"Oh!" said Olympia. "It is to that gentleman we owe the honor of this visit?"
"Yes," answered Clara. "He escorted me here. Being Lady Hope's brother, it was proper, you understand."
Olympia was looking in Clara's face. The girl pleased her. The bright mobility of her features, the graceful gestures with which she emphasized her expressions, charmed the experienced actress.
"Ah, if my daughter had your abandon!" she exclaimed, with enthusiasm.
"Or if I had her sweet dignity. But fortune is sometimes very perverse. Now I should glory in the applause which makes her faint away."
"Ah! she is sensitive as a child, proud as a duchess; but, where we have plenty of genius, these things only serve to brighten it. I shall take Caroline into my own training. When you come to hear her sing again, it will be a different affair."
"Oh, madam, do not ask it!" cried Caroline, in a panic. "I never, never can go on to that stage again!"
"We shall see," answered Olympia, blandly. "Here comes the call-boy; I must say adieu, with many thanks for this visit."
"But I have a request to make. You will give her time?"
"Oh! yes, my lady. She shall have sufficient time."