her every day, and was in excellent practice. Forbes looked a little
scornful, but at this point Mrs. Stuart succeeded in diverting his
attention to his latest picture, and the dinner flowed on pleasantly till
the coffee was handed and the carriage announced.




CHAPTER III


On their arrival at the theatre armed with Miss Bretherton's order, Mrs.
Stuart's party found themselves shown into a large roomy box close to the
stage--too close, indeed, for purposes of seeing well. The house was
already crowded, and Kendal noticed, as he scanned the stalls and boxes
through his opera-glass, that it contained a considerable sprinkling of
notabilities of various kinds. It was a large new theatre, which hitherto
had enjoyed but a very moderate share of popular favour, so that the
brilliant and eager crowd with which it was now filled was in itself a
sufficient testimony to the success of the actress who had wrought so
great a transformation.

'What an experience this is for a girl of twenty-one,' whispered Kendal
to Mrs. Stuart, who was comfortably settled in the farther corner of the
box, her small dainty figure set off by the crimson curtains behind it.
'One would think that an actor's life must stir the very depths of a man
or woman's individuality, that it must call every power into action, and
strike sparks out of the dullest.'

'Yes; but how seldom it is so!'