A QUESTION OF ART
I
If only she had a heart she would be perfect," said Mr. Garrick to hisfriend, Mrs. Woffington.
"Ay, as an actress, not as a woman," said Mrs. Woffington. "'T isnot the perfect women who have been most liberally supplied with thatorgan."
"Faith, Madam Peggy, I, David Garrick, of Drury Lane Theatre, have goodreason to set much more store upon the perfect actress than the perfectwoman," said Mr. Garrick. "If I had no rent to pay and no actors to pay,I might be led to spend a profitable hour or two over the considerationof so interesting a question as the relative merits of the perfect womanwith no heart worth speaking of and the perfect actress with a dangeroussuperfluity of the same organ. Under existing conditions, however, I begleave to--"
"Psha! Davy," said Margaret; "try not your scholarship upon so poor athing as myself! It seems to me that you have never quite recoveredfrom the effects of your early training at the feet of our friend, Mr.Johnson."
"Alas! Peggy," said Garrick, "I have forgot all the better part of Mr.Johnson's instruction. He has no reason to be proud of me."
"And yet he is proud of you, and, by my faith, he has some reason to beso. Was it not he made you an actor?"
"He! Mr. Johnson? oh, Lord, he never ceased to inculcate upon us a justhatred and contempt of all that appertains to the stage."
"Ay, and that was the means of making you thoroughly interested in allthat appertains to the stage, my friend. But I hold as I have alwaysheld, that Mr. Johnson gave you first chance.
"What sophistry is this that you have seized upon, my dear? My firstchance?"
"Yes, sir; I hold that your first and, I doubt not, your greatest,success as an actor, was your imitation for the good of yourschoolfellows, of the mighty love passages between your good preceptorand that painted piece of crockery who had led him to marry her, thatwas old enough--ay, and nearly plain enough--to be his mother. What didhe call her?--his Tiffy?--his Taffy?"
"Nay, only his Tessy, The lady's name was Elizabeth, you must know."
"Call her Saint Elizabeth, Davy--your patron saint, for, by the LordHarry, you would never have thought of coming on the stage if it had notbeen for the applause you won when you returned to the schoolroom afterpeeping through the door of the room where your schoolmaster chased hisTessy into a corner for a kiss! Davy, 't is your finest part still. Ifyou and I were to act it, with a prologue written by Mr. Johnson, itwould draw all the town."
"I doubt it not; but it would likewise draw down upon me the wrath ofMr. Johnson; and that is not to be lightly faced. But we have strayedfrom our text, Margaret."
"Our text? I have forgotten that there was some preaching being done.But all texts are but pretexts for straying, uttered in the hearing ofthe strayed. What is your text, Davy?"
"The text is the actress without the heart, Margaret, and the evil thatshe doeth to the writer of the tragedy, to the man who hath a leaseof the playhouse, and above all to her sister actress, MistressWoffington."
"The last of the three evils would imperil the soul's safety of asblameless a lady as Kitty Clive herself. But, if Mistress Woffingtonacts her part well in the new tragedy, I scarce see how she can be hurtby the bad acting of Miss Hoppner."
"That is because you are a trifle superficial in your views of thedrama, Mistress Woffington. What would you think of the painter whoshould declare that, if the lights in his picture were carefully put in,the shadows might be left to chance?"
"Where is the analogy, David?"
"It is apparent: the tragedy is the picture, Mrs. Woffington representsthe lighting, and Miss Hoppner the shading. Heavens! Mrs. Woffington,madam, do you flatter yourself that the playgoers will be willing toaccept the author's account of the fascinations of the woman whomyou are representing, if you fail to rouse your rival to any point ofjealousy? Miss Hoppner, for all the strong language the poet puts intoher mouth, will not make the playgoers feel that the Lady Oriana bearsyou a grudge for having taken her lover from her; and when she stabs youwith her dagger, she does so in such a halfhearted way that the wholehouse will perceive that she is not in earnest."
"Then they will blame her, and she will deserve the blame. They cannotblame me."
"Cannot they, indeed? Lord, my good woman, you little know theplaygoers. You think that they are so nice in their discrimination?You should have learnt better since the days you hung on to MadameViolanti's feet on the tight rope. If you had wriggled so that Violantihad slipped off her rope, would her patrons have blamed aught but her?Nay, you know that they would only have sneered at her clumsiness, andthought nothing of the little devil who had upset her."
"Ay; I begin to perceive your meaning. You apprehend that the playgoerswill damn the play and all associated with it, because Miss Hoppner doesnot kill me with sufficient good-will?"
"I feel sure that they will say that if Mrs. Woffington had only actedwith sufficient intensity she would have stirred her rival into so reala passion of jealousy that she would have stabbed you in a fury."
"Look you here, friend Davy; if it be in your thoughts that MairgaretWoffington is to be held accountable for the mistakes of all the othermembers of your company, you would do well to revise your salary list."
"Nay, Peggy; I only said what the playgoers will, in their error, mindyou, assume."
"Come, Mr. Garrick, tell me plainly what you want me to do for you inthis business. What, sir, are we not on sufficiently friendly terms forplain speaking? Tell me all that is on your mind, sir?"
Garrick paused for some moments, and then laughed in a somewhatconstrained way, before walking on by the side of his friend.
"Come, sir," continued Mrs. Woffington. "Be as plain as you please. I amnot prone to take offence."
"We'll talk of that anon," said Garrick. "Perhaps Mr. Macklin will beable to give us his helpful counsel in this business."
"Psha!" said Peggy. "Mr. Macklin could never be brought to see with youreyes."
"Then he will be all the better able to give us the result of Mr.Macklin's observation," said Garrick.
"Ay, but that is not what you want, Davy," said Mrs. Woffington, with apretty loud laugh. "No one ever calls in a counsellor with the hope ofobtaining an unprejudiced opinion; the only counsellor in whom we haveconfidence is he who corroborates our own views."
II
They had reached their house. It was No. 6 Bow Street, and it waspresided over by Macklin--Garrick and Mrs. Woffington doing thehousekeeping on alternate months.
Visitors preferred calling during Peggy's month, as the visitor, who wasnow greeted by David Garrick in the parlour, testified in the presenceof his biographer years after; for it was Samuel Johnson who awaited thereturn from rehearsal of his Lichfield pupil, David Garrick.
"You shall have a dish of tea, Mr. Johnson, if we have to go thirsty forthe rest of the week," cried the actress, when her hand had been kissedby her visitor. Johnson's kissing of her hand was strangely suggestiveof an elephant's picking up a pin.
"Madam," said he, "your offer is made in the true spirit of hospitality.Hospitality, let me tell you, consists not, as many suppose, in thesharing of one's last crust with a friend--for the sacrifice in partingwith a modicum of so unappetising a comestible as a crust is notgreat--nay; hospitality, to become a virtue, involves a real sacrifice."
"So in heaven's name let us have the tea," said Garrick. "Make it nottoo strong," he whispered to Peggy as he opened the door for her. "Ihave seen him drain his tenth cup at a sitting."
The actress made a mocking gesture by way of reply. She did not shareGarrick's parsimonious longings, and in the matter of tea brewing, shewas especially liberal. When she returned to the room bearing aloft alarge teapot, and had begun to pour out the contents, Garrick complainedbitterly of the strength of the tea, as his guest years afterwards toldBoswell.
"'T is as red as blood," growled the actor.
"And how else should it be, sir?" cried Mrs. Woffington. "Is 't not thenature of good tea to b
e red?"
As Garrick continued growling, Peggy laughed the more heartily, and,with an air of coquettish defiance which suited her admirably, pouredout a second brimming cup for their visitor--he had made very light ofthe first--taking no care to avoid spilling some into the saucer.
"Faith, sir, Mr. Garrick is right: 'tis as red as blood," laughed Peggy,looking with mischievous eyes into Johnson's face.
"That were an indefinite statement, madam; its accuracy is whollydependent on the disposition of the person from whom the blood isdrawn," said Johnson. "Now yours, I believe, madam, to be of a richand generous hue, but Davy's, I doubt not, is a pale and meagrefluid--somewhat resembling the wine which he endeavored to sell, with,let us hope for the sake of the health of his customers, indifferentsuccess for some years."
Garrick laughed with some constraint, while Mrs. Woffington roared withdelight.
"Nay, sir; you are too hard upon me," cried the actor.
"What! would the rascal cry up his blood at the expense of his wine?"said Johnson. "That, sir, were to eulogise nature at the expense ofart--an ill proceeding for an actor."
"And that brings us back to the question which we discussed on our wayhither from the theatre," said Peggy. "List, good Mr. Johnson, to theproposition of Mr. Garrick. He says that I should be held accountablefor the tameness in the acting of the part of a jealous woman by MissHoppner, who is to appear in the tragedy on Tuesday week."
"I do not doubt, madam, that you should be held accountable for thejealousy of many good women in the town," said Johnson; "but it passesmy knowledge by what sophistry your responsibility extends to any matterof art."
"Mrs. Woffington has not told you all, sir," said Garrick. "She is, asyou may well suppose, the creature in the tragedy who is supposed toexcite the bitter jealousy of another woman. Now, I submit that theplay-goers will be ready to judge of the powers of Mrs. Woffington asexercised in the play, by its effect upon the other characters in thesaid play."
"How so, sir?" said Johnson. "Why, sir," replied Garrick, "I maintainthat, when they perceive that the woman who is meant to be stung to apoint of madness through her jealousy of a rival, is scarce moved atall, they will insensibly lay the blame upon her rival, saying that thepowers of the actress were not equal to the task assigned to her by thepoet."
"And I maintain, sir, that a more ridiculous contention than yours couldnot be entertained by the most ignorant of men--nay, the most ignorantof actors, and to say so much, sir, is to say a great deal," criedJohnson. "I pray you, friend Davy, let no men know that I was once yourteacher, if you formulate such foolishness as this; otherwise, it wouldgo hard with me in the world."
"Ah, sir, that last sentence shows that you are in perfect accord withthe views which I have tried to express to you," said Garrick. "You areready to maintain that the world will hold you accountable for whateverfoolishness I may exhibit. The playgoers will, on the same principle,pronounce on the force of Mrs. Woffington's fascinations by the effectthey have, not upon the playgoers themselves, but upon Miss Hoppner."
"Then the playgoers will show themselves to be the fools which I havealways suspected them of being," said Johnson, recovering somewhatungracefully from the effects of swallowing a cup of tea; "Ay, but howare we to fool them?--that's the question, Mr. Johnson," said Peggy. "Ihave no mind to get the blame which should fall on the shoulders of MissHoppner; I would fain have the luxury of qualifying for blame by my ownact."
"What! you mean, madam, that before receiving the punishment forsinning, you would fain enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season? Thatis, I fear, but indifferent morality," said Johnson, shaking his headand his body as well with even more than his accustomed vehemence.
"Look you here, Mrs. Woffington," said Garrick. "You are far too kind toMiss Hoppner. That would not be bad of itself, but when it induces herto be kindly disposed to you, it cannot be tolerated. She is a poorfool, and so is unable to stab with proper violence one who has shownherself her friend."
"She cannot have lived in the world of fashion," remarked Johnson.
"Lud! would you have me arouse the real passion in the good woman forthe sake of the play?" cried Peggy.
"He would e'en degrade nature by making her the handmaid of art.Sir, let me tell you this will not do, and there's an end on't," saidJohnson.
"Then the play will be damned, sir," said Garrick.
"Let the play be damned, sir, rather than a woman's soul," shoutedJohnson.
"Meantime you will have another cup of tea, Mr. Johnson," said Peggy,smiling with a witchery of that type which, exercised in later years,caused her visitor to make a resolution never to frequent the greenroom of Drury Lane--a resolution which was possibly strengthened by thefailure of his tragedy.
"Mrs. Woffington," said he, passing on his empty cup, "let me tell you Icount it a pity so excellent a brewer of tea should waste her time uponthe stage. Any wench may learn to act, but the successful brewing of teademands the exercise of such judgment as cannot be easily acquired.Briefly, the woman is effaced by the act of going on the stage; but thebrewing of tea is a revelation of femininity." He took three morecupfuls.
*****
The tragedy of "Oriana," from the rehearsal of which Garrick and Mrs.Woffington had returned to find Johnson at their house on Bow Street,was by an unknown poet, but Garrick had come to the conclusion, afterreading it, that it possessed sufficient merit to justify his producingit at Drury Lane. It abounded in that form of sentiment which foundfavor with playgoers in an age of artificiality, and its blank verse wasstrictly correct and inexpressible. It contained an apostrophe tothe Star of Love, and eulogies of Liberty, Virtue, Hope, and otherabstractions, without which no eighteenth century tragedy was consideredto be complete. Oriana was a Venetian lady of the early republicanperiod. She was in love with one Orsino, a prince, and they exchangedsentiments in the first act, bearing generally upon the advantagesof first love, without touching upon its economic aspects. Unhappily,however, Orsino allowed himself to be attracted by a lady namedFrancesca, who made up in worldly possessions for the absence of thosecheerless sentiments which Oriana had at her fingers' ends, and theresult was that Oriana ran her dagger into the heart of her rival, intothe chest of her faithless lover, and into her own stays. The businesswas carried on by the sorrowing relations of the three, with thevaluable assistance of the ghosts of the slain, who explained theirrelative positions with fluency and lucidity, and urged upon thesurvivors, with considerable argumentative skill, the advisability offoregoing the elaborate scheme of revenge which each side was hopingto carry out against the other from the date of the obsequies of thedeceased.
The character of Oriana was being rehearsed by Miss Hoppner, anextremely handsome young woman, whom Garrick had met and engaged in thecountry, Mrs. Woffington being the fatally fascinating Francesca, andGarrick, himself, the Prince Orsino.
The tragedy had been in rehearsal for a fortnight, and it promised well,if the representative of the jealous woman could only be brought to "puta little life into the death scene"--the exhortation which theIrish actress of the part of Francesca offered to her daily, butineffectually. Miss Hoppner neither looked the part of a tragicallyjealous woman, nor did the stabbing of her rival in anything like thatwhirlwind of passion with which Garrick, in spite of the limping of theblank verse of the poet, almost swept the rest of the company off thestage when endeavoring to explain to the actress what her representationlacked, on the day after his chat with Mrs. Woffington on the samesubject.
Poor Miss Hoppner took a long breath, and passed her hand across hereyes as if to get rid of the effects of that horrible expression ofdeadly hate which Garrick's face had worn, as he had craned his headforward close to hers to show her how she should stab her rival--theslow movement of his body suggesting the stealth of the leopardapproaching its victim, and his delivery of the lines through histeeth more than suggesting the hissing of a deadly snake in the act ofspringing.
"Ay, do it that way, my dear madam," said Mr
s. Woffington, "and the dayafter the tragedy is played, you will be as famous as Mr. Garrick. 'T isthe simplest thing in the world."
0130]
"You have so unnerved me, sir, that I vow I have no head for my lines,"said Miss Hoppner.
But when, by the aid of the prompter, the lines were recovered andshe had repeated the scene, the result showed very little improvement.Garrick grumbled, and Miss Hoppner was tearful, as they went to thewardrobe room to see the dresses which had just been made for theprincipal ladies.
Miss Hoppner's tears quickly dried when she was brought face to facewith the gorgeous fabric which she was to wear. It was a pink satinbrocaded with white hawthorne, the stomacher trimmed with pearls. Shesaw that it was infinitely superior to the crimson stuff which had beenassigned to Mrs. Woffington. She spoke rapturously of the brocade, andhurried with it in front of a mirror to see how it suited her style ofbeauty.
Mrs. Woffington watched her with a smile. A sudden thought seemed tostrike her, and she gave a little laugh. After a moment's hesitation shewent behind the other actress and said:
"I'm glad to see that you admire my dress, Miss Hoppner."
"Your dress?" said Miss Hoppner. "Oh, yes, that crimson stuff--'tis very becoming to you, I'm sure, Mrs. Woffington; though, for thatmatter, you look well in everything."
"'T is you who are to wear the crimson, my dear," said Peggy. "I havemade up my mind that the one you hold in your hand is the most suitablefor me in the tragedy."
"Nay, madam, Mr. Garrick assigned this one to me, and I think 't willsuit me very well."
"That is where Mr. Garrick made a mistake, child," said Peggy. "AndI mean to repair his error. The choice of dresses lies with me, MissHoppner."
"I have yet to be made aware of that, madam." said Miss Hoppner. Hervoice had a note of shrillness in it, and Garrick, who was standingapart, noticed that her colour had risen with her voice. He becamegreatly interested in these manifestations of a spirit beyond that whichshe had displayed when rehearsing the tragedy.
"The sooner you are made aware of it, the better it will be for allconcerned," said Mrs. Woffington, with a deadly smile.
"I make bold to assure you, madam, that I shall be instructed on thispoint by Mr. Garrick and Mr. Garrick only," said the other, raisingher chin an inch or two higher than she was wont, except under greatprovocation.
"I care not whom you make your instructor, provided that you receive theinstruction," sneered Peggy.
"Mr. Garrick," cried Miss Hoppner, "I beg that you will exercise yourauthority. You assigned to me the brocade, did you not, sir?"
"And I affirm that the brocade will be more suitably worn by me, sir,"said Peggy. "And I further affirm that I mean to wear it, Mr. Garrick."
"I would fain hope that the caprice of a vain woman will not bepermitted to have force against every reasonable consideration," saidMiss Hoppner, elevating her chin by another inch as she glanced out ofthe corners of her eyes in the direction of the other actress.
"That is all I ask for, madam; and as we are so agreed, I presume thatyou will hand me over the gown without demur."
"Yours is the caprice, madam, let me tell you. I have right on my side."
"And I shall have the brocade on mine by way of compensation, my dearlady."
"Ladies!" cried Garrick, interposing, "I must beg of you not toembarrass me. 'T is a small matter--this of dress, and one that shouldnot make a disagreement between ladies of talent. If one is a goodactress, one can move an audience without so paltry an auxiliary as ayard or two of silk."
"I will not pay Miss Hoppner so poor a compliment as would be implied bythe suggestion that she needs the help of a silk brocade to eke out herresources as an actress," said Peggy.
"I ask not for compliments from Mrs. Woffington. The brocade wasassigned to me, and--"
"It would be ungenerous to take advantage of Mr. Garrick's error,madam."
"It was no error, Mrs. Woffington."
"What! you would let all the world know that Mr. Garrick's opinion wasthat you stood in need of a showy gown to conceal the defects of yourart?"
"You are insolent, Mrs. Woffington!"
"Nay, nay, my dear ladies; let's have no more of this recrimination overa question of rags. It is unworthy of you," said Garrick.
"I feel that, sir, and so I mean to wear the brocade," said Mrs.Woffington. "Good lud, Mr. Garrick, what were you thinking of when youassigned to the poor victim of the murderess in the tragedy the crimsonrobe which was plainly meant to be in keeping with the gory intentionsof her rival?"
"Surely I did not commit that mistake," said Garrick. "Heavens! wherecan my thoughts have been? Miss Hoppner, madam, I am greatly vexed--"
"Let her take her brocade," cried Miss Hoppner, looking with indignanteyes, first at the smiling Peggy, and then at Garrick, who was actingthe part of a distracted man to perfection. "Let her wear it and seeif it will hide the shortcomings of her complexion from the eyes of theplaygoers."
She walked away with a sniff before Peggy could deliver any reply.
III
Pray what trick have you on your mind now? asked Garrick, when he wasalone with Peggy. "What was that caprice of yours?"
"Caprice? You are a fool, Davy. You even forget your own precepts, whichyour friend Mr. Johnson, in his wisdom condemned so heartily yesterday."
"Good Lord! You mean to--"
"I mean to make Miss Hoppner act the part of a jealous woman toperfection." And she did so. The next day at the rehearsal, Garrick, aswell as every member of the company, was amazed at the energy whichMiss Hoppner contrived to impart to the scene in the play where, in thecharacter of Oriana, she stabbed her successful rival. She acted with aforce that had scarcely been surpassed by Garrick's reading of the scenefor her instruction the previous day.
"Faith, Peggy, you have given her a weapon for your own undoing," saidGarrick, as he walked home with Mrs. Woffington. "She will eclipse you,if you do not mind."
"I 'll e'en run the risk," said Peggy.
Alas! the next day Miss Hoppner was as feeble as ever--nay, the stabbingscene had never been so feebly gone through by her; and Garrick grumbledloudly.
Miss Hoppner did not seem to mind. At the end of the rehearsal shesought Peggy and offered her her hand.
"Mrs. Woffington," she said, "I am desirous of asking your pardon formy curtness in the matter of the dress. I owe so much to your kindness,madam, I feel that my attempt to fix a quarrel upon you was the morebase. Pray, forgive an unhappy creature, who only seeks to retain thehonour of your friendship."
"Oh, you goose!" said Peggy. "Why are you so foolish as to desire tomake friends with me? You should have hated me--been ready to killme--anything for the sake of becoming an actress."
"You will not refuse me the forgiveness which I implore?" said MissHoppner.
"Nay, nay; I was in the wrong; it was my caprice, but carried out solelyon your behalf, child," said Peggy.
"On my behalf? Oh, you are quite right; I was beginning to forgetmyself--to forget that I was but a provincial actress."
"Oh, you good natured creature!" cried Peggy. "I'll have to begin allover again."
They had reached the stage door by this time, and were standing togetherin the long passage when a tall and good-looking man was admitted,enquiring for Miss Hoppner. Peggy did not fail to notice the brighteningof the color of her companion as the gentleman advanced and took offhis hat with a low bow. It was with a certain proprietary air that MissHoppner presented him to Peggy, by the name of Captain Joycelyn, of theRoyal Scots.
"Captain Joycelyn is one of your warmest admirers, Mrs. Woffington,"said Miss Hoppner.
"Sir, I am overwhelmed," said Mrs. Woffington, with a deep courtesy.
"Nay, madam, I am your servant, I swear," said the gentleman. "I haveoften longed for this honor, but it ever seemed out of my reach. We ofthe Royal Scots consider ourselves no mean judges of your art, and weagree that the playhouse without Mrs. Woffington would be lusterless."
/>
"Ah, sir, you would still have Mrs. Clive," suggested Peggy.
"Mrs. Clive? You can afford to be generous, madam," laughed CaptainJoycelyn.
"She is the most generous woman alive," said Miss Hoppner. "She willprove herself such if she converses with you here for five minutes. Iwas going away forgetting that I had to talk to the wardrobe mistressabout my turban. I shall not be more than five minutes away."
"I protest it makes no demand upon my generosity to remain to listento so agreeable a critic, though I admit that I do so with a certaintremor, sir," said Peggy, with a charming assumption of the flutteredmiss.
"A certain tremor? Why should you have a tremor, dear madam?" said theofficer.
"Ah,'t is the talk of the town that all hearts go down before the RoyalScots, as the King's enemies did in the Low Countries."
"An idle rumour, madam, I do assure you."
"I might have thought so up till now; but now I think I would do wiselyto retreat in order, Captain, while there is yet time."
She looked up at his face with a smile of matchless coquetry.
"Nay, madam, you shall not stir," said he, laughing. "'T is not theconqueror that should retreat. I am too conscientious a soldier topermit so gross a violation of the art of war. Seriously, why should youfly?"
"I am a poor strategist, but I have a sense of danger. Is Miss Hoppner aspecial friend of yours, sir?"
"A special friend? Well, we have been acquaintances for nigh half ayear."
"I thought I had seen her by your side at Ranelagh. She looked veryhappy. I dare say I should be ashamed to confess it, but I envied her."
Peggy's eyes were turned upon the ground with a demureness thatrepresented the finest art of the coquette.
"You--you envied her?" cried the officer. "How humble must be youraspirations, sweet creature! If I should not be thought to be over-boldI would offer--ah! I fear that so brief an acquaintanceship as ours doesnot warrant my presumption--"
"And yet you do not look like one who would be likely to give offense byoverpresumption, sir."
"I should be sorry to do so, madam. Well, if you promise not to floutme, I will say that if you will accept my escort any night to theGardens, you will do me a great honour."
"Oh, sir, your graceful offer overwhelms me. But, alas! all my eveningsare not my own. I am free but this evening and to-morrow evening."
"Then why not come this evening, madam?"
"Why not, indeed? only--is 't not too sudden, Captain? Ah, the dash ofRoyal Scots cannot be resisted!"
At this moment Miss Hoppner returned, and Peggy cried to her, "My dearchild, your friend is Mercury--the messenger of the Elysian Fields--hehas invited us to accompany him to Ranelagh to-night."
"Indeed! That is kind of him," said Miss Hoppner, without any great showof enthusiasm. "And you have accepted his invitation?"
"Ah! who could refuse?" cried Peggy. She had not failed to noticeCaptain Joycelyn's little start at her assumption that Miss Hoppner wasalso to be of the party. "You will not mar our enjoyment by refusing tocome, my dear?" she added.
"Nay; if 't is all settled, I will not hold aloof," said Miss Hoppner,brightening up somewhat.
They went out together, and before Peggy had parted from the others, themanner and the hour of their going had been arranged.
IV
They went up to the gardens by boat. Their party numbered four, forMiss Hoppner had, when alone with Captain Joycelyn, so pouted that hehad promised to bring with him a brother officer to add symmetry tothe party. But if she fancied that this gentleman, who was one EnsignCardew, was to be the companion of Mrs. Woffington, she soon becamesensible of her mistake. By some strange error, for which only Peggycould account the couples got parted in the crowd, Peggy and the Captaindisappearing mysteriously, and only meeting the Ensign and his companionat supper time.
The merriment of Peggy, at the supper, and the high spirits of CaptainJoycelyn, who allowed himself to be spoon-fed by her with mincedchicken, were powerless to disperse the cloud which hung over MissHoppner. She pouted at the supper, and pouted in the boat, and made onlysarcastic replies to the exclamations of enjoyment addressed to her bythe volatile Peggy.
The next day, before the rehearsal of the tragedy, Miss Hoppner said toPeggy, who was renewing her protestations of the enjoyment she had hadon the previous evening:
"I think it right that you should know, Mrs. Woffington, that CaptainJoycelyn some time ago made a proposal of marriage to me, which Iaccepted."
"Good creature, what has that to do with me?" asked Peggy. "CaptainJoycelyn certainly said nothing to me on that particular subject lastnight, and why should you do so now?"
"I am desirous of playing a fair game, madam," cried Miss Hoppner.
"And I am not desirous of playing any game, fair or otherwise," saidPeggy. "Lud, Miss Hoppner, do you fancy that 't is my duty to prevent thestraying of the lovers of the ladies of Mr. Garrick's company? I vow,I took upon me no such responsibility; I should have no time for mymeals."
The woman whom she addressed looked at her with flashing eyes, her handstightly clenched, and her teeth set, for some moments. Once her lipsparted; she seemed about to speak; but with an evident struggle sherestrained herself. Then the fierce light in her eyes flamed into scorn.
"Words were wasted on such a creature," she said in a whisper, that hadsomething of a hiss in its tone, as she walked away.
Peggy laughed somewhat stridently, and cried:
"Excellently spoke, beyond doubt. The woman will be an actress yet."
Not a word of complaint had Garrick reason for uttering in regard tothe rehearsal of the scene in the tragedy, this day, and on their wayhomewards, he remarked to Peggy, smilingly:
"Perhaps in the future, my dear Peggy, you will acknowledge that I knowsomething of the art and methods of acting, though you did not hesitateto join with Mr. Johnson in calling my theories fantastic."
"Perhaps I may," said Peggy, quietly; "but just now I protest that Ihave some qualms."
"Qualms? Qualms? An actress with qualms!" cried Garrick. "What a comedycould be written on that basis! 'The Actress with Qualms; or, Letting IDare Not wait upon I Would!' Pray, madam, do your qualms arise fromthe reflection that you have contributed to the success of a sisteractress?"
"The tragedy has not yet been played," said Peggy. "It were best notto talk of the success of an actress in a play until the play has beenacted."
That night, Mrs. Woffington occupied a box in the theater, and by herside was Captain Joycelyn. Miss Hoppner was in a box opposite, and byher side was her mother.
On Monday, Peggy greeted her quite pleasantly as she came upon the stageto rehearse the tragedy; but she returned the greeting with a glance ofscorn, far more fierce than any which, in the character of Oriana, shehad yet cast at her rival in the scenes of the play. Peggy's mockingface and the merry laugh in which she indulged did not cause the otherto abate any of her fierceness; but when the great scene was rehearsedfor the last time previous to the performance, Mrs. Woffington becameaware of the fact that, not only was Miss Hoppner's representation ofthe passionate jealousy of the one woman real, but her own expressionof fear, on the part of the other woman when she saw the flash of thedagger, was also real. With an involuntary cry she shrank back beforethe wild eyes of the actress, who approached her with the stealthymovement of a panther measuring its distance for a spring at the throatof its victim.
Garrick complimented both ladies at the close of the scene, but theyboth seemed too overcome to acknowledge his compliments.
"By my soul, Peggy," said Garrick, when they met at the house in Bowstreet, "you have profited as much by your teaching of that woman asshe has. The expression upon your face to-day as she approached you gaveeven me a thrill. The climax needed such a cry as you uttered, thoughthat fool of a poet did not provide for it."
She did not respond until some moments had passed, and then she merelysaid:
"Where are we to end, Davy, if we are to
bring real and not simulatedpassion to our aid at the theater? Heavens, sir! we shall be in a prettymuddle presently. Are we to cultivate our hates and our jealousies andour affections for the sake of exhibiting them in turn?"
"'T would not be convenient to do so," said Garrick. "Still, you haveseen how much can be done by an exhibition of the real, and not thesimulated passion."
"Depend upon it, sir, if you introduce the real passions into the actingof a tragedy you will have a real and not a simulated tragedy on thestage."
"Psha! that is the thought of--a woman," said Garrick. "A woman seeks tocarry an idea to its furthest limits; she will not be content to acceptit within its reasonable limitations."
"And, being a woman,'tis my misfortune to think as a woman," said Mrs.Woffington.
The theatre was crowded on the evening when "Oriana" appeared for thefirst time on the bills. Garrick had many friends, and so also hadMargaret Woffington. The appearance of either in a new characterwas sufficient to fill the theatre, but in "Oriana" they were bothappearing, and the interest of playgoers had been further stimulated bythe rumors which had been circulated respecting the ability of the newactress whom Garrick had brought from the country.
When the company assembled in the green-room, Garrick gave all hisattention to Miss Hoppner. He saw how terribly nervous she was. Not fora moment would she remain seated. She paced the room excitedly,every now and again casting a furtive glance in the direction of Mrs.Woffington, who was laughing with Macklin in a corner.
"You have no cause for trepidation, my dear lady," said Garrick to MissHoppner.
0155]
"Your charm of person will make you a speedy favorite with theplaygoers, and if you act the stabbing scene as faithfully as you did atthe last two rehearsals your success will be assured."
"I can but do my best, sir," said the actress. "I think you will findthat I shall act the stabbing scene with great effect."
"I do not doubt it," said Garrick. "Your own friends in the boxes willbe gratified."
"I have no friends in the boxes, sir," said the actress.
"Nay, surely I heard of at least one--a certain officer in the RoyalScots," whispered Garrick.
"I know of none such, sir," replied the actress, fixing her eyes, halfclosed, upon Peg Woffington, who was making a jest at Macklin's expensefor the members of the company in the neighbourhood.
"Surely I heard--," continued Garrick, but suddenly checked himself."Ah, I recollect now what I heard," he resumed, in a low tone. "Alas!Peggy is a sad coquette, but I doubt not that the story of yourconquests will ring through the town after to-night."
She did not seem to hear him. Her eyes were fixed upon Peggy Woffington,and in another moment the signal came that the curtain was ready torise.
Garrick and Macklin went on the stage together, the former smiling in aself-satisfied way.
"I think I have made it certain that she will startle the house in atleast one scene," he whispered to Macklin.
"Ah, that is why Peggy is so boisterous," said Macklin. "'Tis only whenshe is over-nervous that she becomes boisterous. Peggy is beginning tofeel that she may have a rival."
But if Peggy was nervous she certainly did not suggest it by her acting.She had not many opportunities for displaying her comedy powers in theplay, but she contrived to impart a few touches of humour to the lovescenes in the first act, which brightened up the gloom of the tragedy,and raised the spirits of the audience in some measure. Her mature stylecontrasted very effectively with the efforts of Miss Hoppner, who showedherself to be excessively nervous, and thereby secured at once thesympathies of the house. It was doubtful which of the two obtained thelarger share of applause.
At the end of the act, Captain Joycelyn was waiting at the back of thestage to compliment Peggy upon her acting. Miss Hoppner brushed pastthem on her way to her dressing-room, without deigning to recogniseeither.
Curiously enough, in the next act the position of the two actressesseemed to be reversed. It was Mrs. Woffington who was nervous, whereasMiss Hoppner was thoroughly self-possessed.
"What in the world has come over you, my dear?" asked Garrick, whenPeggy had made an exit so rapidly as to cause the latter half of one ofher lines to be quite inaudible.
"God knows what it is!" said Peggy. "I have felt all through the actas if I were going to break down--as if I wanted to run away from animpending calamity. By heaven, sir, I feel as if the tragedy were realand not simulated!"
"Psha! You are but a woman, after all," said Garrick.
"I fear that is the truth," said she. "Good God! that woman seems tohave changed places with me. She is speaking her lines as if she hadbeen acting in London for years. She is doing what she pleases with thehouse."
Garrick had to leave her to go through his great scene with the Orianaof the play, and Mrs. Woffington watched, as if spell-bound, themarvellous variety of his emotional expression, as, in the character ofthe Prince Orsino, he confessed to Oriana that he no longer loved her,but that he had given his heart to Francesca. She saw the gleam in theeyes of the actress of the part of the jealous woman as she denouncedthe perfidy of her lover, and bade him leave her presence. Then cameOriana's long soliloquy, in which she swore that the Prince should nevertaste the happiness which he had sought at her expense.
"I have a heart for murder, murder, murder!
My blood now surges like an angry sea,
Eager to grapple with its struggling prey,
And strangle it, as I shall strangle her,
With these hands hungering for her shapely
throat,
The throat on which his kisses have been flung.
Give her to me, just God, give her to me,
But for the time it takes to close my hand
Thus, and if justice reign supreme above,
The traitress shall come hither to her doom."
(_Enter Francesca._)
(_Aside_) "My prayer is answered. It is Jove's decree." So the passageran, and it was delivered by the actress with a fervour that thrilledthe house.
After her aside, Oriana turned, according to the stage directions, toFrancesca with a smile. In Miss Hoppner's eyes there was a lightof triumph--of gratified revenge--and before it Margaret Woffingtonquailed. She gave a frightened glance around, as if looking for a way ofescape; there was a little pause, and then upon the silence of thehouse there fell the half-hissed words of Oriana as she craned her headforward facing her rival:
"Thou think'st to ride in triumph o'er my
corse--
The corse which his indecent feet have spurned
Into the dust. But there's a God above!
I tell thee, traitress,'t is not I shall lie
For vulture-beaks to rend--but thou--thou--
thou!
Traitress abhorred, this knife shall find thy
heart!"
"My God! the dagger--it is real!" shrieked Peggy; but before she couldturn to fly, the other had sprung upon her, throwing her partly over acouch, and holding her down by the throat while she stabbed her twice.
A hoarse cry came from Peg Woffington, and then she rolled off the couchand fell limply to the stage, the backs of her hands rapping helplesslyon the boards as she fell.
The other actress stood over her for a moment with a smile; then shelooked strangely at the dagger which glistened in her hand. Then, with ahysterical cry, she flung the weapon from her and fell back.
The curtain went down upon the roar of applause that came from everypart of the theatre. But though the applause was maintained, neither ofthe actresses responded to the call. Several minutes had passed beforeGarrick himself appeared and made a sign that he wished to speak. Whenthe house became silent, he explained to his patrons that both actresseshad swooned through the great de
mands which the scene had made uponthem, and would be unable to appear for the rest of the evening. Underthese melancholy circumstances, he hoped that no objection would be madeto the bringing on of the burletta immediately.
The audience seemed satisfied to forego the enjoyment of the ghostscenes of the tragedy, and the burletta was proceeded with.
It was not thought advisable to let the audience know that Mrs.Woffington was lying on a couch in her dressing room, while a surgeonwas binding up a wound made in her side by the dagger used by theother actress. It was not until Garrick had examined the weapon that heperceived it was not a stage blade, but a real one, which had been usedby Miss Hoppner. Fortunately, however, the point had been turned asideby the steel in Peg Woffington's stays, so that it had only inflicted aflesh wound.
In the course of a couple of hours Peggy had recovered consciousness,and, though very weak, was still able to make an effort to captivatethe surgeon with her witty allusions to the privileges incidental to hisprofession. She was so engaged, when Garrick entered the room and toldher that Miss Hoppner was weeping outside the door, but that he hadgiven orders that she was not to be admitted.
"Why should the poor girl not be admitted?" cried Peggy. "Should suchan accident as that which happened be treated as though it were murder?Send her into the room, sir, and leave us alone together."
Garrick protested, but Peggy insisted on having her own way, and themoment Miss Hoppner was permitted to enter, she flung herself on herknees at the side of the couch, weeping upon the hand that Peggy gave toher.
When Garrick entered with Captain Joycelyn, a short time afterwards,Peggy would not allow him to remain in the room. The Captain remained,however, for some minutes, and when he left, Miss Hoppner was on hisarm. They crossed the stage together, and that was the last time sheever trod that or any other stage, for Captain Joycelyn married herwithin a month.
"Ah, friend Davy," cried Peggy to Garrick, "there was, after all, somesense in what Mr. Johnson said. We actors are, doubtless, great folk;but 't were presumptuous to attempt to turn Nature into the handmaidof Art. I have tried it, sir, and was only saved from disaster bythe excellence of the art of my stays-maker. Nay, the stage is notNature--it is but Nature seen on the surface of a mirror; and even then,I protest, only when David Garrick is the actor, and Shakespeare's thepoet."