But that was before she had had time to notice the; magnetism in his brilliant dark eyes, and to feel the full effects of his boundless, dynamic energy. After half an hour in his company she felt very much as if she had been caught up with a hurricane, and the experience had left her decidedly shaken. He said at once that he was anxious to hear her sing, and she was hardly given time even to decide whether she was nervous or not before her coat and gloves were whisked away from her, and his accompanist was leading the way into her favourite Caro Nome.She sang well, she knew, though she couldn’t imagine why; and when she had finished the maestro’s gratification was obvious. He was silent for several seconds, and then he came over to her and squeezed her hands.“My friend Giacome Maruga did not lie to me,” he remarked. “You have a talent, signorina. Just now it is only a little talent—a very little, a tiny talent! But if 'you will work hard, and give your heart to your work, it will grow ...
