Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1889-12-24
AN AMERICAN SINGER.

The Place de POpera zxas crowded
with carriages. They emptied theil
perfumed freights Of richly dressed
ladies at the entrance to the opera
house, and contrary to the usual Gus
tom it was filled long before the cur
tain rose. All Paris was agog with
excitement, for on this night Mar
guerite Hargood, the American, pupil
and protege of Vidot, whose word
could make or unmake the reputation
of singer, was to make her first ap
pearance before the gay but critical
world of Paris in the opera of Faust. y
She was to be, Vidot said, IAN ideal
Marguerite" The best costumer in
Paris had made her dresses and the
celebrated Grenier had given her les
sons In acting.
As Marguerite came tripping on to
the stage her appearance struck the
keynote of the character she was to
represent.
The graceful, girlish form in the
ing in braids, the glorious gray ewes,
almost black with the intensity of re-
pressed emotion-all these at once
awoke the admiration of the behold
ers. But not only did her beauty i'm
press the audience; the wonderful
voice, interpreting so gloriously the
difficult music of Gounod's master
piece, held that vast assemblage
hushed and almost breathless, until at
the end of the first act it broke into
the widest enthusiasm. And this feel
ing deepened as the play advanced,
until at its close the whole audience
rose to its feet, showering plaudit after
plaudit upon the successful artist. She
was indeed the real Marguerite.
Well might the young American
feel proud of this homage, for upon
her success depended her whole fu-
ture. Her father, 2 well known mu-
hoard and sent the motherless girl in
charge of an old aunt to Paris to per
feet the voice given her by nature.
They did not live in the students
quarter, but in the Rue Rude, a little
street leading from the Avenue de
PImperatrice. They We're most at the
top of the building but had a fine view
of the avenue, and the famous Bots de
Boulogne in the distance. There Mar
guerite worked and studied, her only
ambition to succeed in Paris that she
might return to America, her future
assured, to comfort her father in his
old age and to fulfill the ambitious
hopes he had for her.
And as the reward for all her work
the the NIB The successful debut; She awoke
nous. All aaEEp aiming to find ,!l. herself ia,
quatrieme was th iS Inc niue snl sed au
the basket outside the doo. e y . to-
overlooking with the cards of TIM
who could not hope to be admitted,
and the salon heavy with the perfume
of flowers sent to the Marguerite who
had conquered Paris with one blow
She was the idol of the hour
Among the many floral tributes
came one from the Count de Frontin
This gentleman, whom Marguerite had
met many times at the house of an
American friend in Paris, was a
young and wealthy French nobleman,
who, having travelled much in Eng
land and America, had acquired a
knowledge of the society Of both coun-
tries
Meeting Marguerite informally at
the house of her friends, whom he had
known in New York, he had fallen in
love with her, and being untrammeled
with any family ties which might
have prevented such an alliance, he
desired to make her his wife.
But to his aStonishment, when he
approached Marguerite's aunt with
his proposal, he met with decided re-
fusal.
Sensible as am" said she. ''ct the