Part 23 (1/2)

”Things have taken a bad turn,” says the vicar, regarding her reproachfully. ”I am afraid my first attempt will only be remembered as a wretched failure; and that girl has another song, and she will not venture again, and there is no one to take her place.”

”Mr. Redmond, I will sing for you, if you wish it,” says a clear, childish voice, that has always something pathetic about it. Georgie has overheard his last speech, and has turned her soft, fair little face to his, and is speaking to him, with a flush and a smile.

”But, my dear, can you sing?” says the vicar, anxiously. Her face is full of music; but then he has never heard her sing. During her fortnight's stay at the vicarage she has never sung one note, has never betrayed the fact that she is a true daughter of Polyhymnia.

”I can, indeed,--really; I can sing very well,” says Georgie, in her little earnest fas.h.i.+on, and without the very faintest suspicion of conceit. She is only eager to rea.s.sure him, to convince him of the fact that she is worthy to come to his relief.

”But the song?” says Mr. Redmond, still hesitating, and alluding to the second solo chosen by the defaulter.

”It is an old Irish song; I know it. It is 'Shule, agra,' and it begins, 'My Mary with the curling hair,'” says Georgie, with a slight nod. ”I used to sing it long ago, and it is very pretty.”

”Well, come,” says the vicar, though with trepidation, and leads her on to the platform, and up to Mrs. Redmond, to that good woman's intense surprise.

Lady Mary has nearly brought her little vague whisper to an end. She has at last disclosed to a listening audience that she has discovered the real dwelling-place of the lost ”Alice,”--who is uncomfortably ensconced ”amidst the stars.h.i.+ne,” if all accounts be true,--and is now quavering feebly on a last and dying note.

”This is the song,” says Mrs. Redmond, putting Sarah's rejected solo into her hand.

”Thank you,” says Miss Broughton She looks neither frightened nor concerned, only a little pale, and with a great gleam in her eyes, born, as it were, of an earnest desire to achieve victory for the vicar's sake.

Then Lady Mary's final quaver dies, and she moves to one side, leaving the s.p.a.ce before the piano quite clear.

There is a slight pause; and then the slight childish figure, in its gown of thin filmy black, comes forward, and stands before the audience. She is quite self-possessed, but rather white, which has the effect of rendering her large plaintive eyes darker and more l.u.s.trous than usual. Her arms are half bare; her throat and part of her neck can be seen gleaming white against the blackness of her dress. She is utterly unadorned. No brooch or ear-rings, or bracelets or jewels of any kind, can be seen. Yet she stands there before them a perfect picture, more sweet than words can tell.

She holds her small shapely head erect, and seems unconscious of the many eyes fixed upon her. Rarely has so fair a vision graced the dull daily life of Pullingham. Even the st.u.r.dy, phlegmatic farmers stir upon their seats, and nudge the partners of their joys, and wonder, in a stage whisper, who ”you can be?”

Mrs. Redmond plays a few faint chords, and then Georgie begins the plaintive Irish air Sarah should have sung, and sings it as, perhaps, she never sang before.

During the second verse, borne away by her pa.s.sionate desire to please, she forgets the music-sheet she holds, so that it flutters away from her down to the floor, and lies there; while her hands, seeking each other, grow entwined, and hang loosely before her, showing like little flakes of snow against the darkness of her gown.

Her voice is beautiful, sweet, and full, and quick with pa.s.sion,--one of those exquisite voices that sink into the soul, and linger there forever, even when the actual earthly sound has died away. She carries the listeners with her, holding them as by a spell, and leaving them silent, almost breathless, when she has finished her ”sweet song.”

Now she has come to the end of ”Shule, agra,” and turns away somewhat abruptly to Mrs. Redmond, as though half frightened at the storm of applause that greets her.

”Did I really sing so well?” she asked the vicar, presently, when he has sought her out to thank her.

”Well?” repeats he. ”What a word to use! It was divine; the whole room was spell-bound. What a gift you possess! My dear, you have saved the evening, and my honor, and the organ, and everything. I am deeply grateful to you.”

”How glad I am!” says the girl, softly; ”and don't thank me. I liked it,--the singing, the applause, the feeling that I was doing well. I will sing for you again later on, if you wish it.”

”It is too much to ask,” says the vicar; ”but, if you really don't mind? Lady Patricia is in ecstasies, and says she could listen to you forever.”

Georgie laughs.

”Well, at least she shall listen to me once more,” she says, gayly.

Lady Patricia is not the only one enthralled by the beautiful singer.

Dorian Brans...o...b.. has never once removed his eyes from her face: he is as one bewitched, and, even at this early moment, wonders vaguely within himself what can be the meaning of the strange pleasure, that is so near akin to pain, that is tugging at his heart-strings.

Lord Alfred, too, is plainly impressed, and stares at the pretty creature with the black gown and the snowy arms, until speech becomes a necessity.

”Well, I never in all my life,” he begins, emphatically, and then stops. ”Who is she, Brans...o...b..?”