to open to one the brilliant world in which
they lived; every sentence made one older
and wiser, every pleasantry enlarged one's
horizon. One could experience excess and
satiety without the inconvenience of learning
what to do with one's hands in a drawing-
room! When the characters all spoke at once
and I missed some of the phrases they flashed
at each other, I was in misery. I strained my
ears and eyes to catch every exclamation.

The actress who played Marguerite was
even then old-fashioned, though historic. She
had been a member of Daly's famous New
York company, and afterward a "star" under
his direction. She was a woman who could
not be taught, it is said, though she had a
crude natural force which carried with people
whose feelings were accessible and whose
taste was not squeamish. She was already
old, with a ravaged countenance and a phy-
sique curiously hard and stiff. She moved
with difficulty -- I think she was lame -- I
seem to remember some story about a malady
of the spine. Her Armand was dispropor-
tionately young and slight, a handsome youth,
perplexed in the extreme. But what did it
matter? I believed devoutly in her power to

[[310]]

p309 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p310w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p311

v?