Elise (Swan Song)

In the short story Swan Song, Elise is the maid of the famous opera singer Paula Nazorkoff. Because of her close relationship with her employer, others rely on her for information. At the beginning of the story the theatre agent Mr Cowan arrives for a meeting and asks about Madame Nazorkoff. Elise tells him that things are not going well. Her mistress did not like the yellow roses which Cowan had sent. For Nazorkoff, in London it had to be red roses and nothing else. She tossed the roses out of the window onto the street below and unfortunately they hit a passing gentlemen.

At the end of the story, Madame Nazorkoff gives Elise a string of pearls as a parting gift.