The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-11

cred De Loranos assign alton, and after refus-
ing herself to Sir William 10 moved by a
sudden impulse to go and save his wife.
De Lorano swears on his honor that Lady
eaumarez Is not in his rooms, and that
he has no appointment with her. but. Of
course. refuses whom asked to open the
bedroom door. Mrs. Trevelyan then makes
herself comfortable on q couch and announces
hor intention OF remaining for the night. Then
another knock is heard. and the Duke OF
Primes voice follows. Mrs. Trevelyan refuses
to avail herself OF q private door leading from
the sitting room to the street. and risks COM
promising herself in the eyes OF the man
whom she loves.
But whom De Lorano goes out to meet the
Duke, she KIN ocks at the bedroom door and
tells Lady SaumSrez that she 10 there to rescue
her. Lady Saumarez comes out. and after
short and angry talk with Mrs. Trevelyan.
PUSHES through the private door and locks her
rival and resousr on tho inside Of 1t. Mrs..
Treveyan then locks herself In the bedroom.
The Duke aad De Lorano como in, talking sap
phire mine business. and De Lorano thinks
naturally that Mrs. Trevslyan has escaped by
means Of the private exit. Then another
knock 10 heard. and this time Sir William
saumarez appears. On getting homo from
his futile call on Mrs. Trovelyan he
found his wife had left the house. and
straiGhtway started for De Lorano's
to see II she might be there.
De Loranos honor 10 again called upon In de-
nying the i'm parchment. and again he refuses
to open the bedroom door. The three mon
advance toward 1t. when 1t 10 opened from the
inside and Mrs. Trsvelyan shows herself. The
relieved Sir william takes her away. and the
Duke only romans long enough to tell De
Lorano that he had grasped the entire situa-
n
had entered the room. for he happened TO pick
up a long kid glove on which was Lady
Saumarezx MONOGRAM in diamonds. How
we'll we know that glove. or sometimes 1t 10
fan. as In the case Of Lady Windermerel The
villain drops into chair sxolaiming you are
the devil him salt" In that case" rejoins the
Duke. I'VE shall meet again"
The curtain falls at this point. and the fourth
act takes place next morning. In Mrs.. Trevel-
yan's boudoir. Lady Saumarez calls to ask
forgiveness. express gratitude. and ACCEPT Mrs.
Trevslyan's self-sacrifcs. Then the Duke and
Sir william call The latter takes OF his wife.
to whom he is now fully reconciled. as she to
him. and the Duke. after restoring to Lady
Saumarez. her glove and peace Of mind. re-
mains to tell Mrs. TreveIyan that at last she Is
q woman. and the woman he wants.
Thus boldly put forth the critics. com plainti Is
justinable enough. The characters are famil-
iar,-the bedroom. tho interrupted letter. the
dropped glove. are all old friends. But there Is
q fair amount OF witty dialogue and brisk re-
partee. Not enough. however. to justify the
description will now venture to give OF this
play as perhaps the most oynically daring ever
put on q London stage. The critics here. like
every single person In the crowded house. saw
points and laughed at thsm time after time.
and these points have been passed over in com
tkA ThAE xunl
omsthing new. something startlingly new in
the "Degensratos." We have had plenty Of plays
written for particular actor or actress. and
plenty that have been written round some we'll
known person or event. But In the "Degen-
crates" we have q com bnation. and . par
ticularly daring combination OF these two
kinds OF play, There Is no need to write
Mrs. Langtry's personal history for either
American or English readers. 1t 10 this his
tory, suggested rather than told. that Mr..
Grundy has taken for the history OF his heroine.
Mrs. Treveylan. and the actress who plays the
part is-Mrs. LanEtry. And herein. of course.
lay the ohlsi interest OF the play for ninety
nine per cent. of the first night audience.
Many OF the 1ner strokes OF wit. as well as tho
more numerous fseber ones, were passed over
But anyth directly applicable to Mrs. Lang
try was welcomed at once with knowing
laugh Before going further 1t 10 we'll to
cay that In spite OF the critics any OF over
drawn" unreal" &C.. the chief characters.
and we'll the critics know 1t, are all taken from
life, and not very far from life either. Sir Will
liam Saumarez 10 a roue we'll known to the
initiated The polnts then that scored most
heavily with tho audience were such rs these
Mrs. Trsvelyan is divorc6e who explains that
she obtained her decree by means of
collusive divorce suit and somnolent
IN hAr ord "a
husband had been seized by an attack OF MIST
prisus and siI months later died OF decree abb
solute." In the play Mrs. Trsvelyan marries
a man title. just as In real lie Mrs.
LanEtry has married one Just 4 year after he r
husbands death. In defining his idea Of "A
woman" the Duke Of Orme says he does not
object to "a few spots" without some woman
would not be a woman, merely female. Mira.
Trevelyan talks Of her spots" I'm all over
them" and the audience laughs. Mrs. Trevel-
yam chaffs the Duke for giving up his old life.
You used to go the pace with me-" Only for
few furlongs." replies His Grace. II couldn't
keep it up. but vou are such slayer" and
again the audience laughs. with a different
kind OF laughter from that awarded to mere
wit or humor. Mrs. Trevslyan aok no lsdges
that she has loved men," and adds that when
"shs loved there were no half measures
about It, Haven't l loved men, and
haven't they given me bsaus2" she asks.
and the hearers answer with another laugh.
There Is another and q louder laugh. whom In
the bedroom scene Mrs. Trevslyan asks Dc
Lorano to hide her In his bedroom whom the
Dukes voice is heard outside. De Lorano
urges the private street door. adding in a
shocked voice that the room was his bed
room." And d'you suppose" cries Mrs. Ire
yelyan, advancing to the footlights with up
lifted arms. that Tue never seen a-bsdroom2'
Tho remark is made to tho audience. and from
the audience comes IL laugh louder than the
mere jest could ever call forth under different
circumstances. A score OF such points could
be recalled at once. but these. as a sam pie. will
snfhce. The parallelism OF the 16-year-old
daughter is one that might have been omitted
though as played by Miss Grundy. on her first
appearance on the stage. 1t was one OF the most
| successful parts OF the evening. slight as It was
For the rest we are told that Mrs. Trevslyan'l
boudoir is a replica OF Mrs. Langtry's room al
Newmarket from where the furniture. roulette
board and all were brought in the sacred
cause OF realism. In addition to setting forth