GLADYS
I do not know how the majority of people feel when
they sing, but with me the love of music was almost
a passion. I could forget my audience in a moment,
and would be scarcely aware if the room were empty
or crowded.
For example, on this evening I had no idea that the
gentlemen had entered the room, and the first intimation
of the fact was conveyed to me by hearing a ‘Bravo!’
uttered by Mr. Hamilton under his breath.
‘But you must not leave off,’ he went
on, quite earnestly. ’I want you to treat
us as you treat poor Phoebe Locke, and sing one song
after another until you are tired.’
I was about to refuse this request very civilly but
decidedly, for I had no notion of obeying such an
arbitrary command, when Miss Hamilton touched my arm.
’Oh, do please go on singing as Giles says:
it is such a pleasure to hear you.’ And
after this I could no longer refuse.
So I sang one song after another, chiefly from memory,
and sometimes I could hear a soft clapping of hands,
and sometimes there was breathless silence, and a
curious feeling came over me as I sang. I thought
that the only person to whom I was singing was Miss
Hamilton, and that I was pleading with her to tell
me the reason of her sadness, and why there was such
a weary, hopeless look in her eyes, when the world
was so young with her and the God-given gift of beauty
was hers.
I was singing as though she and I were alone in the
room, when Max suddenly whispered in my ear, ‘That
will do, Ursula,’ and as soon as the verse concluded
I left off. But before I could rise Miss Darrell
was beside us.
’Oh, thank you so much, Miss Garston; you are
very amiable to sing so long. Giles was certainly
loud in your praises, but I was hardly prepared for
such a treat. Why, Gladys dear, have you been
crying? What an impressionable child you are!
Miss Garston has not contrived to draw tears from
my eyes.’
But, without making any reply, Miss Hamilton quietly
left the room. Were her eyes wet, I wonder?
Was that why Max stopped me? Did he want to shield
her from her cousin’s sharp scrutiny? If
so, he failed.
‘It is such a pity Gladys is so foolishly sensitive,’
she went on, addressing Uncle Max: ’natures
of this sort are quite unfit for the stern duties
of life. I am quite uneasy about her sometimes,
am I not, Giles? Her spirits are so uneven, and
she has so little strength. Parochial work nearly
killed her, Mr. Cunliffe. You said yourself how
ill she looked in the summer.’
‘True; but I never thought the work hurt her,’
replied Max, rather bluntly. ’I think it
was a mistake for Miss Hamilton to give up all her
duties; occupation is good for every one.’
‘That is my opinion,’ observed Mr. Hamilton.
’Etta is always making a fuss about Gladys’s
health, but I tell her there is not the least reason
for alarm; many people not otherwise delicate take
cold easily. It is true I advised her to give
up evening service for a few weeks until she got stronger.’
