But he
soon found a dangerous rival to take the wind out of his sails, in the
person of Major Lumley, who, possessing great taste and skill in
music, accidentally heard Lady Mabel singing in one room, while he was
conversing with her father in the next. "She has," thought and said
the major, "the sweetest voice in the world; and it only needs a
little more cultivation to make it heavenly!" Lord Strathern thought
so too. The major's instructive talents were put into requisition,
and, from private practice, her father led her on, somewhat reluctant,
to more public display, and soon the major and herself discoursed
exquisite music to the ears of a score of officers, at a musical
soiree. If, with the powers, she did not acquire the confidence of a
_prima donna_, it was not his lordship's fault. Had propriety
permitted, he would have brought up the brigade in close column of
divisions, to hear Lady Mabel sing; and he could not help saying to
the gentlemen beside him: "I have heard you young fellows talk about
the nightingale, and have even known some of you spend hours in the
moonlit grove, listening to their music, but my bird from foggy
Scotland can out-warble a wood full of them.
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