The kind tone of this answer, the sweet voice, the gentle manner, the absence of any accent of haughtiness or displeasure, took the girl completely by surprise, and she burst into tears.

Before performing as the absence of public address equipment, leadership requires us to sing with the voice can be heard the last row of theater.

And I knew that the hopelessly poignant thing was not Lolita's absence from my side, but the absence of her voice from that chorus.