St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-01
THE FoRsAKEN MAIDEN.
Shouting That Social Misfortune has q
Honey Vdtxe -1bore Dirt
lOlive Logan's London Letter to Philadelphia

Times.
The event of the theatrical week has been
the appearance of Miss .Forteseue on the
boards of the Court Theatre. The fair delais-
see of the Earl's son has gained one sub
stantial advantage by the episode which has
made her an object of interest in the theatre
cal and fashionable worlds of two hemis-
pheres, namely, tremendous advance in
her stage value. To put this advance in the
exact numerals of finance will be to mention
that when she left the stage of the Savoy
Theatre, where she was playing the queen OF
the fairies in ''Iolanthe," she was receiving
her previous salary. At risk of life and limb
I attended the irst-night performance of
''Dan'l Druce', and I never wish to see again
such an uproar in a theatre. The demand
for stalls had been so great that the managers
had slyly encroached upon the pit. reducing
the precints of that time hOnored locality to
very narrow dimensions. At finding their
rights thus infringed upon the pittites were
furious and assailed the managers, Clayton
and Cecil, with storms of misses and loud
cries Of where's the pit?'' whenever the
appeared upon the stage. As both managers
took prominent parts as actors in the nights
entertainment it will be easily understood
that we scarcely passed happy evening.
The debutante-fOr such as an actress Miss
Fortescue can only be calleed-received
tremendous reception. Stalls, boxes, gal
leries and pit joined issue in applauding to
the echo the frail and insignificant young
girl who but few months since was drudg
ing nightly as chief of the ballet at the Savoy
10, 4
attention to-no one except Lord Garmoyle.
But the British public is a generous body
and the popular feeling is that Miss Fortes-
cue has been very scurvily treated by man
who, whatever his social position, is nothing
but cad at heart after all So the moment
the neat little figure emerged upon the MIN
ic scene, becomingly arrayed in the subdued
beauty of the dress of a Puritan maiden, she
was greeted with a reception that would
have been fattering to any artist living. 1t
was as much as the poor girl could do to
keep her composure under it; tears believed
her eyes, her lip quivered and her bosom
rose and fell in painful emotion. Then, if
never before, she must have realized to the
full the bitterness and even degradation of
her position Not to speak of blighted hopes,
crushed ambition and the pangs of misplaced
love she endures that most Calling OF all
griefs to a woman-the knowledge that she
is cast off and despised by one who once
sued humbly for the smiles to which he is
now Indifferent. Miss Fortescue by an evil
dent effort recovered her nerve without an
absolute breakdown and then began her bust
ness of the evening as an actress. Sooth to
say, she is very poor one. mere doll in
the hands of her instructors, she walks here
at this line, clasps her hands at that one,
rolls her eyes to heaven when the cue is Civ
en- and parrots forth words of tenderness
without giving them one note of the ring of
true feeling. She is at present mere auto
maton, ct pour cause-she has been thrust
into prominent part without having had
any practice in the portrayal of such charac-
tiers. Her peculiar position invests her with
a peculiar charm, but as a beauty / should
not rank her as frst-cass. She is slight,
fair-haired, slender, with an upturned little
nose and large, soft eyes. But the eyes
have no soulful light shining forth behind
them, the upturn ed little nose is not piquant,
since the lady is of melancholy cast of
countenance, and particularly is the small,
thin Tipped mouth characterless and feeble.
But youth is there to throw its veil of fas-
cination over all the features; the glamour
of romance adds its potent charm, and the
amazing force of colossal notoriety winds
up the spell. Notoriety! Why, 1 never saw
anything like it. At every street corner a
pamphlet some kind relating to the scandal
is thrust under ones nose. For the moder-
ate disbursement Of one penny, current coin
of the realm, you are asked to buy "The True
Story of the Peer and the Player" or ''The
Fortescue-Garmoyle Case, by one who knows
all about it, or 'Fortesque, the Forsaken,"
etc. ,etc.-vilely printed stuff, laden with
coarse wood cuts of the unfortunate actress.
It is doubtful whether without this curious
adjunct to popularity Gilbert's dreary drama
of ''Dan'l Druce'' would have seen the light
again. 1t was treated as careful but not very
entertaining work when it was produced
some years ago at the Haymarket. Mr.. Her
man VeXin is here again to play his orr ginal
part and his sound methods and immense
knowledge of dramatic technique produce
once more their wonted effect. In observ-
ing the proficiency Of experienced actors
like Herman Vein, men who can play upon
every sentiment of the human heart as if it
were keyboard under the touch Of skilful
pianist, the observer is strongly reminded of
the old French sign of despair; Isl la jeu-
nesse savait, 81 la vieliesse pouvait''-If youth
knew how, if old age wereable. All, what
a conjunction that would be. But it is never
achieved. Your Langtrys, your Fortescues
please the eye, but leave the heart, the mag
inaton, cold beneath their most winning
chances.
/ suppose it was the immediate need of
money which has caused Miss Fortesqne to
return to the stage at this critical point in
her career. l confess that during the period
of her engagement to Lord Garmoyle l have
often wondered how she got the means to
dress as she did. But in large town like
London there are to be found usurers who
will lend money on all sorts of security, and
perhaps there may be a regular class who
furnish funds to persons having great expec-
tations, of whatever kind -hese may be. At
any rate, the fair plaintiff can not now plead
that her professional prospects have been in
jured by her faithless lover, since she is at
present commanding five times her previous
salary. But / hear that her stron gest plea
will be that she lost an excellent marriage
by the assiduities of Loro Garmoyle. A we'll
known London figure, one Harry Quilter,
was said to have been on the point of propos-
ing to Miss Fortesque, or perhaps proposed
and was rejected. The Harry Quilter re-
ferred to is the son of the senior partner in a
rich firm of accountants in the city, and the
"Quilters' are the family who now occupy
Whistler's ''White House, in Chelsea, having
or so Whistler intimates, employed sharp
practice to get him out of his charming old
picturesque mansion by Thames-side.
OLIVE LOGAN.
EYEING THE WHITE HOUSE.