The refusal
February 1865
A month had passed since Annabel's tuition with the Manager of the Opera Populair. Nothing was heard from him ever since then until a few days ago. The production of Faust was never staged because of her refusal to portray Margarita.
Head apprenti Jules simply announced one day that the Manager refused to consider any other substitute for Miss Fiori and that she was the only head soprano that he desired for his future productions and if further refusal was at hand, the Opera Populair might as well be non-existent.
This caused a great uproar among the staff especially Mme Murie, who has worked incredibly hard on her compartment for the past year.
Annabel was terrified of what she witnessed, the Manager was truly a madman!
After that day her name was the only subject people spoke about in all of Paris.