“Enlightened enough to understand where you have to draw the line. “An intelligent man, that Joseph II”, said the Governor with a knowing smile.

The success in Vienna, he informed James, has been so overwhelming that the Austrian Emperor has been forced to limit the number of encores to be sung in theatres, in order to avoid the opera running all night long. The new opera by Herr Mozart, however, is comparatively harmless and, in the Governor’s opinion, greatly benefited from the removal of any political reference.

But a mischievous smile almost unmasked the shrewd politician hidden beneath the father-like, benevolent features, when he explained to James how the play by Beaumarchais, on which the opera is based, will cause the French Crown more damage than capturing Guadalupe and Martinique could ever do. Sitting at his right, Governor Swann was beaming with delight, proud of presenting his guests with this continental novelty. Two nights ago, in the music-room of the Governor’s House, James listened for the first time to a performance of the Canzonetta sull’Aria from the Marriage of Figaro, sung by a pair of Italian singers. The most beautiful words, often, are nothing more than hollow sounds.

Words can betray and, more often than not, they are just an elegant silk cloak unfolded to cover the filth of the soul. No, James Norrington does not trust words. When put in a corner, he defends himself with the utmost Spartan use of the English vocabulary and a dry sense of humour that young marriageable ladies tend to find upsetting and his fellow officers have learnt to be afraid of. Not that his few male friends are often allowed a closer look.Ī too deeply rooted modesty, along with a lack of self-confidence that not even his victories at sea and Andrew’s absolute worship can shake, make James carefully refrain from any manifestation of his inner feelings. The nearness of a petticoat is enough to make him shut like an oyster. To make him talk about himself, as Port Royal’s ladies sadly know, is an impossible challenge. Even concocting the amorphous reports to their Lordships of the Admiralty has always been hard drudgery for James. He’d rather lead a boarding party onto the quarterdeck of a French three-decker than sit and hold a conversation in a drawing-room. What’s the use of saying aloud, with trite and hackneyed phrases, the things that every day and every night are better proved in the flesh and in action? James, on the contrary, feels an instinctive diffidence towards words, especially in the matters of the heart. Andrew seems to think that nothing really exists unless it is plainly uttered in words.

They’re very different, Andrew and James. Susanna and the Contess, duet “A little Song on the Breeze”, from “The Marriage of Figaro”, To Galadhir, for her birthday, with my deepest admiration and affection. ĭisclaimer: Considered what Disney did of them, I suppose I can play with them for my private entertainement. Setting: post-COTBP, not DMC and AWE compliant. Summary: in which a marriage is saved by Mozart’s music, the daughters of an Admiral, and the evening breeze. Title: Canzonetta sull’Aria (A little Song on the Breeze)

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