friends, she industriously spreads misery all about her. She has contrived to establish bitter estrangement between her devoted husband and a dearly loved and loving sister; and, ascertaining that another sister-in-law, _Henriette Durand_,--who is her closest friend and who has confided in her,--is beloved by a high-principled, jealous young man, _Denis Le Guern_, she schemes to wreck their prospective happiness. The fair _Henriette_ (whose amorous receptivity appears to be comprehensive) has secretly been the mistress of a profligate man of fashion, named _Charlie Ponta-Tulli_, to whom she would have been wedded had not _Gabrielle_ surreptitiously suppressed missives passing between them and thus caused their intrigue to be ended. Aware of _Guern’s_ jealous disposition and strong preference for early vegetables, _Gabrielle_ counsels _Henriette_, when he shall formally propose marriage to her, to make a full confession to him of her relation to _Ponta-Tulli_,--being confident that _Guern_ will then withdraw his proposal. This advice _Henriette_ promises to act upon; but, through fear, she fails to do so, and presently she and _Guern_ are wedded and for a while dwell in bliss. _Gabrielle_, unable to endure the spectacle of their felicity, plans to destroy it by contriving to have all the persons implicated in the action assembled as guests in a country residence, thus bringing the new-wedded couple into close contact with the ardent though alienated _Ponta-Tulli_. There the former lover protests to the distressed _Henriette_ his unchangeable passion, and there they are surprised together by the suspicious _Guern_ in the moment when _Tulli_ is demanding her reasons for having broken with him. A violent wrangle ensues, during which _Gabrielle_, under pretence of attempting reconciliation, neatly manages to make known the former illicit relation of _Tulli_ and _Henriette_ to the latter’s husband. In the passages of bitter recrimination which follow _Tulli_ at last establishes the fact that he had not wilfully abandoned the charming _Henriette_, and then (with remarkable dramatic dexterity) the spiteful treachery of _Gabrielle_ is little by little elicited and “the secret” of that vicious and contemptible little mischief-maker is finally revealed when she is forced to confess to her wretched husband all her years of wicked intrigue and perverse malice. There, dramatically, the play ends,--where so much of human experience ends, in heartbroken misery and despair. A superfluous “tag” is, however, provided in which _Jannelot_ first induces _Guern_ to forgive _Henriette_ and then himself casts the mantle of indulgence over the sins of _Gabrielle_--the fervid _Ponta-Tulli_ being left to recede into the dim perspective of Paris, there to comfort himself as best he may.