Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/42

30 and could never take the pains with her. Which I acknowledge; but it is because the girl do take musique mighty readily, and she do not, and musique is the thing of the world that I  love most.

Mercer, it seems, is sent away for a time; but Mistress Pepys does not gain much thereby.

Pepys is melancholy. He finds that his wife really sings very badly. Mercer returns, and the singing parties begin again; and Mistress Pepys'  jealousy likewise.

Mistress Pepys makes desperate efforts to become a musician; she succeeds—very nearly—in singing trills. Her husband loyally gives her credit for her goodwill.

But virtue, alas, is not rewarded in this world; and the "poor wretch," as Pepys tells us, cannot contrive to sing in tune: