"Most of the great singers come from the lower classes—from people who do manual labor. They did manual labor in their youth. You girls of the better class have to overcome that handicap."
"But so many of the great singers are fat."
"Yes, and under that fat you'll find great ropes of muscle—like a blacksmith."
"What Keith meant," she said. "I wonder— Why do I catch cold so easily? Why do I almost always have a slight catch in the throat? Have you noticed that I nearly always have to clear my throat just a little?"
Her expression held him. He hesitated, tried to evade, gave it up. "Until that passes, you can never hope to be a thoroughly reliable singer," said he.
"That is, I can't hope to make a career?"
His silence was assent.
"But I have the voice?"
"You have the voice."
"An unusual voice?"