Together
she and Gennaro sang the /Dunque il mio bene tu mia sarai/, the last
duet of Zingarelli's "Romeo e Giulietta," one of the most pathetic
pages of modern music. The passage /Di tanti palpiti/ expresses love
in all its grandeur. Calyste, sitting in the same arm-chair in which
Felicite had told him the history of the marquise, listened in rapt
devotion. Beatrix and Vignon were on either side of the piano. Conti's
sublime voice knew well how to blend with that of Felicite. Both had
often sung this piece; they knew its resources, and they put their
whole marvellous gift into bringing them out. The music was at this
moment what its creator intended, a poem of divine melancholy, the
farewell of two swans to life. When it was over, all present were
under the influence of feelings such as cannot express themselves by
vulgar applause.
"Ah! music is the first of arts!" exclaimed the marquise.
"Camille thinks youth and beauty the first of poesies," said Claude
Vignon.
Mademoiselle des Touches looked at Claude with vague uneasiness.
Beatrix, not seeing Calyste, turned her head as if to know what effect
the music had produced upon him, less by way of interest in him than
for the gratification of Conti; she saw a white face bathed in tears.
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