Gambier might, and to
determine to see whether it was so.

By this manoeuvre, Wilfrid prepared for himself a defender when the
charge was brought against him.

Mr. Pericles was thunderstruck on hearing Emilia refuse to go to Italy. A
scene of tragic denunciation on the one hand, and stubborn decision on
the other, ensued.

"I shall not mind zis" (he spoke of Love and the awakening of the female
heart) "not when you are trained. It is good, zen, and you have fire from
it. But, now! little fool, I say, it is too airly--too airly! How shall
you learn--eh? with your brain upon a man? And your voice, little fool, a
thing of caprice, zat comes and goes as he will, not you will. Hein? like
a barrel-organ, which he turns ze handle.--Mon Dieu! Why did I leave
her?" Mr. Pericles struck his brow with his wrist, clutching at the long
thin slice of hair that did greasy duty for the departed crop on his
poll. "Did I not know it was a woman? And so you are, what you say, in
lofe."

Emilia replied: "I have not said so," with exasperating coolness.

"You have your eye on a man. And I know him, zat man! When he is tired of
you--whiff, away you go, a puff of smoke! And you zat I should make a
Queen of Opera! A Queen? You shall have more rule zan twenty
Queens--forty! See" (Mr. Pericles made his hand go like an aspen-leaf
from his uplifted wrist); "So you shall set ze hearts of sossands! To
dream of you, to adore you! and flowers, flowers everywhere, on your
head, at your feet. You choose your lofer from ze world. A husband, if it
is your taste. Bose, if you please. Zen, I say, you shall, you shall lofe
a man. Let him tease and sting--ah! it will be magnifique: Aha! ze voice
will sharpen, go deep; yeas! to be a tale of blood. Lofe till you could
stab yourself:--Brava! But now? Little fool, I say!"

Emilia believed that she was verily forfeiting an empire. Her face wore a
soft look of delight. This renunciation of a splendid destiny for
Wilfrid's sake, seemed to make her worthier of him, and as Mr. Pericles
unrolled the list of her rejected treasures, her bosom heaved without a
regret.

"Ha!" Mr. Pericles flung away from her: "go and be a little gutter-girl!"

The musical connoisseur drew on his own disappointment alone for
eloquence. Had he been thinking of her, he might have touched cunningly
on her love for Italy. Music was the passion of the man; and a
millionaire's passion is something that can make a stir. He knew that in
Em