"_Eh bien?_" Morinski calls, with some irritation.
"I have heard enough," the other declares, decidedly. "Haven't you, Morinski? It is a perfectly impossible way to sing,--a perfectly impossible way!"
"Do not be discouraged, Fräulein," says Morinski, reassuringly. "Your voice is superb, full, soft,--one of the finest that I have heard for a long time."
"I do not say no, Morinski," the leader interposes, with the croak of a raven, "but she is absolutely lacking in rhythm, routine, and aplomb."
"She needs a good teacher," says Morinski.
"The teacher has nothing to do with it!" shouts the leader, and with an annihilating stare at Stella he sums up his judgment of her in the words, "_C'est une femme du monde_. You will never make a singer of her!" Then, with the energy that characterizes his every movement, he sets about trying to repair the injury he has just done to his silk hat by brushing it the wrong way.
Poor Stella's eyes fill with tears. Morinski takes both her hands:
"Do not be discouraged, I beg of you, my dear mademoiselle, I entreat;" and with an ardent glance at her delicate face he assures her, "Believe me, you have great qualifications for success on the stage."
"Trust to my experience,--the experience of forty years; you never will succeed on the stage!" shouts the Italian.
"Never mind what he says," Morinski whispers. "I will do all I can for you. I shall take great pleasure in superintending your lessons personally."
But the leader has sharp ears: "_Pas de bêtises_, Morinski!" He has put on his hat, and is searching with characteristic eagerness in all his pockets. "There is my card," he says, at last, drawing it forth and handing it to the Baroness. "If you want your daughter taught to sing, take her to della Seggiola, Rue Lamartine, No ----, the singing-teacher of the Faubourg Saint-Germain and the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, precisely what you want. Refer to me if you like; he will make his charges reasonable for you. _Dio mio_, how hungry I am! _Allons_, Morinski!"
This is the exact history of Stella Meineck's trial of her voice at the lyric opera in Paris.
The Baroness has just enough sense and prudence left not to allow Stella to take lessons of Morinski.
Following the advice of the energetic Italian, she takes her daughter to Signor della Seggiola.