metwithherattherailwaystation。Shewasbehindthecounterinarefreshment—room，poorinnocent，rinsingwine—glasses，andsingingoverherwork。GoodHeavens，suchsinging！Heruppernoteselectrifiedme。Isaidtomyself；’Hereisabornprimadonna——Iwillbringherout！’SheisthethirdIhavebroughtoutinmytime。IshalltakehertoItalywhenhereducationissufficientlyadvanced，andperfectheratMilan。Inthatunsophisticatedgirl，mydearlady，youseeoneofthefutureQueensofSong。Listen！Sheisbeginningherscales。Whatavoice！Brava！Brava！Bravissima！\"
ThehighsopranonotesofthefutureQueenofSongrangthroughthehouseashespoke。Oftheloudnessoftheyounglady’svoicetherecouldbenosortofdoubt。Thesweetnessandthepurityofitadmitted，inmyopinion，ofconsiderabledispute。
Havingsaidthepolitewordswhichtheoccasionrenderednecessary，IventuredtorecallMajorFitz—Davidtothesubjectindiscussionbetweenuswhenhisvisitorhadenteredtheroom。
TheMajorwasveryunwillingtoreturntotheperiloustopiconwhichwehadjusttouchedwhentheinterruptionoccurred。Hebeattimewithhisforefingertothesingingupstairs；heaskedmeabout_my_voice，andwhetherIsang；heremarkedthatlifewouldbeintolerabletohimwithoutLoveandArt。Amaninmyplacewouldhavelostallpatience，andwouldhavegivenupthestruggleindisgust。Beingawoman，andhavingmyendinview，myresolutionwasinvincible。IfairlyworeouttheMajor’sresistance，andcompelledhimtosurrenderatdiscretion。Itisonlyjusticetoaddthat，whenhedidmakeuphismindtospeaktomeagainofEustace，hespokefrankly，andspoketothepoint。
\"Ihaveknownyourhusband，\"hebegan，\"sincethetimewhenhewasaboy。Atacertainperiodofhispastlifeaterriblemisfortunefelluponhim。Thesecretofthatmisfortuneisknowntohisfriends，andisreligiouslykeptbyhisfriends。ItisthesecretthatheiskeepingfromYou。Hewillnevertellittoyouaslongashelives。Andhehasbound_me_nottotellit，underapromisegivenonmywordofhonor。Youwished，dearMrs。