The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-02-10
Miss DRE7HERTON
By MRS HUMPHREY WARD,
AUTHOR OF ROBERT RLsMrRE.'
August IT-I9

-
ing on with considerable amusement and in
forest: and this afternoon. finding u in
to.eiab!e that Miss Bretherson has not even a
1owing acquaintance with any o. his favor
lie plays Augior. Dumas, Victor Hugo or
nuythInr elss. hc has been reading aloud e.
~ IN tho garden. running on from scene 70
scene and speech 10 speech, tranSlating as he
weut-->ho IA rapt attention, and no gestcu
lating and sporting, and except for an occa-
sional queer rendering that made us laugh,
getting on capiially with his English. She
vas enchanted. tho novelty and the excite
nsni Of it absorbed her; and every now AMI
then she would stop Paul with little inn
pcrsous wave Of her hand. and repeat the
substance % q speech after him with an i'm
poin0us clan, an energy Of comprehension,
which drew little mods Of satisfaction out Of
hia. and sometimes produced a strong and
startling effect uoon myself and Mr. Wallace.
However. Mr Wallace might stare rs hs
liked: tho two people concerned were totally
unconscious Of the rest 81 Us. until at last,
after The great death scene IN the Mutt
Blanche Paul threw down tho book almost
with a sob. and she. rising with a burs; OF
feeling, held out her white arms towards on
imaginary lover, and with extraordinary
skin and memory repeated the substance Of
the heroino's last speeches;
"'AcAli.e, beloved! my eyes are dim--the
inists OF death arc gathering. q Achiiiei the
white COTTAGE by the river-the nest IN the
rceds--your face and mine IN tho water-thc
blne heaven below US 50 tho stfeam-O sos,
ouicsi those hands. those lips But listen,
llsteni Sc IS the cruel wind rising, rising, u
chi.ls mo 20 the bone; 1t chokes, It stiles me-
cauuo. sec the river, and the cottageis gone,
and the sun o Achille, it IS dark, so darS
Gather mo close, beloved ,--closerl closeri Q
death is kind-tender, Ike your toucbi
hatero fcars-nonep
"Sho sanl. back into her chair. Anything
more patno,ic. more noble than her int0na-
lion ~ those words could not have been
imagined Desforets herself could not have
spok.n them with q moro simple, more
perc.ng tenderness was so confused by
multitude Of conflicting feeliDgs-my own
impressions 0ul yours, the realities Of the
prcscu. position and tho possibilities Of the
futlrc-that forgot 90 applaud her. TWAS
tho first time had had any glimpse at all Of
her dramatic power, and, rough aud imper
feet es tho test was, 10 seemed 70 me enough
Ihavo not been SO devoted 10 tho Fraucals.
and 10 sorao OF tic people connected with It,
for ten years for nothing One gets kind
ofiulcht from l0ng habit, which, think, one
martrust. On, YOU blind Eustace, how could
vol FORGET that fora creature 50 full Of print
tive cucrgv, 50 rich IN the stuff Of life, moth
inc is irrCDarablel Education hes passed her
by. Wei, sac viii 90 10 find her education
She wlll make q teacher out Of every friend,
out Of every sensation. Incident and feeling
~atc oil rft md I'D
mold the sensitive, plastic material into
SHAPE. So far as SIC may have remained
outside her art, the art, no doubt, has been "a
conventional cppendage, and Attlo more
Training would have given her good con
venlons. whereas she has only picked up bad
AID imperfect ones. But 10 training could
have given her what she viii evidently soon
dove. p for herself, that force and asIne 81
imagination which fuses together instrument
and idea IN one great artistic whole. She
has that Imagination You can see 1t in her
responsive ways, her quick, sensitive emo
lion. Oaly let it be reused and guided TO a
certain height, aud Il will overlap tie bar
risrs which have hemmed it in, aud pour
itself into the channels made ready for 1t by
her art
There. az least. you have my strong i'm
preston IL IS, IN many ways, q. variance
with some Of my most cherished principles,
FOR both you and | are perhaps inclined %
overra.e the value Of education, whether
technical or general, IN It's effect on the indi-
v.duahty. And, Of course, q better technical
prcpara.ion would have saved Isabel Brother
ton an Imlnense amount Of time; would have
prevented her from contracting host Of tad
habits-all Of which she VIII have TO unlearp
But the root Of the matter IS in her; Of that
/ am sure; and whatever weight Of hostile
circumstance may DO agaius. her, she will, If
sho keeps her heslth-as 70 which ain some
times. ike you, "A little anNous-break
through il al and triumph.
Bat il you did not understand her quite,
You have enormously helped heg, 50 much
VIII tell you for your comfort. She said 70
NE Yesterday abruptly--we we alone 10
our gondola, far out on the lagoon-'Did
your brother ever tell you Of q conversation
be and had in the woods at Nunehsm about
Mr.. Wallace's playF
'"Yes,' ans wered with outward boldness,
but lite inward trepidation; i have not
known anything distress him 50 much for
a long tina He thought you had misunder-
stood him
me with an undercurrsnt Of emotion IN her
voice; i dll Lot mis0uderstand him. He
meant what he said, and / would have
forced the truth from him. whatever hap
pened | was determined u make him show
NE what 10 felt That London season was
sometimes terrible 10 me ! seemed to my
self % be living IN two wUrlds-one world in
which there was always o sea Of faces oppo-
site 10 rue, or crowds about me, and praise
ringing in my ears which was enough 70 turn
anybody's head, but which after a while 10
PEELED me As II therr vas something humu'
hitting in il, and then on the other side,
liitlo innor world Of people cared for and
respected who looked at mo kindly, and
thought for me, but to whom as an actress,
/ was Just Of no account at oil 1t vas your
brother who first reused that sense IN ME, 1t
was 50 strange aud painful. for how could
help a, first believing in all the hubbub snd
applausef
Poor chiidr | said, reaching out my