'' He laughed delightedly. ``Yes, it is all
there--in two pages. But do not weep, dear lady,
because you will never sing them perfectly. You will do
very well if-- Always that if, remember! Now, let
us see. Take this, sit in the chair, and begin. Don't
bother about me. I expect nothing. Just do the best
you can.''
Desperation, when it falls short of despair, is the
best word for achievement. Mildred's voice, especially
at the outset, was far from perfect condition. Her
high notes, which had never been developed properly,
were almost bad. But she acquitted herself admirably
from the standpoint of showing what her possibilities
were. And Moldini, unkempt, almost unclean, but as
natural and simple and human a soul as ever paid the
penalties of poverty and obscurity and friendlessness
for being natural and simple and human, exactly suited
her peculiar temperament. She knew that he liked her,
that he believed in her; she knew that he was as
sympathetic toward her as her own self, that there was no
meanness anywhere in him.
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