“For Pauline!” “Yes, I play Pauline to-night in the _Lady of Lyons_, you know; and she is always played in ringlets--I don’t exactly know why.” “Pray do not apologize for the curl-papers. I know there is a prejudice against them; but I really think them becoming in your case. And so you play Pauline to-night? I remember seeing Helen----” “Oh, please don’t!” cried the girl, with a pretty look of piteous supplication; “every one says that. ‘My dear,’ the ladies at the theatre say to me, ‘I have seen Miss Faucit in that character; and, without wishing to wound your feelings, I am bound to tell you that if you knew how _she_ played the cottage-scene, you would go home and cut your throat.’ At least that’s what Mrs. M’Grudder, who plays old women on the Oswestry circuit, said to me after--after I came off, so pleased at having been applauded.” “The old harridan! I suppose she is a very great actress herself, this Mrs. M’Grudder.” “Oh, no; she speaks the broadest, broadest Scotch; and in Lady Macbeth the boys in the gallery laugh at her dreadfully.” “Then I do not think you need be made unhappy by that lady’s sneers. Are you very fond of acting?” “I love it dearly, and I hope some day to get on, for papa’s sake. But I find the life of an actress much harder than I thought, and it is very difficult to get on. And I am so nervous.” “You are afraid of your audience?” “Oh, no, I don’t so much mind them; it is of the other actors and actresses I am most afraid.” “Indeed.” “Yes; they come to the wings and watch me; and then they tell me what they think; and they give me advice; and somehow they always contrive to make me miserable. I am sure sometimes, when I have been playing Ophelia, and have been quite carried away by the part, fancying that I have loved a prince and been forsaken by him, and that my father has been killed, and I am mad, I have happened to look towards the prompt entrance and see Mrs. M’Grudder standing there staring at me in her dreadful stony way, and have heard her say, ‘St--st--st!’ quite loud, and it has made me break down directly. You see, most actors and actresses have been a long time in the profession, and they have a kind of prejudice against amateurs and novices, and try to put them down. Mrs. M’Grudder had two daughters in the theatre, who both wanted to play the juveniles, and I suppose that’s what made her so unkind to me.” “But I suppose you have done with Mrs. M’Grudder now you have come to London?” “Oh, no, I fear not. My engagement at the Oxford-road Theatre is only for a fortnight. Mr. Mortemar has taken the house at his own risk, you know, in order to introduce himself to a London public; and when the season is over, I must go back to the country--and most likely to the Oswestry circuit--unless I can get a permanent engagement in town.” She glanced at Mr. Desmond when she said this, as much as to say, “You are the all-powerful benefactor who can procure for me that inestimable boon.”