Very well. But how many girls
have you known who have succeeded?''
Cyrilla hesitatingly confessed that she had known
none.
``Yet you've known scores who've tried.''
``But they didn't fail because they didn't work enough.
Many of them worked too much.''
Mildred laughed. ``How do you know why they
failed?'' said she. ``You haven't thought about it as
I have. You haven't LIVED it. Cyrilla, I served my
apprenticeship at listening to nonsense about careers.
I want to have nothing to do with inspiration, and
artistic temperament, and spontaneous genius, and all
the rest of the lies. Moldini and I know what we are
about. So I'm living as those who have succeeded lived
and not as those who have failed.''
Cyrilla was silenced, but not convinced. The
amazing improvement in Mildred's health, the splendid slim
strength and suppleness of her body, the new and stable
glories of her voice--all these she knew about, but they
did not convince her. She believed in work, in hard
work, but to her work meant the music itself.
Pages:
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531