"Ah! who will light the Christmas tree for my mother?" she wrote. "No one, no one! She has no child who can bring her the least pleasure. If you knew how she is ever before me! How constantly she is in my thoughts! How she gives me courage to work! How I love her, as I never loved before!" In the midst of this cruel burst of home-sickness, good Mdlle. du Puget, in whose house she was staying, bethought her of an expedient, and the result was seen in the following letter:-- "Christmas Eve passed off better than I expected, for Mdlle. du Puget went to fetch the dear sweet Nissen, and all of a sudden, as I was standing in my room alone, she came creeping in to me. We sang duets together,--but my thoughts strayed homewards." It was beautiful, as time progressed, to note the utter absence of jealousy which characterised this rare artistic friendship between two young students, each of whom had a reputation to ensure, and a name to render famous. In the beginning of 1842, Garcia considered Mdlle. Nissen sufficiently advanced to make her appearance, and in April her _début_ was made at the Italian Opera as Adalgisa in "Norma," this being followed by an immediate engagement for three years under the same management, commencing at a salary of from three to four hundred pounds for the first year. At the conclusion of this she toured Italy, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and England till 1849, when she appeared at Leipsic, and in the following years sang at most of the Gewandhaus concerts there, while in Berlin she almost rivalled Jenny Lind in popularity. In the summer of 1842, the year of Nissen's _début_, Catherine Hayes came from Ireland, by the advice of Lablache, to place herself under Garcia, being at the time seventeen years of age. After four years' study she made her _début_ at Marseilles in "I Puritani." Next year she appeared at Vienna, and in the following seasons sang in various parts of the Continent with success. Her London _début_ was made in 1849, and during that season she appeared at Covent Garden in the _rôles_ of Lucia, Linda, and Amina. She soon became one of the most popular vocalists of her day in England, showing herself to be possessed of remarkable power, while her chief forte lay in the rendering of ballads. The year 1844 saw the advent of three interesting pupils, the names of all curiously enough beginning with the same initial letter,--Barbot, Battaille, and Bussine.