Many persons attributed his manner to timidity, and the tender-hearted gave him a vociferous round of applause by way of encouragement.
They were, however, quite mistaken in their surmise.
Timidity was not one of Peace’s characteristics.
There was another and more potent reason for his trepidation.
It was this.
In one of the side boxes sat an elderly gentleman and a young lady.
The features of the last-named were familiar to the violinist.
She was the beautiful and ravishing creature whom he had seen slumbering at the millionaire’s house on the night of the burglary.
She was within a few paces of him, being in one of the lower boxes, and she looked the very personification of female loveliness.
Peace was bewildered. He did play his part in the symphony, and he played it well, but it was a desperate struggle to get through it. Any other man placed in a similar position must certainly have broken down.