She selected "Now ponder well ye parents dear,"
the tender pathos of which had always appealed to her, and "Thomas I
cannot," a merry ditty which she knew from her old experience as a
street singer would be sure to please. Palmer was delighted with both.
The first he said brought tears to his eyes and the second put him in
good humour.
"My dear, you could not have made a better choice. I expect a crowded
room and you'll conquer 'em all."
And so she did. There was no longer coldness--no longer indifference.
Everybody was agog with expectation, everybody was pleased. Lavinia's
triumph was complete. Night after night it was the same. Palmer had
never had so successful a season. He put money in his pocket and he paid
his new star fairly well.
Two or three times a week for over a month Lavinia went to Gay's
lodgings and rehearsed the songs she did not know and those also with
which she was already acquainted. The words Gay gave her to sing were
not those to which she was accustomed and she found the change
confusing. Moreover, at each rehearsal some alterations in the words
were made, occasionally by Gay, occasionally at the suggestion of Dr.
Arbuthnot. But she never wearied, and so she was sufficiently rewarded
for her trouble when Gay bestowed upon her a word of praise.
But Lancelot Vane?
He came not in spite of his earnest entreaty that she would meet him.
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