Certainly his words were justified to outward seeming, though the very hyalescence of Steindal’s undertaking should have warned us that things were not so clear as they looked. Here was a girl of little more than eighteen, yet _the_ agent, one of the few men in the world of music who could make or break an artiste, was binding himself to give her two “star” performances in London, with full orchestra and distinguished vocal soloists, guaranteeing an expenditure of £200 on each concert, one in the autumn and another in the spring of the following year, agreeing to hand her three fourths of the proceeds after (and if) they exceeded the sum named, and, finally, pledging at least thirty public appearances at a fee of twenty guineas each within the ensuing twelve months! Think of it, ye budding geniuses! How the strings would twank and the pens splutter if some moon-frenzy seized impresario or publisher to give _you_ a start like that! Karl, like Mrs. Hutchinson and myself, advised acceptance, though I discovered afterwards that he had a great repugnance to the notion of Maggie appearing on a public platform. That was natural enough, poor fellow. He didn’t want to have all the young sparks about town telling each other, and, what was even less endurable, telling Maggie, that she was the most beautiful creature under the sun. No man, short of an actor, can pretend that he likes his inamorata to face the footlights. Stageland has its own domestic idylls, to be sure--and very sweet and wholesome they oft may be--but they are of a different blend to those which find general acceptance. Yet Maggie, who listened seriously to us all, urged with gentle insistence that no harm would be done if we gave Steindal’s magnanimity another day’s thought, and, when I saw that her mother was quite willing to accede to this request, I backed it up, with the result that Signor Bocci’s eyebrows became very fierce, and he murmured something about the impossibility of his principal keeping the offer open indefinitely. “I do not think my daughter is asking for any unreasonable delay,” replied Mrs. Hutchinson with some spirit. “This is practically our first business interview. Your meeting with us on the landing-stage, though exceedingly kind on your part, can hardly be regarded as giving us an opportunity for full discussion. Therefore, to promise a decision to-morrow is speedy enough in all conscience, seeing that when I wrote to Mr. Steindal eight months ago he never even replied to my letter.” This was a facer for Bocci. Nevertheless, he struggled gamely. “Herr Steindal has a great-a many letters from-a de amateur,” he said. “He hear in New-a-York ’ow Mees Ootchinson blay--”