Woffington!"
"She is not here," said Mrs. Vane, who remembered all the names perfectly
well. "There is one charming lady among our guests, her face took me in a
moment; but she is a titled lady. There is no Mrs. Woffington among
them."
"Strange!" replied Triplet; "she was to be here; and, in fact, that is
why I expedited these lines in her honor."
"In _her_ honor, sir?"
"Yes, madam. Allow me:
'Brights being, thou whose radiant brow--'"
"No! no! I don't care to hear them now, for I don't know the lady."
"Well, madam, but at least you have seen her act?"
"Act! you don't mean all this is for an actress?"
_"An_ actress? _The_ actress! And you have never seen her act? What a
pleasure you have to come! To see her act is a privilege; but to act with
her, as _I_ once did! But she does not remember that, nor shall I remind
her, madam," said Triplet sternly. "On that occasion I was hissed, owing
to circumstances which, for the credit of our common nature, I suppress."
"What! are you an actor too? You are everything."
"And it was in a farce of my own, madam, which, by the strangest
combination of accidents, was damned!"
"A play-writer? Oh, what clever men there are in the world--in London, at
least! He is a play-writer, too. I wonder my husband comes not. Does Mr.
Vane--does Mr. Vane admire this actress?" said she, suddenly.
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