‘Or what?’ asked Heather tightly.
‘Or we have to content ourselves with an easier repertoire.’
‘Not do the “Ave Maria”, you mean?’
‘Exactly that. There are less challenging pieces which—’
‘I don’t want a less challenging piece for Alice’s wedding,’ came the firm response. ‘I’ve been determined since she and Roddy announced their engagement that they should have the Schubert “Ave Maria” during the signing of the register.’
‘If that’s how you feel, you have to make a choice. You can either have it not done very well or …’ Jonny Virgo shrugged.
‘Of course,’ said Elizabeth Browning, ‘there was a time when I could have taken the solo, no problem. But, since the nodules …’
‘What if we got in a professional singer for the solo?’ Heather suggested suddenly.
‘Well …’ Jonny hadn’t been expecting that, and clearly the idea was not without its appeal. ‘Obviously, if you were to go down that route, you’d have to be prepared to pay for—’
‘I’m prepared to pay.’
‘But where do you start looking for a professional soprano?’ asked Ruskin Dewitt, who felt he had been left out of the conversation for too long.
‘Of course, back in my Glyndebourne days, I had a wealth of contacts in the—’
‘That’s not a problem,’ Jonny interrupted. ‘I’ve still got a lot of friends in the professional ranks. And, anyway, the soloist doesn’t have to be a soprano. I’ve heard the part done very effectively by a tenor.’
‘Ooh,’ said Heather, with sudden excitement. ‘Maybe we could get Blake Woodruff?’
Jonny Virgo looked thunderstruck by the suggestion. Presumably because Heather was setting her sights rather high. Even Jude, who didn’t know a lot about the classical music world, had heard of Blake Woodruff. He had first come to prominence as a boy chorister, when he sang the theme tune for a very successful television series. His recording had become a chart-topping single, and the image of the beautiful, ten-year-old blond boy had been inescapable that Christmas.
Unlike many such infant phenomena, Blake Woodruff had continued to have a career as an adult. His boyhood treble had developed into a fine classical tenor. He was one of those few singers who had crossed over from the concert and operatic repertoire into the mainstream. He produced albums reinterpreting standards from musical theatre, and even made further impressions on the pop charts. He was in constant demand and spent his life jetting to concert venues all over the world.
‘You’re never going to get him, are you?’ Russ expressed the views of the rest of the choir.
‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ said Heather. ‘I … that is to say, Alice actually knows him.’
‘Does she?’
‘Yes, they worked together on some big charity fundraiser. I can’t remember what it was in aid of, but she was with a few fellow actors doing some readings, and apparently she and Blake got on rather well.’
‘Well …’ Jonny smiled in a way that wasn’t quite condescending. ‘I’m all in favour of aiming for the top, Heather, but I’m not sure that you could afford the kind of fees someone like—’
‘I probably could,’ she interrupted. ‘Whatever his faults, Leonard did leave me very well-heeled.’
This was the first time Jude had ever heard the widow voice any criticism of her late husband. From the expressions on the faces of the rest of the choir, it was a first for them too.
‘Anyway,’ Heather went on, ‘couldn’t you call in a favour, Jonny? Use the old school tie connection?’
The choirmaster looked shocked. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I’d heard – that is, Alice said Blake told her that he’d been taught by you, back when he was a chorister.’
‘Then I’m afraid she got the wrong end of the stick,’ said Jonny sharply. ‘I’ve never met Blake Woodruff. Goodness, music teachers are always going on about their pupils who have made it. If I could claim someone of his stature as one of my pupils, I’d be talking about him all the time.’
Heather looked confused. ‘But I thought … I mean, I know that …’ She changed her mind about what she was going to say, and went on, ‘Maybe Alice did get it wrong. But, because she knows him, she could ask, couldn’t she?’
‘As I say, Heather, I think you’re aiming rather stratospherically high in terms of finding someone. I know a couple of perfectly good tenors, who would do the job for you at a price that wouldn’t involve a second mortgage.’
Jude reckoned that was probably an inappropriate image. If there was one thing someone like Leonard Mallett, spending a lifetime in insurance, would have done, it was to pay off his mortgage as soon as possible.
But Heather wasn’t troubled by metaphors. She said, ‘Surely it wouldn’t do any harm for me – for Alice to ask him …?’
‘No!’ said Jonny Virgo with surprising firmness. ‘Please believe that I know more about this world than you do. If you want me to find a tenor for you to sing the “Ave Maria” solo at Alice’s wedding, I will find one for you.’
‘Very well,’ said Heather meekly. ‘If you could, Jonny …’
Again, he seemed empowered by having won that little argument. ‘There’s one other thing I need to say about the composition of the choir for the wedding.’
They were all silent, as they waited for what he needed to say.
‘Russ … I’m afraid you can’t do it.’
‘What?’ The bearded man looked genuinely confused.
‘You can’t be in the choir for the wedding.’
All he could come up with was another ‘What?’
‘Russ, I’ve tolerated listening to you for years at school assemblies and in the church choir, but I’m afraid I can’t have you in the choir for the wedding.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘Because you sing far too loudly …’
‘Well, I’ve always been stronger in the horsepower department than the steering, but I’m not—’
‘What’s more, you can’t hold a tune. You are always flat.’
There was a silence in All Saints. The Tattersall sisters looked nervously at each other. Jude got the impression that the whole choir recognized the truth of Jonny’s words. They’d known for years that Ruskin Dewitt could not sing. But nobody had ever before stated it out loud.
‘That’s ridiculous, Jonny!’ he blustered. ‘Look, I know you’ve always been jealous, since when we were both teaching at Ravenhall, because I had a more natural rapport with the pupils than you ever did, but this is—’
‘I’m sorry, Russ,’ said the choirmaster, ‘but you cannot sing at Alice Mallett’s wedding!’
‘What bloody right do you think you have to say that?’ He turned to the stepmother of the bride. ‘Heather, look, we’ve been in this choir together for years. We’ve always got on, and we’ve been involved in some damned fine performances – weddings, funerals, carol concerts, the lot. No one’s ever complained before about me not being able to hold a tune. Go on, you want me to sing at Alice’s wedding, don’t you?’
There was a silence before Heather Mallett articulated the words, ‘No, Russ. I don’t.’
The bearded man slammed his plastic folder down on to the paving of the aisle and stalked out of the church.
NINE
‘So, this soloist Jonny Virgo’s set up,’ asked Carole, ‘does he start coming to rehearsals straight away?’ Although she claimed to have no interest in Alice Mallett’s wedding, she could not completely curb her curiosity.