physical debility. One night she had promised to sing at the house of
her friend, Mme. Merlin, and was amazed at the refusal of her manager to
permit her absence from the theatre on a benefit-night. She said to him:
"It does not signify; I sing at the theatre because it is my duty, but
afterward I sing at Mme. Merlin's because it is my pleasure." And so
after one o'clock in the morning, wearied from the arduous performance
of "Semiramide," she appeared at her friend's and sang, supped, and
waltzed till daybreak. This excess in living every moment of her life
and utter indifference to the requirements of health were characteristic
of her whole career. One night she fainted in her dressing-room
before going on the stage. In the hurry of applying restoratives, a
_vinaigrette_ containing some caustic acid was emptied over her lips,
and her mouth was covered with blisters. The manager was in despair; but
Mme. Malibran, quietly stepping to the mirror, cut off the blisters with
a pair of scissors, and sang as usual. Such was the indomitable courage
of the woman that she was always faithful to her obligations, come what
might; a conscientiousness which was afterward the immediate cause of
her death.


IV.

It was in Paris, in 1830, that Mme. Malibran's romantic attachment to M.
Charles de Bériot, the famous Belgian violinist, had its beginning. M.
de Bériot had been warmly and hopelessly enamored of Malibran's rival,
Mdlle. Sontag, in spite of the fact that the latter lady was known to
be the _fiancée_ of Count Rossi. The sympathies of Malibran's warm and
affectionate heart were called out by her friend's disappointment, for
gossip in the musical circles of Paris discussed De Bériot's unfortunate
love-affair very freely. With her usual impulsive candor she expressed