“No,” said the girl, laughing,--“or at any rate, I shall soon
recover my equanimity. It is very hard to please a man who plays
himself, you know.”
“Or who says he plays,” observed Mr. Harrison. “He _didn't_ play,
you notice.”
Helen was pleased to fancy that there might be wisdom in the remark.
“Let us change the subject,” she said more cheerfully. “It is best
to forget things that make one feel uncomfortable.”
“I'll leave the finding of a new topic to you,” replied the other,
with graciousness which did a little more to restore Helen's
self-esteem. “I have a very humble opinion of my own conversation.”
“Do you like mine?” the girl asked with a laugh.
“I do, indeed,” said Mr. Harrison with equally pleasing frankness.
“I was as interested as could be in the story that you were telling
me when we were stopped.”
“Well, we'll begin where we left off!” exclaimed Helen, and felt as
if she had suddenly discovered a doorway leading from a prison. She
found it easy to forget the recent events after that, and Mr.
Harrison grew more tolerable to her every moment now that the other
was gone; her self-possession came back to her quickly as she read
his admiration in his eyes. Besides that, it was impossible to
forget for very long that Mr. Harrison was a multi-millionaire, and
the object of the envious glances of every other girl in the room;
and so when Aunt Polly returned a while later she found the
conversation between the two progressing very well, and in fact
almost as much enjoyed by both as it had been the first time. After
waiting a few minutes she came to ask Helen to sing for the company,
a treat which she had reserved until the last.
Helen's buoyant nature had by that time flung all her doubts behind
her, and this last excitement was all that was needed to sweep her
away entirely again. She went to the piano as exulting as ever in
her command of it and in the homage which it brought her. She sang
an arrangement of the “Preislied,” and she sang it with all the
energy and enthusiasm she possessed; partly because she had a really
good voice and enjoyed the song, and partly because an audience
appreciates singing more easily than any other kind of music. She
really scored the success of the evening. Everybody was as
enthusiastic as the limits of good taste allowed, and Helen was
compelled, not in the least against her will, to sing again and
again. While she was laughing with happiness and triumph, something
brought, back “Wohin” to her mind, and she sang it again, quite as
gaily as she had sung it by the streamlet with Arthur. It was enough
to delight even the dullest, and perhaps if Mr. Howard had been
there even he would have applauded a little.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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