.
Miss Benette's song came first, I knew; and I declare the blood quite
burned at my heart with feeling for her. How little I knew her really!
Almost before I could look for her, she was gone from my side; I
watched her into the next room. She walked across it just as she was
used to cross her own little lonely room at home, except that she just
touched Davy's arm. As she had predicted, he drew the piano several
feet from the wall,--it was a grand piano--and she took her place by
him. As serenely, as seriously, with that bright light upon her face
which was as the sunshine amidst those lamps, she seemed, and I
believe was, as serene, as serious, as when at home over her exquisite
broidery. No music was before Davy as he commenced the opening
symphony of one of Weber's most delighting airs. The public was just
fresh from the pathos of Weber's early death, and everybody rushed to
hear his music. She began with an intensity that astonished even
me,--an ease that so completely instilled the meaning that I ceased to
be alarmed or to tremble for her. Her voice even then held promise of
what it has since become, as perfectly as does the rose-bud, half
open, contain the rose. I have seen singers smile while they sang; I
have watched them sing with the tears upon their cheeks: yet I never
saw any one sing so seriously as Miss Benette, calmly, because it is
her nature, and above all, with an evident facility so peculiar that I
have ceased to reverence conquered difficulties so much as I believe I
ought to do for the sake of art. Everybody was very quiet, quieter
than at many public concerts; but this audience was half stupefied
with curiosity, as well as replete with the novelty of the style
itself. Everybody who has enthusiasm knows the effect of candle-light
upon the brain during the performance of music anywhere, and just as
we were situated there was a strange romance, I thought. Santonio
stood upon the rug; a very sweet expression sat upon his lips,--I
thought even _he_ was enchanted; and when Clara was silent and had
come back again so quietly, without any flush upon her face, I thought
he would surely come too and compliment her. But no, he was to play
himself, and had taken out his violin.
It was a little violin, and he lifted it as if it had been a flower or
an infant, and laid his head lovingly upon it while he touched the
strings. They, even those pizzicato hints, seemed to me to be sounds
borne out of another sphere, so painfully susceptible I became
instantly to the power of the instrument itself.
"It is to be the Grand Sonata, I see."
"No, sir," said Davy, who had come back with Miss Benette.
"Yes, but I shall not play with Mirandos; we settled that, Miss
Lawrence and I."
"Who is Miss Lawrence?"
"An ally of mine."
"In the room?"
"Yes, yes. Don't talk, Davy; she is coming after me. Your servant,
Miss Lawrence!"
I beheld a young lady in the doorway.
"So, Mr. Santonio, you are not ready? They are all very impatient for
a sight of you."
"I am entirely at your service."
"Come, then."
She beckoned with her hand. It was all so sudden that I could only
determine the color of her hair, black; and of her brocaded dress, a
dark blue. Her voice was in tone satirical, and she spoke like one
accustomed to be obeyed. When Santonio entered, there began a buzzing,
and various worthies in white kid gloves clustered round the piano. He
drew the desk this side of the instrument, so that not only his back
was turned to us, but he screened Miss Lawrence also; and I was
provoked that I could see nothing but the pearls that were twisted
with her braided hair. It was one of Beethoven's complete works to be
interpreted, a divine duo for violin and piano, that had then never
been heard in England, except at the Philharmonic concerts; and I did
not know the name even then of the Philharmonic. And when it began, an
indescribable sensation of awe, of bliss, of almost anguish, pervaded
me,--it was the very bitter of enjoyment; but I could not realize it
for a long time.
The perfection of Santonio's bowing never tempted him to eccentricity,
and no one could have dreamed of comparing him with Paganini, so his
fame was safe. But I knew nothing of Paganini, and merely felt from
head to foot as if I were the violin and he was playing upon me, so
completely was I drawn into the performance, body and soul,--not the
performance merely, let me say; as a violinist now, my conviction is
that the influence is as much physical as supernatural of my adopted
instrument. That time my nerves were so much affected that I trembled
in every part of me. Internally I was weeping, but my tears overflowed
not my eyes.
Santonio's _cantabile_, whatever they say of Ernst or of Sivori, is
superior to either. There is a manly passion in his playing that never
condescends to coquette with the submissive strings; it wailed enough
that night for anything, and yet never degenerated into imitation. I
knew directly I heard him draw the first quickening, shivering
chord--shivering to my heart--I knew that the violin must become my
master, or I its own.
Davy, still pale, but radiant with sympathetic pleasure, continued to
glance down upon me, and Clara's eyes were lost in drooping to the
ground. I scarcely know how it was, but I was very inadvertent of the
pianoforte part, magnificently sustained as it was and inseparable
from the other, until Clara whispered to Davy, "Does she not play
remarkably well, sir?"
"Yes," he returned; "I am surprised. She surely must be professional."
But none of us liked to inquire, at least then.
I noticed afterwards, from time to time, how well the piano met the
violin in divided passages, and how exactly they went together; but
still those strings, that bow, were all in all for me, and Santonio
was the scarcely perceptible presence of an intimate sympathy, veiled
from me as it were by a hovering mist of sound. So it was especially
in the slow movement, with its long sighs, like the voice of silence,
and its short, broken sobs of joy. The thrill of my brain, the deep
tumult of my bosom, alone prevented me from tears, just as the rain
falls not when the wind is swelling highest, but waits for the
subsiding hush. The analogy will not serve me out, nevertheless, for
at the close of the last movement, so breathless and so impetuous as
it was, there was no hush, only a great din, in the midst of which I
wept not; it was neither time nor place. Miss Benette, too, whispered
just at the conclusion, when Santonio was haughtily, and Miss Lawrence
carelessly, retiring, "Now we shall go; but please do not make me
laugh, Master Auchester."
"How can you say so, when it was your fault that we laughed the other
night?"
And truly it did seem impossible to unsettle that sweet gravity of
hers, though it often unsettled mine.