'It is a disused door,' she said. 'It will not open.' Her tone was so indifferent that Margaret paid little attention to the

words, and turned away to listen to the music which reached her from

the stage. The curtain was up now, and the courtiers were dancing, up

stage; she could see a few of them pass and repass; then she heard the

little round of applause that greeted the Duke's appearance as he went

forward to begin his scene with Borsa. He had many friends in the

invited audience, and was moreover one of the popular light tenors of

the day. Doubtless, the elderly woman of the world who worshipped him

was there in her glory, in a stage-box, ready to split her gloves when

he should sing 'La donna è mobile.' Margaret knew that the wholesale

upholsterer who admired the contralto was not far off, for she had seen

a man bringing in flowers for her, and no one else would have sent them

to her for a mere dress rehearsal.

Margaret was so well used to the opera that the time passed quickly

after the Duke had begun his scene.

The silent maid approached her with a hare's-foot and a saucer, to put

a finishing touch on her face, to which she submitted with

indifference, listening all the time to the music that came to her

through the open door. There was time yet, but she was not impatient

any more; the opera had begun and she was a part of it already, before

she had set her foot upon the stage, before she had seen, for the first

time, the full house before her, instead of the yawning emptiness. It

would be dark when she went on, for Gilda's first entrance is in the

night scene in the courtyard, but it would not be empty, and perhaps it

would not be silent either. It was quite likely that a little

encouraging applause for the young débutante would be heard.

Margaret smiled to herself as she thought of that. She would make them

applaud her in real earnest before the curtain went down, not by way of

good-natured encouragement, but whether they would or not. She was very

sure of herself, and the cadaverous maid watched her with curiosity and

admiration, wondering very much whether such pride might not go before

a fall, and end in a violent stage fright. But then, the object of the

dress rehearsal was to guard against the consequences of such a

misfortune. If Margaret could not sing a note at first, it would not

matter to-day, but it would certainly matter a good deal the day after

to-morrow.




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