sing in London people ask ‘em why. I wanted to jump at the offer, but I pretended not to be eager. Up till then she had confined herself to French operas; so I said that London wouldn’t stand an exclusively French repertoire from any one, and would she sing in ‘Lohengrin.’ She would. I suggested that she should open with ‘Lohengrin,’ and she agreed. The price was stiffish, but I didn’t quarrel with that. I never drive bargains. She is twenty-two now, or twenty-three; in a few more years she will want five hundred pounds a night, and I shall have to pay it.”

“And how did she meet you?”

“With just the same cold politeness. And I understand her less than ever.”

“She isn’t English, I suppose?”