Page 11 of Lady for a Season
“What would you like me to play?”
“Do you knowSilent Worship?”
He rose without answering and sat at the pianoforte and began to play. With no hesitation, he played from memory, and played well.
Midway through the piece, she said, “Start again.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Please?”
He began again but this time Maggie stood to sing.
“Did you not hear my lady
Go down the garden singing
Blackbird and thrush were silent
To hear the alleys ringing.”
He stopped playing and stared at her. “Where did you learn to sing like that?”
“We all sang in the choir. Some of the great composers played concerts to raise funds for the Hospital. Handel was one of its most ardent supporters, he wrote a piece called the Foundling Hospital Anthem. You play well, will you not continue?”
He played and, by the third verse, he joined in with her and she was surprised to hear a strong, deep voice from him, not what she would have expected from his slender frame.
“Oh, saw you not my lady
Out in the garden there
Shaming the rose and lily
For she is twice as fair
Though I am nothing to her
Though she must rarely look at me
Though I can never woo her
I’ll love her ‘till I die
Did you not hear my lady
Go down the garden singing
Silencing all the songbirds
And setting the alleys ringing
Surely you heard my lady
Out in the garden there
Rivalling the glittering sunshine
With the glory of golden hair.”
