At that very moment the door opened,--a message from the Cardinal.

Viola must go to his Eminence at once.

Her mother went with her.

All was reconciled and settled; Viola had her way, and selected her own opera.

O ye dull nations of the North, with your broils and debates,--your bustling lives of the Pnyx and the Agora!--you cannot guess what a stir throughout musical Naples was occasioned by the rumour of a new opera and a new singer.