ou shall hear.

School breaks up to-morrow--breaks into little blond and brunette bits,
which will blow or drift off to their respective homes; and I should by
this time be packing to visit the Despards, where I'm supposed to teach
Mimi's young voice to soar, as compensation for holiday hospitality;
but--I'm not packing, because Ellaline Lethbridge has had an attack of
nerves.

You won't be surprised that I stopped two hours over-time to-day to hold
the hand and to stroke the hair of Ellaline. I've done that before, when
she had a pain in her finger, or a cold in her little nose, and sent you
a _petit bleu_ to announce that I couldn't get home for dinner and our
happy hour together. No, you won't be surprised at my stopping--or that
Ellaline should have an attack of nerves. But the reason for the attack
and the cure she wants me to give her: these will surprise you.

Why, it's almost as hard to begin, after all, as if I hadn't been
working industriously up to it for three pages. But here goes!

Dearest, you've often said, and I've agreed with you (or else it was the
other way round), that _nothing_ I could ever do for Ellaline Lethbridge
would be too much; that she couldn't ask any sacrifice of me which would
be too great. Of course, one does say these things until one is tested.
But--I wonder if there is a "but"?

Of course you believe that your one chick has a glorious voice, and that
it's a cruel shame she should be doing nothing better than teaching
other people's chicks to squall, whether their voices are worth
squalling with or not. Perhaps, though, mine mayn't be as remarkable an
organ as we think; and even if you hadn't made me give up trying for
light opera, because I received one Insult (with a capital I) while I
was Madame Larese's favourite pupil, I mightn't in any case have turned
into a great prima donna. I was rather excited and amused by the Insult
myself--it made me feel so interesting, and so like a heroine of
romance; but you didn't approve of it; and we had some hard times,
hadn't we, after all our money was spent in globe-trotting, and lessons
for me from the immortal Larese?

If it hadn't been for meeting Ellaline, and Ellaline falling a victim to
my modest charms, and insisting upon Madame de Maluet's taking me as a
teacher of singing for her "celebrated finishing school for Young
Ladies," what would have become of us, dearest, with you so delicate, me
so young, and both of us so poor and al