umed its sway over
me.

I shall never forget my first sight of Rosetta Rosa as, robed with the
modesty which the character of Elsa demands, she appeared on the stage
to answer the accusation of Ortrud. For some moments she hesitated in
the background, and then timidly, yet with what grandeur of mien,
advanced towards the king. I knew then, as I know now, that hers was a
loveliness of that imperious, absolute, dazzling kind which banishes
from the hearts of men all moral conceptions, all considerations of
right and wrong, and leaves therein nothing but worship and desire.
Her acting, as she replied by gesture to the question of the king,
was perfect in its realization of the simplicity of Elsa. Nevertheless
I, at any rate, as I searched her features through the lorgnon that
Mrs. Sullivan had silently handed to me, could descry beneath the
actress the girl--the spoilt and splendid child of Good Fortune, who
in the very spring of youth had tasted the joy of sovereign power,
that unique and terrible dominion over mankind which belongs to beauty
alone.

Such a face as hers once seen is engraved eternally on the memory of
its generation. And yet when, in a mood of lyrical and rapt ecstasy,
she began her opening song, "In Lichter Waffen Scheine," her face was
upon the instant forgotten. She became a Voice--pure, miraculous,
all-compelling; and the listeners seemed to hold breath while the
matchless melody wove round them its persuasive spell.

* * * * *

The first act was over, and Rosetta Rosa stood at the footlights
bowing before the rolling and thunderous storms of applause, her hand
in the hand of Alresca, the Lohengrin. That I have not till this
moment mentioned Alresca, and that I mention him now merely as the
man who happened to hold Rosa's hand, shows with what absolute
sovereignty Rosa had dominated the scene. For as Rosa was among
sopranos, so was Alresca among tenors--the undisputed star. Without
other aid Alresca could fill the opera-house; did he not receive two
hundred and fifty pounds a night? To put him in the same cast as Rosa
was one of Cyril Smart's lavish freaks of expense.

As these two stood together Rosetta Rosa smiled at him; he gave her a
timid glance and looked away.

When the clapping had ceased and the curtain hid the passions of the
stage, I turned with a sigh of exhaustion and of pleasure to my
hostess, and I was rather surprised to find that she showed not a