The 28th was fixed for the concert at Mrs. Dobson’s. Joan would have liked to write to Jack Leclerc and ask him to recommend the artists, but she wasn’t sure how he would take it, and besides, she did not know his address. Of course she could have asked Clara, but somehow she did not like to.
As Lady Whigham had specially asked Mrs. Dobson to engage performers she was interested in, there was no difficulty and the day of the concert arrived.
Among the first arrivals were Lady and Miss Whigham, attended by Jack Leclerc.
Mrs. Dobson, wreathed in smiles, with Maud at her right hand, received the guests. Effie gave them tea and Joan showed them to their places.
There were five “artists.” Three young men opened the performance with a trio for piano, violin, and ‘cello. The ladies who had had tea knitted and conversed. When the performance was over they went into raptures about it. A middle-aged and melancholy-looking man with a beard followed. He was the feature of the occasion, having been strongly recommended by Lady Whigham as a “finished and accomplished vocalist.” He sang a series of very modern French songs.
“It sounds to me as if something was wrong,” commented Mrs. Dobson to Maud, who replied—
“Sh! mamma, they’re not supposed to have any tune.”
Lady Whigham in the front seat was applauding vigorously, so every one else, especially Mrs. Dobson, did the same, with the result that the accomplished vocalist sang them all over again, making exactly the same faces.
After that an old lady in a yellow wig livened things up with a rendering of Tosti’s “Good-bye” in a cracked contralto. While the audience was applauding, Joan noticed that Jack Leclerc got up. He was making his way gently to the door, evidently anxious to escape observation. Her heart was in her mouth, but she sat on stonily, determined that he should not know she had seen him.