The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, 3 July 1919, Page 3

The Storyteller

THE WILD BIRDS OF KILLEEVY

-•• * v '- ", Rosa Mulholland. ' (By arrangement with Messrs. & Oates, London.) .;■' ".' V •:'"'" (Continued.) r CHAPTER XXXI.—THE PRIMA DONNA.. "I hear that a new ■prima donna makes her debut to-night," said Mr, Honey wood, 'at the Teatro della Scala. Let us go and hear, her sing." "It will probably be a disappointment," he added. "All kinds of people make their debut here, who are utter failures, : and never heard of again." v '>" ' i: ,.:;-Kevin heard these words with a strange mixture of feelings. He remembered the old days when his nightly haunt was the theatre, when he never entered one without a-hope of seeing Fanchea, and never left it without despair in his heart. Pie had long since made up .his mind that. not in such a place was he to look for the reappearance of the lost one. If Fanchea had been all these years receiving a musical education in Italy, he must have discovered the fact, considering all the inquiries he had made. Now-the idea that this; debutante might prove to be the little singer of Killeevy just presented itself to his mind to be coldly put aside. He had been too- often beguiled by such fancies, too often and' too bitterly disappointed to be able to tolerate such vagaries of hope any more. Yet he was not unwilling to pay this, visit to the theatre. Music had always a powerful fascination for him. -

As they took their seats, our friends had no expectation of a brilliant entertainment; the vast house seemed but imperfectly lighted, and Was still more imperfectly filled. They had not thought of inquiring what the opera was to be, and found it was "Lohengrin." They had all heard Wagner's great opera in London, and expected-but little excitement from the long performance. Mr. Honey wood grumbled a little, but Kevin declared he was willing to sit it out. ■ "The scenery, the accessories will all be so bad," said the fastidious Thistleton, "even if the debutante be equal to the part of Elsa."

The performance began. The great crowd of chorus singers- did their duty well ; the scenery was better; than might have been expected. Evidently every effort had been made to • bring out this young debutante with eclat. Elsa herself was a slight youthful figure in white, with a mantle of dark hair hanging upon her shoulders. - . "A.fair Elsa would have been better," said Honeywood. • ■ ; -■ : :.' -

■•'■=• "She -isif air- enough, except -her -hair, said S Kevin. "Exceedingly fair and .pale. Actresses generally put a little color:on their cheeks, but she has none.". ¥i.

"Probably we should see it if we had a glass," said Honeywood. So little had they intended visiting theatres during their travels that they had not thought of putting an opera-glass among the baggage. Of so little importance was their present visit that they had j forgotten the desirability of procuring one. .fif" ': '"She turns 5 her face too much'from the audience]--said Honeywood;;-.;!.'1 can scarcely see what she is like." At first sight of the slight; r dark-haired figure, Kevin had felt a quiver of agitation for which he was not unprepared> The old thought "would occur to him, "Should this be Fanchea?" When they spoke of _ her hair he had said, "She is an Italian, of course. They will get her a fair wig by-and-by if she proves worthy of it." ....;..;.- ■ h ■s■'■'■

I Saying this lightly, he tried to smile away the unreasonable fancy that was striving to gain sway over his mind. Nevertheless, he found himself comparing tha fpflt.iirfld anil Tr«i*m and .'tirroaf urn. !'nf '■: +.VIO - -.T/M-i+l.iNil g.~ " T" —:>•• ": —; —"» : ?~b""*"^*r .""■'■ '"■*-*■" :j**«*«""^* songstress with the ideal maiden into whom Fanchea had grown. . IS},'' '■"£,¥ ~U /, ~ ~-~ "

P~~~That~ would be about the height he - had "imagined f her. The faceah, how, could he be sure of ■ her linea- " ments 'now ?". -, This face "was i fair and pure, ! with " large dark eyes. The: hair "was not curled 'in. little cloudy rings about the temples, the cheeks were not rosy, like those of the little girl he had known. The long waving stresses were swept back from the fair, child-like, and yet intellectual forehead, giving to the pale, oval face a dignified look which he .could hardly-associate with the winning "and fantastic little peasant of Killeevy. And yet, and yet. Nay, what folly was this ! He involuntarily closed his eyes, and held his breath to listen. - It was the moment when the lest notes of the silver trumpet's call having died away, and no champion having appeared for the forlorn little maid, Elsa flies and kneels before the king, craving him to command yet another blast to be sounded in her favor, yet another aerial summons to be uttered by those silver throats, to bring the unknown, yet confidentlyexpected, hero in all his warlike splendor, and with all his chivalrous eagerness, to her side. A few sweet, tremulous, bird-notes quivered on the ear, and Kevin turned pale. The notes reminded him strangely of the "Hymn of the Virgin Triumphant," and the voice, ah, how cruelly like it was to the child-voice that so often sung that song. He covered his face with his hand and listened. Ah, if it were Fanchea ! But he had grown too wise by experience to give himself up to the thought that this dream, unlike all others that had. gone before it, might prove true. He remembered how unusually occupied his mind had been* with her all day, how he had striven to recall her face, her tones, and, to bestow them on an ideal maiden whom his imagination had conjured to his side. All this had colored his thoughts, had predisposed him to the peculiar torture which he was suffering now. No, it was not Fan; only some fair and rare Italian, who would yet make a sensation in the great world.

"It is a rich voice," said Honeywood. "Treasuretrove to some impresario."

..The opera proceeded. Kevin sat forward now, gazing- intently on the stage, hearing nothing through all the mighty storm of music but one voice, seeing nothing but the features and expressions of one face, the movements and gestures of one form. When the curtain'fell upon the first act, a burst of rapturous applause told the satisfaction of the audience, and he "'■'-'back' in his seat with a sigh of impatience at his own bewitchment. The Signora Francesca! Doubtless any one of the audience could tell him all about her. : Well, he was'not going to ask. "She is a charming young creature," said Honeywood, ''with a triumphant future, if I do not mistake. It is curious," he added, reflectively, "but I fancy I have both seen the face and heard the voice before." Kevin started at these words, and turned on him an eager look, which must have attracted notice, only that Mr. Honey wood had turned even as he spoke, and was looking at the faces in the seats above them. His own memory suggested a meaning of this fancy of his friend gipsy entertainment at which Honeywood had been present, at which the child Fanchea had danced and- sung. Completely carried away by this suggestion, he was about to start up and rush away to the green-room of the theatre to satisfy himself at once, when the curtain flew up once more, and the opera went on. .■■ , _ .->. ~ The ; music-story proceeded, and gradually unfolded its plot. Elsa saw her brother return, flew to meet him, and v trilled her delight at seeing him again. Leading him by the hand, she approached nearer to the front of the stage than she had yet done, and Fanchea, who had been singing with a courage that astonished herself, now expressed Elsa's rapture with the most charming naivete. This opera had been chosen at her own desire for her first : appearance. The story of it had fascinated her imagination, and she did not feel herself alone in this vast crowd of singers, was not so nervous as she should have been in coming forth to sing solos, as in any other opera. She had readily thrown herself

into the part of Elsa: Something in the poetic story she had associagfed with her own in a way unexplained to herself; the,loss of the brother, the loneliness of the sister. As sjje drew the brother forward, and sang her welcome to him she seemed to' look to where Kevin was sitting.- ,1 v r— ' '., *'" Her'glance directed towards himself (as he fancied), her smile, a peculiar note in her * voice at the moment smote upon Kevins-Was; he going crazy, or was it really Fan, and :;had^sheirecognised' him? He turned deadly pale, and from that instant till the moment when Elsa fell prone on the riverbank while her hero sailed away, he scarcely drew breath nor removed his eyes . from her face. \\i r.r-: ■:.:■-.'. ■■;■■■ : r ;- r >; t J? .■ The curtain finally descended amidst the rapturous plaudits of the now well-filled house, and murmurs of delight were on every tongue. - .•.-■...:•' "What is the matter with you?" said Honeywood to Kevin. "You look white. Are you ill?" : "I have got a surprise," said Kevin. "I think I have seen a friend." . ■•-.; : ,- ; '■-■,.. ../. "Ah, well. You will follow me at your leisure, I suppose," said Mr-. Honeyltood, wondering at his altered manner, and thinking he had recognised' some acquaintance among the audience. yjn Uiiom. "What can be wrong?" he thought, seeing Kevin disappear with extraordinary quickness. ' "Something beyond the chance sight of an acquaintance has affected him." :• In the meantime Kevin had rushed out into the street, and made his way behind the scenes of the theatre. He inquired for the 'prima donna, the Signora Francesca, and learned that she had already left the place. A carriage had been in waiting for her, and as soon as the performance w-as over her friends had taken her away.

He asked for her address, and hurried along the street, 'passing through crowds of pleasure-takers who made the streets gay with a gaiety. scarcely seen in Milan under daylight skies. Bevies of fair maidens met him, flirting their fans, laughing and chattering, while the cool night' air stirred their black lace mantillas and drew perfume from the roses that fastened the fluttering drapery to their still blacker, hair. Crowds of lively people sat on the pavement at .little marble tables, eating ices the tall houses showed few lights; all the inhabitants were abroad ; "but the. lower part of the streets shone like a ballroom. Above all, overhead the dark, lofty roofs, hung the purple sky, alive with great palpitating stars. Kevin saw nothing around him as he hurried along the streets to the. house that had received the Signora Francesca. Every obstacle' in his way was maddening to him ; yet the easy walk of the saunterers he met was no way disturbed ; nobody save himself hurried along, nobody was in a stated of excitement although it was possible that Fanchea might be found ! | Arrived at the house, he suddenly paused, with a shocked sense of his own rudeness, his own thoughtlessness. Every light was out; the house was apparently shut up fc)r the night. What wild .folly-had brought him at this unseemly hour to thrust himself, in so-ex-cited a condition, perhaps into the presence of a stranger? The wearied 'prima donna, '-'-*-theyouthful»and lovely girl who had bewitched his fancy ' and entwined herself with his hopes, was probably already enjoying her hardly-earned rest. He turned away, and began pacing up and down, determined to \ wait till morning should give a rational appearance to his visit. Hour after hour passed, and all the 1 while he was trying to reason 'out the probabilities" of the case, to persuade himself to take the matter quietly, to be prepared If or a disappointment. ' I . He would, of course, be denied access to the signora unless he could give a satisfactory reason for his visit. He must ; not rush in upon her like a wild man, exclaiming, y "Is this Fanchea?" and so run the risk of being taken for a maniac by complete strangers. :In a few simple words he must tell the story of his hopes and fears; and in fancy he now made his appeal^'to

—Fan—or the unknown sister who had* assumed, personality in his mind. r , r | v. ■ %wWWM ■0 When morning appeared, however, and looking V round he saw that the pleasure-takers >of the.; s night had vanished, "'and that quite another! order. of beings filled the streets, he felt suddenly conscious of what a strange appearance he should present in a lady's morn-.,, ing room, in his evening dress, and with his pale and/" jaded face. He must return to the .hotel and make ; himself .presentable, deferring his visit to a proper hour of the day. . .- ; . . A ; Carrying out this intention, he dressed, break- . fasted, and . tried,,to rest a little,, but could not. ~ The time seemed, .'to:: lag wonderfully ...,,_ At last he made up / his" ""'mind' that the, moment had come when he might .legitimately relieve his suspense. .. Setting out again, he. paused before the house in front of which he had paced . throughout the night. ~, ;-./:-; . - .., ... "The . Signora . Francesca ■- Does sho live here?" ]l ;;.,;,Yes,'.' said the servant. ~ She ' had ; been . there, .but she was. gone. ;/.j; "Impossible!":. cried Kevin, with a sense of some ; overwhelming fatality. "Oh, yes, gone. She and her lady friend left very early this morning for the country. The signorina j suffered much from fatigue lately, and the departure was planned for the earliest moment after the performance." "Where have they gone? When will they return?" } .- % "They have not left their address. They wished to" be unmolested for a few days to come." -; "For.a few days?" " ' /- "After that they will write here for their letters. ■ The gentleman can call in about a week, when we shall'be" happy to give him the address." 7 "One more word. Have you any idea of what part of the country they have gone to?" "Somewhere between this and Pavia, I believe. More I do not know." ~ Meantime Fan had passed through her great trial" in the most triumphant manner, giving entire satisfaction to her guardians. The success of her debut was unquestioned, and already she had received the offer of a first-rate engagement to sing in Paris. But before this matter had been fully discussed, before Lord Wilderspin and Herr Ha'rfeuspieler had met on the day after the performance, early in the cool of the morning following that exciting evening, Fan and the signora had stolen away from the city to a little country retreat that had been prepared for them. At Fanchea's earliest request, arrangements had been made for this hasty flight after her public appearance. She had been living in a fever of excitement for some time before the event;'-as the day approached, she had felt more and more unwillingness to appear on the stage, and her/success; had 1 been bought by a tremendous effort at self-conquest. "Let us get away the moment it is over," she had implored the signora; "away into the green country, away from all the crowds of faces, where we shall not know whether I have failed or succeeded." ,-•; She had not told the signora that part of her excitement was due the fact that she expected to see Kevin among the audience. She felt that until the great trial was over, she could not speak on the subject of her meeting with ; her 'childhood's friend. She was already devoured by more excitement than she well knew-how to master ; and felt that to speak,. or even to'think, much of Kevin would be to give way and break down. Nevertheless she;:had hoped to see him on the terrible night, and she had not seen him. Her friends, Lord Wilderspin and/Herr Harfenspieler, had seen him, recognising him through his companion, - whom they knew; 'and each had thanked Heaven that Fanchea had been left in ignorance of his presence in Milan. They were also pleased that her request had been acceded to, and r that she would at once be removed from the likelihood of a meeting with him. || \ £|D^| 'He' is really a distinguished-looking young man said Lord Wilderspin. "My mind misgives me..for. ' \?e.p.ninfr them anart." :'.'']

.•jgg& You ■-. cannot; keepVthem apart.jlonser«than®Eate wills," said the": Harfenspieler, "Up to this, .1 believe, fcyour aefciohf has produced nothing "but good to both." _ r . ° PlliS' hope so/' said the- i old lord, who, somehow, of late—ever since he had seen her eyes so red with crying—had . begun to think that Fan ; was ; not the j sort of crea- ' ture to be happy on a stage, and that home was the best place for a woman, after p. all. As for his own. hobby, had he not ridden it to his heart's content? - He had proved his discrimination in discovering a first-rate ; voice, and forcing;all good judges,,as well as the public, to acknowledge that it was so.-; She-had-: the world . now at her feet, if only she would choose to live for the world. "„ '-;..,,,«.. ~.-!.-: <>■:. - ; ->.v. ■'.•-■.--,-:• :-'-vv-:;':V', r;x i=)7..* "fjW

' ; But the old musician took a different view of the case. r ,He had. labored, not for the gratification ofv a whim, but that art might be glorified ,/. through his means. So far from being content with the result, and willing .to turn from this achieved-success, because the crowd had ; approved his work, he saw himself now only on the first step towards attaining, his desire. The long, brilliant career which he saw opening before his pupil could alone repay him for the efforts of the * last seven years, and that she should pursue it every step of the way, ever improving, ripening, gathering fresh, power as she went, and : " pouring out ■ the riches of her maturity and experience on the altar of art, for the increase and exaltation of its worship,' was the burning desire of his soul. He turned away from Lord Wilderspin with an impatient frown, ; as his lordship's I eyes kept flitting restlessly from Elsa on the stage to Kevin sitting wrapped in his corner among the " audience. v "" 7;.""- '■•''." "By Jove, I think he recognises her!" muttered his lordship; and Herr Harfenspieler could bear it no longer, but went off to mount guard and prevent the possibility of Kevin's sudden appearance behind the scenes, to hurry her away the moment the performance Was over. ,--,. 5 ,,'..>.;:-^^r>v:.-:-3=

He had already planned to send" her off early the next morning to the country retreat he had chosen for her, and to keep her there till her strength might be restored, and till Kevin should have left Milan. Fan, sadly disappointed that Kevin had not crossed her path again, had almost persuaded |herself K that it was in a dream she had seen him walk through the cathedral. She felt too tired to oppose Herr Harfenspieler, and dared not claim the sympathy of any of the people around her. As she/traveiled by the signora's side towards their : temporary ■ home near Pavia, she could only pray and; hope that Providence would take up her cause',- and again bring her friend, to her side. jf They found their country hiding-place a little house wrapped-in: vines,'-'and roses and that evening Pan wandered about the garden pondering deeply on the strange chances of life. Plow noble, how good Kevin had looked: just as her dreams had so often pictured him to her! And then her thoughts went back to their distant island, so distant both as to time and place, to the birds, to his mother's house, to Killeevy Mountain. She remembered Killeevy as she had seen it last, with the moon overhanging the cliffs, the ocean; the lighted gipsy tents, the red shine glowing out of the shadows under the crown of the hill from hearthstones of humble. though dearly-loved homes. : -..| Only eight years ago, and yet what a lifetime j it seemed to Fan. What a wonderful Fate it was that had withdrawn them both from that lowly peasant life, to educate and place them in a completely different sphere in the world. That they never could He peasants on Killeevy Mountain again she knew j too well; but they could visit, and cherish, and love those who had long ago been good to them there. *•■ !» Her whole past x life lay before her as upon on© curious page, and musing over it she easily believed herself a child again. _. t ]| & "And is this indeed me—little Irish me—the person who has been singing, not to a gipsy's crowd, bulb to a world of great people in a theatre in Italy, who .has been promised fame, success, wealth, such as few ever attain to? Ah. how will Kevin ever believe it?

I wanted to sing for' nobody but him; and. I am still. the ß same.- I would a rather keep singing to him in a little quiet spot like this, with the flowers, and " the birds, and the stillness all around us, and the heavens •over our heads, than make ever so great a sensation among the finest people in the world." , i--; The next morning she looked round for something to do, and said:—"Mamzelle, let us pay a visit to the Certosa ! It is not far from here!, and I want to see it." • ■ - «*; ; - -■■ ■ ■-■ -.- , : . Mamzelle yielded- to her desire. And to the Certosa they went. (To bo continued.)