Read Online Song Above the Clouds by Rosemary Pollock - Free Book Online

unduly modest, she didn’t believe she had a great singing voice. In her own private opinion, in fact, her voice was no more than passable, and apart from that, the idea that she might become a professional soprano struck her as almost absurd. The idea had never entered her head until Sue, feeling that something ought to be done about her only sister, had decided that she might stand a chance of attracting the great Caspelli’ s attention, and then, helped by the daze of miser y she had been in over John, the whole thing had snowballed until now here she was in a foreign country, accepting a lot of gratuitous help from a variety of people who were absolutely nothing to her. It was only since her arrival in Italy that she had been thinking clearly enough to see all this, but now, suddenly, the realities of the situation had come home to her, and they struck her as so absolutely awful that she pushed her breakfast away almost untouched, and for a good five minutes simply sat staring in front of her. It was rather a strenuous five minutes, for while the pretty antique clock on the writing-desk in her room was ticking away the seconds she was struggling to come to a decision about the whole course of her future life, and when the time was up she had made that decision.
    For a moment or two she had been on the point of backing out—of giving up the whole thing, making apologetic explanations and returning to London on the first available plane. It was unquestionably the easy way out, and even taking into consideration the fascinations of Rome, it was tempting. But the empty vacuum that her life would become once she was safely back in London made her shiver a little. The years she had spent in London, she realized now, had been utterly aimless. They hadn’t seemed so at the time—or if they had the aimlessness had been very pleasant—because John had been there to give them colour. But if there was one thing that seemed absolutely certain it was the fact that a future in which John didn’t feature was something with which she had got to come to grips. The meaning had been taken out of her life, and a new meaning had to be found for it. Perhaps, here in Rome, that meaning would become clear. Signor Maruga and a number of other people had confidence in her, and their confidence was a challenge. She could at least try.. .
    She felt as if she were setting off blindfold along an arduous and lonely road, but once her decision had been reached her mind was clear, and when she stood up to comb her hair and get ready for her first interview with Signor Galleo she felt happier than she had done for weeks.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    LORENZO GALLEO was a small man—at least, he wasn’t tall—and at first sight Candy thought he looked rather insignificant. But that was before she had had time to notice the; magnetism in his brilliant dark eyes, and to feel the full effects of his boundless, dynamic energy. After half an hour in his company she felt very much as if she had been caught up with a hurricane, and the experience had left her decidedly shaken. He said at once that he was anxious to hear her sing, and she was hardly given time even to decide whether she was nervous or not before her coat and gloves were whisked away from her, and his accompanist was leading the way into her favourite Caro Nome.
    She sang well, she knew, though she couldn’t imagine why; and when she had finished the maestro’s gratification was obvious. He was silent for several seconds, and then he came over to her and squeezed her hands.
    “My friend Giacome Maruga did not lie to me,” he remarked. “You have a talent, signorina. Just now it is only a little talent—a very little, a tiny talent! But if 'you will work hard, and give your heart to your work, it will grow ... Let me look at you, please.” He stood back, studying her critically. “For a cantante, you are very small and slim. And you look not strong. Are you strong enough for such a life ?