Kaya rose to her feet slowly: "To sit aloft in the flies and sing while Siegfried seeks me?" She smiled up at him; "You have come for your bird?"
"No."
Her eyes searched his. "No," she faltered, "did I sing badly? I—I thought—"
"Kaya, the Schultz is ill."
The colour rushed to the girl's face and then fled away again, leaving her pale. "Ill!" she stammered, "You look at me so strangely, dear Master!"
"The Directors have authorized me to wire to Dresden for another soprano."
"Yes—?"
"I refused."
Kaya raised her blue eyes.
"I told them I had a Brünnhilde here on the spot. Can you do it? I have taken the risk. Can you do it? If you sing as you did that night—!"