Molly had been able to play piano by ear since she was small enough to be lifted onto the stool. She could hear a piece once and reproduce it — a gift that was obvious to everyone who heard her, and that her family, though they had very little money, was determined to nurture.
They scraped together what they could for lessons. They found her a good teacher. And when it was decided that Molly was ready to perform for an audience, a date was set and invitations went out.
Molly wasn’t nervous. She was proud of her new dress — the first that had been made for her alone, rather than cut down from an older sister’s. She played everything she had prepared, and she played it beautifully.
What she didn’t know was that her teacher had quietly invited an old friend to the recital. This friend was a wealthy man with a genuine passion for music and a habit of supporting young musicians who deserved it. He sat and listened. When Molly finished, he came straight to her.
“I am going to send you and your mother abroad,” he said. “You will study with the finest teachers in the world. And when you come home, you will make us all very proud.”
Molly stood there in her new dress, holding her sheet music, and it took her a moment to understand what had just happened.
