Madame De Rosa led her quickly down a dark corridor and a moment later

she found herself in a dazzling blaze of light, in the prima donna's

dressing-room.

The ceiling was low, the walls were white, and innumerable electric

lamps, with no shades, filled the place with a blinding glare. It all

looked bare and uncomfortable, and very untidy. There was a

toilet-table, covered with little pots of grease and paint, and

well-worn pads and hare's-feet, and vast stores of hairpins, besides a

quantity of rings and jewels of great value, all lying together in

bowls in the midst of the confusion. A tall mirror stood on one side,

with wing mirrors on hinges, and bunches of lamps that could be moved

about. On one of the walls half-a-dozen theatrical gowns and cloaks

hung limply from pegs. Two large trunks were open and empty not far

from the door. The air was hot and hard to breathe, and smelt of many

things.

There were three people in the room when the two visitors entered;

there was a very tall maid with an appallingly cadaverous face and

shiny black hair, and there was a short fat maid who grinned and showed

good teeth at Madame De Rosa. Both wore black and had white aprons, and

both were perspiring profusely. The third person was an elderly man in

evening dress, who rose and shook hands with the retired singer, and

bowed to Margaret. He seemed to be a very quiet, unobtrusive man, who

was nevertheless perfectly at his ease, and he somehow conveyed the

impression that he must be always dressed for the evening, in a

perfectly new coat, a brand-new shirt, a white waistcoat never worn

before, and a made tie. Perhaps it was the made tie that introduced a

certain disquieting element in his otherwise highly correct appearance.

He wore his faded fair hair very short, and his greyish yellow beard

was trimmed in a point. His fat hands were incased in tight white

gloves. His pale eyes looked quietly through his glasses and made one

think of the eyes of a big fish in an aquarium when it swims up and

pushes its nose against the plate-glass front of the tank to look at

visitors.

The eyes examined Margaret attentively.

'Monsieur Schreiermeyer, this is Miss Donne, my pupil,' said Madame De

Rosa.

'Enchanted,' mumbled the manager.

He continued to scrutinise the young girl's face, and he looked so much

like a doctor that she felt as if he were going to feel her pulse and

tell her to put out her tongue. At the thought, she smiled pleasantly.




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