When he had finished he got up from the piano with a flushed face and, again speaking in a boyish and almost naive manner, said quickly:
"There, that gives you an idea of the sort of thing I do and care about doing. For, of course, I never will attempt any subject that doesn't thoroughly interest me."
He stood for a moment, not looking toward Mrs. Mansfield; then, as if struggling against an inward reluctance, he again sat down on the settle.
"Have you orchestrated it?" she asked.
"Yes. I've just finished the orchestration."
"Surely you want to hear it given with voices and the orchestra? Frankly, I won't believe you if you say you don't."
"I do."
The reluctance seemed to fade out of him.
"The fact is I'm torn between the desire to hear my things and a mighty distaste for publicity."