I really think that Mamma Valerius was a little bit to blame.

I told her about it; and she at once said, 'It must be the Angel; at any rate, you can do no harm by asking him.' I did so; and the man's voice replied that, yes, it was the Angel's voice, the voice which I was expecting and which my father had promised me.

From that time onward, the voice and I became great friends.

It asked leave to give me lessons every day.

I agreed and never failed to keep the appointment which it gave me in my dressing-room.