E. Phillips Oppenheim

“ Madame received him on the piazza and Cardinge, who had left a little time before, was fetched back in hot haste by Claire.
“Madame,” Mr. Stuttaker began, “I am the business manager of Rapasto.”
“Is that so?” Madame rejoined. “I should scarcely have thought that he needed one.”
Mr. Stuttaker smiled a superior smile.
“Dear Madame,” he said, “you probably lead a retired life. You have no idea of the consequence in the world which a man like our great friend has achieved. There is not an artist in the universe who does not look upon it as an event when Rapasto sings.” ”

“ I never dreamed—I never believed it possible that I should ever find any one in the world who would dare to ask me to sing in a Casino for charity at twenty francs a head. It is the most ghastly suggestion—a nightmare!”
“Really!” Madame exclaimed with upraised eyebrows, “I am afraid you will have to explain yourself a little.”
“Explain myself!” Rapasto groaned. “It is a terrible thing to be confronted with ignorance so profound—such callousness toward the greatest art in the world. ”

“ There would be an outcry from hemisphere to hemisphere.”
“Then let Signor Rapasto understand that the object of his visit here will remain unattained,” Cardinge said drily.
Rapasto personally intervened. His attitude was one of incredulity.
“But, Madame,” he expostulated, “it is I, Rapasto, who comes to you. I have brought everlasting glory upon your society. The world rings with my name. It is I who have come to see you, who sits in your room with you, who accepts you all as friends of the past. I ask the simple boon of my quittance. Do you still refuse?” ”

“ Rapasto promised, with a sigh, glancing toward Claire. “Still, we are all human. The fates might intervene. Let us go through our little ceremony now. Give me that scrap of paper, Madame, and we will shake hands and bid one another farewell. Then,” he added, with a smile, “I shall no longer be a Virgin.”
Madame made no movement.
“You are the eighth who has presented himself here to seek his quittance,” she replied. “I must not treat you any differently from the others. Each one was called upon to perform some service before he received his discharge.” ”

“ Madame nodded.
“First of all,” she explained, “there is Rapasto's vanity, which affords illimitable scope for humor, and would afford more still if it were not a little pathetic. Then there is Signor Mattino and you, his entourage, bent on making as much as you can out of the man and keeping him puffed up to the skies all the time with the idea that he is a sort of superman, a great artist who flatters the earth he treads upon. The man sings well, I have no doubt. If I feel like it I shall go to one of the three concerts. ”

“ Other matters fade from the mind. I sing, and I forget myself that there is a world around me.”
Cardinge and Claire exchanged a swift glance of sympathetic understanding. It was gone in a moment, but both had experienced the pleasure of it. Claire's expression became one of ingenuous and childish hero-worship. A quaint air of introspective enjoyment seemed to have temporarily rejuvenated Cardinge.
“You must please let me get you a comfortable chair,” Claire begged, “so that you can talk to Madame. When the storm is over you will enjoy the view from our piazza.”
Rapasto accepted the chair. ”

“ A Story of Quittance Dearly Bought
By
E. Phillips Oppenheim
Illustrated by Marshall Frantz
IT WAS one of Madame's black days. For forty-eight hours the sun had not shone. Yet a heat seemed to arise from the ground itself—a baking, enervating heat, which left even the birds tired, and sapped the energy of human beings and animals. In no corner of the garden of the villa was there any breeze, yet above St. Jeanette, covering the blunt mountain top, hung a cloud almost as black as ink—a cloud which had hung there stationary hour after hour. ”

“ If you desire your quittance, you will know what to do. Hugh, will you ring the bell for Signor Rapasto's car?”
Claire and Cardinge stepped out onto the piazza to wave their farewells. The whole world was storm-drenched. Great boughs had been broken off from the trees. The flowers were beaten down. In the distance the slanting rain was still falling. The sulphurous heat, however, had passed. The air was soft and sweet. Rapasto, his arms folded, his pose Napoleonic, drove off. Claire laughed till the tears stood in her eyes. ”

“ I am not a vain man, but when one of your Virgins comes to see you who has achieved immortal fame, I ask you whether you think that the conditions which apply to those others apply also to him? I say no more than this. You will be able to remember always that Rapasto was one of your Virgins. ”

“ I thought that you were so happy here, that you loved the place.”
“I do love the place,” she assented, “but what is there to make me really happy? Madame speaks kindly to me very seldom. She herself, I feel, has something continually on her mind. Always she has the air of one who sits and waits.”
“And Armand?”
“With Armand I am absolutely dissatisfied,” she confessed frankly. “I thought once that I could marry him if Madame wished it. I permitted him to talk of such things. I allowed him,” she went on simply, “to embrace me. ”

“ The press of the world would be horrified. My manager, my secretary, the committees who wait upon me from the opera houses of the world, would protest. There are others who could fill your Casino at twenty francs a seat.”
“I am not so sure of that,” Madame replied. “It takes a great deal to make people go to concerts nowadays.” ”

“ Madame conceded, “will always be a proud one. The last service, however, must be rendered even by you.”
“Even by me?” he repeated incredulously.
“It will not be difficult,” Madame assured him. “An idea even now presents itself to me. My friend, the Countess de Pleyell, who has a villa at Cap Ferrat, is giving in Nice three concerts during the next month for the benefit of the French Red Cross Society. At each one of these three you shall sing.”
“I shall what?” Rapasto gasped. ”

“ But who takes count of to-day?” she exclaimed. “There is a feeling in the air which might be even of death. In the kitchen no one can work. I saw one of the gardeners just now asleep, with his tools in his hands, in the shadow of a pine tree. ”

“ I grant it for some time my secretary finds convenient. My man of affairs is there. They produce a contract. My man of affairs discusses it. I myself am not offended with the details. When all is ready for my signature the document is presented. I sign it. Occasionally I shake hands with my visitors. They depart filled with happiness. They have performed a great task for the world. I have promised to sing. The next day the press of the world is ablaze with the news. Thousands of people are made happy. Rapasto has promised to sing. ”