by Barbara Paul
Those two were my most ardent fans (well, my most ardent female fans). They came to every performance I gave, kept scrap-books about my career, wrote a newsletter about me that they circulated to other fans, collected souvenirs, and were always, always there. They wanted to know everything about me. Occasionally I left tickets for them at the box office, but tonight they’d stood at the back of the auditorium during the entire performance.
“You were just wonderful, Miss Farrar!” Mildred cried. “I could hardly breathe, you were so wonderful!”
“Just wonderful!” Phoebe echoed.
“I never heard anything like it,” Mildred rushed on, “I’ve got to tell you, it was, oh, it was an experience for me tonight!”
“An experience,” Phoebe nodded.
I really liked this part of it; Mildredandphoebe could always be counted on to provide me the opportunity to play Queen Geraldine, graciously acknowledging the adulation of a grateful public. It was fun. I assumed my most regal manner and chatted with them a while (Scotti says I put on a British accent for such occasions). One of the other gerryflappers had cornered Toscanini, who was looking around desperately for an escape route. He was not very good at small talk.
“Howja like the Frenchman?” Mildred wanted to know.
“Monsieur Duchon?” I said. “I think he made a most auspicious Metropolitan début and I look forward to singing with him again.” Mildredandphoebe scribbled in the notebooks they carried with them everywhere, an item for the next newsletter.
“I die!” Caruso cried.
I laughed and told the gerryflappers we had to go. “Thank you all for coming, all of you, thank you. But we’re tired and we’re hungry, and we want to get something to eat.”
“Where are you going?” Mildredandphoebe asked. They wanted to know everything about me.
That traitorous Emmy Destinn ended up siding with the men and I was overwhelmingly outvoted. We went to Del Pezzo’s.
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About the Author
Barbara Paul is the author of numerous short stories and novels in both the detective and science fiction genres. Born in Maysville, Kentucky, she went on to attend Bowling Green State University and the University of Pittsburgh, earning a PhD in theater history and criticism. She has been nominated for the Shamus Award for Best PI Short Story, and two of her novels, In-Laws and Outlaws and Kill Fee, have been adapted into television movies. After teaching at the University of Pittsburgh for a number of years, she retired to write full-time. Paul currently resides in Sacramento.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1984 by Barbara Paul
Cover design by Jason Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-5040-3243-8
This edition published in 2016 by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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