And in spite of his theatrics, she did. If the song “Spanish Nights” was an example of the score for The Maiden Ship, he was right—that operetta was an old warhorse. And she was happy to believe that the men in the house were over the hill and hadn't had a hit in twenty years. For a moment she felt sorry for Ricky, who had put so much faith in his grandpop's old pals, but Ricky would figure out that they were the Three Stooges for himself. Ricky was tough. She grinned at the accompanist. “So I haven't ruined my chances in show business?”

“You might have, if you'd gotten a part in The Maiden Ship,” he said. “But this is your lucky day.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I've written down the name of an agent for you—Max Lieberman. I've sent him other people who were good, and he trusts me. He'll see you if you use my name.” He held out the piece of paper to Lu. “He's legit; you can check with Actors’ Equity.”

Lu looked at the paper, but she didn't take it. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

He grinned. “Because you're the funniest thing I've seen on two feet. And I want to be able to say I knew you when.”

Things were moving too fast—the sick feeling came back—and for a moment Lu had to close her eyes. Five minutes before she'd been trying to figure out how she was going to tell Ricky that she'd failed. Now this total stranger was offering her a second chance. She opened her eyes. The accompanist was standing in front of her, still holding out the piece of paper. “Max is going to be out of town for three weeks,” he said. “Call him when he gets back and ask if you can sing for him. I gave you my number too. There'll be someone in Max's office who will play for you, but I can rehearse you first.” He wasn't kidding around; he really wanted to help her. She took the piece of paper with the phone numbers from him and held out her hand. “Hi,” she said. “I'm Lu Leporello.”

He shook her hand and said, “George. George Standish.” He frowned. “You're going to have to change the Leporello to something more American. Something that'll look good on a marquee.” He thought for a second, and then he said, “How about Lawson? It's always good to keep it close to your own name. I used to be Gregory Stantonkovsky”