Chapter 16

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌⁠Forbes was prompt at the Opera. Though it was barely half past seven, he found the foyer already swarming with a bustling mob of women swaddled in opera-cloaks, and prosperous-looking men overcoated and mufflered. Everybody was making haste. Dinners had been gulped or skimped, and there was evident desire not to miss a note.

Forbes knew nothing of the music except a vague echo of the ridicule on wh