291 Everyone’s Waiting (2/2)
”But we've practiced a lot!” Lucien waved his arms.
Fabbrini took a deep breath and said, ”Still not enough, sir. Please give me some more time, or maybe you can alter this part to make it simpler.”
”No way! This is perfect, and I'll never allow it to be ruined! Fabbrini, just try harder. I believe you can do this! We can put off the concert a few days as long as…” Lucien started coughing very bad. And he squatted down beside the stage.
Franz hurriedly lent a hand to Lucien. Fabbrini also comforted him, ”I'll try even harder, Mr. Evans. I won't let you down.”
At the end of this rehearsal, when he walked down the stage, Fabbrini, in his black shirt embroidered with golden threads, somehow looked back at the stage, as if he could still see Mr. Lucien standing there, acting crazily but full of passion.
...
”…Maybe at that time, Mr. Evans already had the hunch, so he was that pushy and strict, which was not at all like how people commented on him as being polite and gentle.” A few years later, Fabbrini recalled what he remembered of Mr. Evans when preparing the concert. ”He was that dedicated, that hard-working, and that crazy… as if he was trying to burst out all the energy and radiance left in his life to leave no regret. I was blessed by God, so I was lucky to know Mr. Evans at that time, and finished the symphony with him. I saw, as the brilliant musician he was, his great passion towards music, and his piety to God.”
...
Glinton, the merchant that Lucien met in Massawa town, headed for the north after leaving Aalto.
In the Kingdom of Syracuse, he sold all his goods and then again bought some Syracuse goods, ready to leave for the fortress in the north of Violet.
This morning, when he was having his greasy breakfast, a glance at the newspaper suddenly stopped him from cutting the brisket. He could not believe his eyes, and he double checked a few times.
He was very surprised, but also a bit upset. He did not expect that Mr. Evans would come back as soon as he left Aalto.
”May twenty-sixth… the Psalm Hall… 'Return' Concert…” Glinton murmured to himself. He wondered if he should spend sixteen days going back to Aalto. Right now, it was already May fifteenth.
Putting down knife and fork, he took a few steps back and forth. Then he finally made the decision. He had missed Mr. Evans' first concert, so there was no way that he was going to miss the second one, not to mention the fact that Mr. Evans just came back from his three-year trip.
Glinton decided to leave right now and leave the goods to his butler. He was not going to sit in a coach, but would ride with several guards. If he was quick enough, eleven days probably would be enough. Knowing quite a few nobles, Glinton was confident that he should be able to get a ticket. At least, he should try.
...
When Glinton arrived in Aalto, it was already May twenty-eighth, thirteen days later.
He was not upset at all, because he heard that the concert had been put off to June first.
Without taking any rest, Glinton directly headed for the Psalm Hall.
”What? Sold out? But… but there're still four days!” Glinton was a bit pissed off, ”I know Knight Mitch of the Hayne family, and…”
Glinton started listing.
The man sitting in the ticket office pointed at the many citizens around and said, ”I'm sorry, sir. The tickets are sold out. There are just to many people waiting for the concert, and as far as I know, even Knight Mitch also failed to get a ticket.”
Glinton was very discouraged. Looking back, he saw crowds around the Psalm Hall.
In the corner, a journalist from Aalto Weekly quickly wrote down what he saw on his notebook, ”Except for Aalto Music Festival, we've never seen a concert like this that can attract these many people to come to Aalto, as if they have forgotten that the Psalm Hall tickets are not usually for common folks…
”Lucien Evans has become an idol that the whole city or even the whole duchy has been crazy about…
”This has become a phenomenon. Maybe we should create a new word for this…”