Middletown transcript., 1902-05-03
UsTADE CIavering II ! big man
bia III body, mind and repusa'
Han All eminent X. CT. one q

,UsTACE CiaverinE u ! big man
bis ii body, mind and repusa.
y lion. An eminent x. Gil one q
the most impose q
pleaders ii the Bar. z
nolitician whose final resting place II
Parliment must BE- greatly . matter g
his own choosing, remarkably little g.
vantage has been taken by his opponents
Of his early association with the ssage
and with stage folk.
Presumably this IS ii great pars gus
to bis own excessive candor on tne sup
ject and to his genuine personal popu'
larity. For Eustace Is still young man
as barristers 60, a man whose pseudonsm
ssEric Carstairs. z was familiar to every
man and woman III town, . dozen year
ago, on the playbiIls of more than ons
successful production west Of Temple Bar
In the late eighties he was The hand
soonest boy with the theatrical entret
in London, his commedies we're the
most promising. To-day the realities q
life, as criminal cross-examining counse
sees them, have strengthened bis jaw,
added keenness to his eye and deepeneo
the music OF his voice. But ne is hand
some as ever, desirable as eyer-a man
just approaching his prime.
The old bohemian days In Oak Tree
Court are fresh in the memories OF ail
but the Youngest Of youthful generation.
Yet are they never mentioned save IN
the company OF those to whom their ia
cidents are already ass tale that is told
For all men respect Eustace Clavering.
Through it all he remained man and
q gentleman, and the Inns Of Court rear
few who do not eat Of the Tree Of Know
ledge and in the eating gain such COM
pensation az may be for their banisE-
ment from the Eden of Innocence.
The Winter was depressing one. The
demise of sovereign-an even not pre-
viously encountered in the experience
Of the active generations had left Lon
don in doubt as to whether it was in or
out Of town. In the general suspension
of all things Clavering had an oppor-
tunity for introspection he had never
previously encountered. To his astonish-
ment be found himself thirty eight and .
bachelor-not a confirmed bachelor, be-
cause he had not yet attained the age
of settled conviction, but an increasingly
fastidious bachelor. The discovery dis
tressed him, because he was essentially
an admirer Of women, and time was when
he had been q lover of women-in the
abstract.
In the first shock of the realization ne
cursed himself for bis nicely. He had
no ambition to become cynic. and he
had not suffered sufficiently at the hands
OF women to drive him in that direction.
Yet all involuntarily he was drifting
speedily to practical il not theoretical
misogyny. Already he was hypercritical
quick to note immaterial anatomical IL
accuracies, trivial discrepancies between
complexion and stature, between ayoir-1
dupois and resonance of voice - trifles
the healthy man knows not, or knowing,
sees not. To argue himself unhealthy
angered Clavering, SO he rose an wan
dered out into the clear cold day.
The question was, what to do with
himself in the circumstances He had
lunched earlier than usual, the club Of
fered no relief, and all the nice people
in town were suffering more or less from
nerves at the uncertainty Of the season.
He hailed a hanson and ordered the
driver to take him up Bond street. It
would be hard if something on the pave
ment, in the crowded carriage-way or in |
the shops did not afford him inspiration.
And SO it happened. At the first block |
he was attracted by tall, willowy figure
in soft gray that seemed perfect oasis
in the dreary wilderness of black. As /
she entered an art gallery he caught q
glimpse of her face, and started. Hastily |
he pushed his fare through the trapdoor
and leaped to the sidewalk. He found
her in the vestibule consulting cata-
ogue. AL sight Of him her pale, strained !
lace lightened, at this meeting of an
old friend.
Ten years before Oracle Mainwaring |
mad made his play at the Mayfair the
success Of decade, had earned for her
'elf an assured position at the top of the
profession, and had endowed eric Car
tairs' with the fortune and the reputa-
ion that had never since deserted him.
But Clavering had never written another
,lay, Oracle Mainwaring had retired from
he boards, and after bootless believing
he public had sullenly accepted the re
usal of its favorites to dance longer to its
,iping.
Those who knew the identity of Eric
Jarstairs'' were too interested in the
phenomenal rise Of the barrister to trou-
lie long over the sudden extinction Of the
lramatist.
Those who sneered at his withdrawal
rom profession in which he was a
pronounced success were silenced by his
,reater triumph in a more dignifed
phere. Such mystery as there might
lave been remained as inscrutable as in ,
he beginning, while in the confident
,earing of Eustace Clavering there was
title encouragement for gossip.
Clavering's had been the first and the
,est of the problem plays. 1t had mes
nerized the public by the bitterness Of
Is cynicism, by the actuality OF its trag-
'dy, by the boldness of its unbelief. 1t
lad shocked them by its realism and
aptivated them by its apparent inevita-
,ility. To Clayering the play had been
he expression Of mood, to generation ,
t had been the explosion of doctrine.
Oracle Mainwaring had been little
more than nineteen when she accepted
he heavy role at the Mayfair. When
met her in Bond street she was
N the confines OF thirty. For nine years ,
,e had not seen her, for eight he had not
I \