New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-12-13

secret OF the plot with inscrutable dizziness to
Oie END Captain Marshall is a resourceful
playwright, with a keen sense OF character and
an inventive talent for humorous byplay. and
his new drama is bright in dialogue and ami
mated ana interesting In movement
The plot Of THE Unforeseen" is complex and
somewhat artificial, bearing evidence of frequent
reconstruction and laborious processes Of fnven-
ton; yet it piques curiosity and maintains inter
est until the end. when the solution comes sud
denly In so commonplace form as to inspire
the feeling that there has been much unneces-
sary pother caused by lack of frankness. The
hrst act reveals the heroines indiscretion in
running away from her fathers home and join
ing her lover, Henry Traquair, dissolute rake,
III a Paris hotel. 1t is fete night, and the
bands are playing and the crowds frollicking in
the streets; and the lovers, who are to be mar
ried on the morrow. go out the balcony for
glimpse Of the merrymaking. In their absence
Captain Haynes, a school friend, who has recog
nized Traquair in the street enters the apart
ment with a travelling companion an English
vicar and is confronted with the evidence that
there is a lady in the case. The vicar, whose
sight is beginning TO fail, prudently withdraws
after intently observing the girls face; but the
captain remains in the room until Traquair re
enters 1t. and after a moment Of hesitation in
PRODUCES the lady as his wife and receives jocu-
lar congratulations upon his social reformation.
The interloper does not retreat until he has told
the latest news from London about the disas-
trous failure Of bank, by which Traquafr is
left penniless. The reformed scapegrace at once
loses courage and breaks off the match; and the
heroine leaves the hotel in hot haste to catch
the night train for London. Her lover orders
the waiter not to disturb him. he has an i'm
portant letter to write, and with premontions
of suicide the curtain is rung down upon the
opening act.
The three remaining scenes are staged for
England after an interval Of several years The
clergyman has become vicar of the parish where
the heroine. General Fieldings daughter, lives.
and his sight has failed him. although he still
continues to preach and not only to carry on
his work. but also TO make love with quaint grace
and fine feeling. The sequel to the Paris esca-
pade is revealed in a confidential talk between
the sisters. The cowardly lover had committed
suicide. and, while there was great hue and
cry over the mysterious lady, her identity had
never been Established. The heroine accepts the
wears suit in the second act, and in the third
act her tranquil happiness at the rectory Is
rudely disturbed by the arrival from South
Africa Of her husbands friend, the army officer,
who had seen her with Traquair IN the Paris
hotel. Recognition is mutual, but the woman
makes brave and desperate fight for happiness.
succeeds In convincing the ofncer tHat IL Is d
case of mistaken identity. and at the last mo-
ment is betrayed unconsciously by her sister
in a small detail about necklace, concerning
which she is caught fbbing- The closing act in
cludes the Joyful return Of the vicar from Lon
dom where his sight has been restored by g.
surgical opera ton and the catastrophe of the
heroines recognition the woman whom he
had himself seen in Paris with Traquair The
wife is sternly condemned. and the situation
seems desperate; but the solution comes in the
simplest way by the production of the letter
which Traquair was writing when the curtain
fell upon the first act It had been addressed TO
Captain Haynes in India, and contained full
and explicit exculpation Of the wayward and
romantic girl A happy ending is secured but
by unconvincing processes, since the army officer
had been in full possession Of the proofs OF the
heroine's innocence. and evidently had held
them back and made everybody unhappy solely
for the playwrights convenience in providing
final curtain. This is al obvious flaw Of con-
struction in a bright and interesting play
L n. F.