Lu was never really sure of the point in time when she realized that she and Ricky weren't in love—not in the way that made you want to spend the rest of your life together. They liked going to bed with each other, and she got to know the little cottage at the beach very well because Ricky had finally agreed that they didn't have to wander around New Haven and Savin Rock anymore. But when he talked about his future in California he never used the word we. And when she dreamed about her star-studded life in New York she never pictured him with her. They were too young to settle down—she knew that was part of it. But there was something else too. They were both selfish. They wanted so much for themselves, and it was going to be years before either of them had time to be in love. For some reason that they never had to discuss, they understood that about each other. It was probably why they were so fond of each other, and why it was so easy for them to be together.

So the summer rolled on, and when Lu wasn't singing or taking lessons she spent her time in the little sun-drenched bedroom in the cottage at the beach. It was during one of these afternoons that Ricky asked her if she'd like to audition for a New York show.

“One of Grandpop's old friends from the vaudeville days is reviving an operetta that was done in the twenties called The Maiden Ship, and they need singers for a couple of bit parts,” he said. “The show is going to play in a little theater down in Greenwich Village. It's not Broadway, exactly, but…”

“Yes!” she broke in. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Don't you even want to know what kind of singers they're looking for?”

“Whatever they want, I'll be it!”

“They're looking for sopranos.”

“And here I am! Ricky, you're an angel! You're better than an angel! You're Santa Claus and Ziegfeld and Billy Rose all rolled into one! You're …”

“I'm Louis B. Mayer. And don't you forget it.”

They decided that Ricky would meet her on the street corner near her house on the morning of the audition and take her to the train station.

“I wish I could go with you to the city, but I can't,” he said. “If I did, I'd have to tell my parents I set up your audition and they'd know I'm still in touch with some of Grandpop's old showbiz pals.”