Mummery

lara. At first she refused to believe that they were married, as Charles was notoriously careless in these matters, but when she was faced with the fact her wa

d woman and you want a

that with a stupid woman Charles would just rot aw

If you are meant for the theatre nothing can keep you away from

e?' asked Clara, a

iss Wainwright, '

, and exposed for sale. They reserved nothing. Such as they were, they were for the theatre and for no other purpose, but to be moved at a moment's notice from theatre to

s, of vivid light and shadowy darkness, of painted illusion and the throbbing reality of the audience, of idle days and feverish nights. His mind was soaked in it, and his soul, all except that o

d that no one should ever think of her as 'poor Clara.' ... Life had been so easy when they had drifted together from st

n this production, as a protégée of Miss Wainwright's, Clara played a small part in which she had ten words to say.... She was quite inaudible though sh

elf speak any more than you do when you are talking in a room. It's just a question of losing yours

ng her face, and pencilling her eyes, and dabbing red paint into the corners of them. So much did she detest this at first tha

shall never be an actress....' B

alse projection of Clara Day which was needed for the play.... Her objection was moral, and so strong that it made her really ill, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she could keep going at all, but not a word did she

at they had nearly all accepted without a struggle, and had surrendered to the false projection of themselves which the

he lime-light man, and the stage-carpenter had done their work. Often at rehearsal, words would give her the shock of truth that in performance would just puzzle her by their banality; voic

hich are shown to the Anglo-American public. For them there were but Romeo and Juliet at the ball with no contending houses to plague them. They lived in furnished flats and paid their way, impervious to every conspiracy of life to br

rom the very dressing-room staff of the theatre, who could make their lives uncomfortable. She understood then what it was that had driven Charles out, and made him so reluctant to return, and why his immense talent, which should have been expressed in terms of the thea

ume of Meredith, or Bernard Shaw, Schopenhauer or Browning, who had been the poet of her first discovery of the world of books. That frightened off the young men, who were at first greatly taken with he

inflate his egoism. He never spoke to her for some weeks, and she avoided meeting him, did not wish to speak to him, felt, indeed, that she was perhaps using him a little unfairly in tu

women chattered scandal; some read their letters, others the telegrams by which their correspondence was conducted. In none was the slightest indication of preparedness for work, for the thoughts of all were obviously miles away from the theatre.... Stagehands moved noisily about. They, at least, were conscio

notebook, and a stout, thick-set Jew, who waited obsequiously for the great actor to take further notice of him. Sir Henr

rning, S

ntleme

rni

d, 'Oui, oui,' and the Jew said, 'Oui, oui,' while Clara, who could speak French as fluently as English, understood n

irly to their satisfaction. They went away, and Sir Henry began

these ladies and gentlemen are no

olden

can feel it in the air. I can always feel it. I felt that Ivanhoe was no good, but I was over

hate the thing. Take it away. How can a man rehearse to a fire-proof curtain? Take i

r shouted to a m

-proo

it down,' c

did t

button. The heavy fire-proof curtain slowly rose to reveal the autho

lady?' aske

widow,' replie

nd chatted to her for a few moments about her late husband, who had been something of a figure

r The School for Scandal. The company gathered round and admired, while Sir Henr

sed to be able to obtain with gas.... Give me gas. The theatre has never

n condition that an article by Sir Henry on British Audiences was printed, and for t

proscenium turning over the pages of her book, watching Sir Henry's antics, appreciating the skill with which, i

sighed heavily. Clara was for stealing away, when he strode across

little girl

she. 'And I'm not a little

books, aren't you? I've heard of you. I've written a book or two, but I never read them. I have quite a lot

ted for a little to be at his ease. He took Clara by the arm, and, regardless of the staring eyes of those whom they met in the corridors, swept her along to the room which Charles had likened to an aquarium. Then he

t is the only place I have in

y quiet,'

ch to be brought up, vol-au-vents, co

stand food,' he said. 'That com

protested Clara, 'my grandfather kn

old men, eh? Boys don

lked brought all these performers vividly before Clara's eyes so that she must accept the validity of his criticism: he knew, or seemed to know, exactly what each could do or could not do, though it was difficult to understand how he could ever have found time to see them all. Whether or not he had done so, he had exactly weighed up the value of their theatrical personalities, and it was in those and those alone that he was interested. As human beings, he was indifferent to them, though he spoke of them all with the exaggerated affection common to the theatre-'dear old Arthur' ...

rge chair, and closed his eyes in the ecstatic distention of his surfeit. A

ann-is he

e,' repli

does he ta

ks very

H

xpect me to

th the public.... I've tried it at intervals; giving up acting, I mean.

was only an echo. It was a very curious thing that words in this room lost half their meaning,

me. That is rare. After all, we actors are human. We are go

servation. Then with a sigh he leaned over and held Clara

y you could outs

m. 'Opera!' he said. 'I feel opera in the air; music invading the theatr

though she knew in her heart that

is deepest bass, 'if I tell you that Ch

going to do

I would not have him near the theatr

was all on fire. 'It is an honour for

nry la

id. 'We knew his father. We

allowed her up, as though the London about which she had been hovering in delig

eat genius, and it is your duty to let the public see his work. It is shameful that all his life people have talked abo

'Would you like to play Miranda? A per

been sponged out. Never before had she even suspected that her freedom could be extinguished; never before had she even been anywhere near feeling that her will might break and leave her at the mercy of circumstances. She clutched desperately at her loyalty to Charles, and she summoned up all her will only to find th