Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-17

with that Of a man she really loved" So
the thing was done, and of the two chill
dren. the daughter. Valentine. followed her
| mother, the son, Jean, remaining with
Rouchon pere.
Now Marguerite the daughter of the
second marriage, is engaged to be married,
and of course: must bring her husbana a
dot" Suddenly. IT develops that her
father. M. Armieres. Is on the verge of
ruin and the only means by which aie can
be saved and Marguerite's marriage por-
ton provided is that his wife shall sell her
private estate, in which not only Jean and
Valentine, the children of the first mar
| riage, have an interest but NJ. Rouchon
himself. This part of the piece, by the bye.
is extremely complicated, but the Issue Is
clear 1t is a question of the interests of
the first house" or those of the second.
and madame does not hesitate long. Ar
mieres must be saved from ruin. Marguer-
ties marriage shall not be broken of be-
cause she has no dowryi
Among other properties. factory which
belongs to Madame Armieres is to be sold,
and to complicate things still more Jean
Rouchon presents himself as a possible
purchaser. His mother has not seen him
since his childhood. He appears as an
awkward, addressed young man. who has
nothing to say except on the business
which has brought him there. "Of what
shall We speak, IL not of business?" he
says. At all events. his heart Is set on
the purchase, which opens a career to him.
but he cannot pay cash-and cash Is vital
to his mother on account of the financial
predica ment of the Armieres. One thing
leading to another, Jean sees clearly that
her instinct Is to pay no heed to his inter-
ests or Valentines If only her present hus-
bands liabilities can be covered, and her
younger daughters dowry pe provided. He
insists that Valentine shall be summoned
and asked whether she will submit tamely
to this wrong
Valentine appears and there ensues a
really heartrending scene, in which her
pent-up resentment of her position in the
Armieres household bursts forth. 1t is all
most searching analysis of painful
situation. all the more painful because
Nine. Armieres has been unconscious of
it. You have been a mother to me.
says Valentine, Ito Marguerite you have
been a mama. When l was i'll you didn't
her my fever The scene grows more
passionate and violent, and eliminates
when Armieres enters, confronts his wife s
son. and orders him out of .-ie house.
At this point in the first representation
the audience was entirely swept away by
the force of the piece and the acting.
In the third act, the two girls have a
violent alteration. as the result of which
Marguerite decides to forego her doWry.
and incidentally. to quit the household.
These are the two big scenes of. the
play and they will act well on any stage.
The remainder of the piece shows US the
dissolution of the "house of clay Madame
Armieres has failed to satisfy the claims
upon her on either side, and fallen short
of both halves of 1.er divided duty. The
two daughters go their separate ways
the son his, and at the end the mother is
! left on the stage alone to face the new
situation best she can. No theatrical
situation in many years has led to Sc
much discussion in the French capital
The other piece about divorce, Les
Jacobins" has proved almost as Dig a hit
| as La Maison d'Argile.' but it is in its
rfghtful place at the Paris vaudeville
| and the rights for English-speaking coun-
| tries at any rate are not likely to be In
demand. Les Jacobins, by the way
has also set Parisians to asking a ques-
ton: "Can married woman be engaged?'
The "Jacobins" of the title are the French
society women whom divorce serves as an
easy way of being off with the old love and
on with the new. and though it Is all, or
nearly ALL comedy. it is comedy mixed with
biting satire. Abel Hermant is the author
and his heroine Is ''epris" with man other
| than her husband. and engaged to him
her remarriage to take place just as soor
as she can manage to get a divorce.
But her husband won't hear of 1t. He Is
| in love with her. and he refuses to a
mutual consent" arrangement. Moreover
when she tries to elope he surprises heI
and the "other man." and finally makes
| is somewhat like one in Candida though
not as artistic. In the end. however, the
| lady Chooses her husband and so her
"engagement' to the other man is broken
off No small part of the success of the
piece is due to the manner In which well
known Partisan types are satirized. we
have society woman. for instance,
enamored Of an American dentist who has
purchased a title in Rome.