Excerpt from Short Stories: A Magazine of Select Fiction, July August September 1903 With a protesting laugh and a shrug Marot, composer, musician, master of vocal training. And erstwhile opera singer, allowed himself to be gently guided through the doorway of the Cafe Chantant, in which Lery found places at a small table well in the rear. You are as unmanageable as ever, and as full of whims. Marot remarked, and leaned back to view the dance just ending, with an indulgent smile. He talked without cessation through the next chanson populaire, with one hand on the shoulder of Lery, who lis tened and gazed at him affectionately. They forgo' time and place in their reminiscences, in their interested eager exchange of opinions which had diverged widely since their last meeting; until a sudden hush in the room, and a few piano notes from a voice of melting sweetness startled them to silence. It was a simple and touching ballad sung by a woman whom Lery could not have pronounced either plain or beautiful, so simple was her dress, so modest her lowered eyes, so quiet yet full of tremulous strength the easy legato of her style. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.