"I'd think of Djenan-el-Maqui, and wish I was a composer instead of a singer—for a fifth of a minute."
"Oh!" she said reproachfully. "Only a fifth!"
"I know. It wasn't long. But you see I'm born to sing, so I'm bound to love it more than anything else. Making a noise—oh, it's rare!"
He opened his mouth and ran up a scale to the high A.
"I can get there pretty well now, don't you think?"
"Splendid! Your voice gets bigger and bigger!" she said, with real enthusiasm. "But it's almost—"
He stopped her.
"I know what you're going to say; but I shall always be a baritone. If you knew as much as I do about baritones turned into tenors, you'd say, 'Leave it alone, my boy!' and that's what I'm going to do. Now what about these flowers? It is good to be here."
Claude did not join Alston Lake in making holiday. Indeed, Charmian noticed that he was working much harder than usual, as if Lake's coming had been an incentive to him.
"I don't apologize to you, Alston," he said.