In the course of a brief month (the interval between the First and Second Acts, for we are not permitted to see how he does it) she has become as putty in his hands. She consents to be his mistress, and is indeed so determined to adopt this informal style of union that when he produces a special marriage licence she is indignant at such a concession to the proprieties. But once again the Captain proves irresistible with his French methods and all ends well. [Illustration: THE CAPTAIN "EXAMINES ARMS." _Captain le Briquet_ ... Mr. GERALD DU MAURIER. _Sir Nevil Moreton, Bart._ ... Mr. FRANKLIN DYALL.] Mr. GERALD DU MAURIER was the life and soul of the play, which would have been a dullish business without him. His reappearances were always hailed as a joyous relief to the prevailing depression. Even _Dean Carey_--most delightful in the person of Mr. GILBERT HARE--became at one time a gloomy Dean; and Miss LILIAN BRAITHWAITE, who played very tenderly in the part of _Mrs. Westonry_ (the lady who had lost her reputation), could not hope to be very entertaining with her reminiscences of a lover whom we had never had the pleasure of meeting. _Mrs. Audley_ again (treated naturally and with a pleasant artlessness by Miss EMILY BROOKE) did not take very kindly to the conquest of her scruples and gave little suggestion of the rapture of surrender. Further, the authors paid a poor compliment to English gentlemen by providing the Captain with a dull boor for his rival. The contrast was a little too patent. Even so Mr. FRANKLIN DYALL might perhaps have made the _role_ of _Sir Nevil Moreton_ appear a little less impossible. But, however good he may be in character parts or where melodrama is indicated, he never allowed us to mistake him for a British Baronet. The only person (apart from _le Briquet_) who contributed nothing to the general gloom was the Dean's wife, played with the most attractive grace and humour by Miss NINA BOUCICAULT. A note of piquancy was given to Mr. DU MAURIER'S part by his broken English. "Broken" is perhaps not quite the word, unless we may speak of a torrent as being broken by pebbles in its bed. There were momentary hesitancies, and a few easy French words, such as _pardon?_ _pourquoi donc?_ _c'est permis?_ _alors_, were introduced to flatter the comprehension of the audience; but for the rest his fluency--and at all junctures, even the most unlikely--was simply astounding. Few people, speaking in their native tongue, can ever have commanded so facile an eloquence. What chance had a mere Englishman against him?