The Strand Magazine, Vol. 05, Issue 27, March 1893: An Illustrated Monthly — John Shaqi
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 05, Issue 27, March 1893: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 05, Issue 27, March 1893: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
It occurred at Manchester. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertson were on tour
with the elder Compton, and they were--sweethearts. A convenient time
seemed to have arrived for their wedding day, for on the Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday nights pieces were to be played in which neither of
them would be required. This would mean a nice little honeymoon--and the
two lovers would reappear on the Monday night. So the day was
fixed--Thursday; the church chosen--St. Saviour's, Plymouth Grove; and
the best man booked--Walter Gowing, who used to play under the name of
Walter Gordon.
Then bad news came. Compton's brother was taken ill, and he had to hurry
away from Cottonopolis. Another play had to be put in the bill, both Mr.
Kendal and Miss Robertson would be needed--for it was "As You Like It,"
and the one would be wanted for _Orlando_ and the other for _Rosalind_.
Still, the wedding was proceeded with on Thursday morning, quietly and
happily, and in the evening husband and wife met on the stage in the
Forest of Arden. There, with _Celia_ as the priest, amidst the leafy
trees and grassy pathways, _Orlando_ turns to the merry _Celia_, and
pointing to the far, far happier _Rosalind_, cries out:--
"Pray thee, marry us!"
"Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?"
"I will."
"Then," _Rosalind_ pertly remarks, "you must say, 'I take thee,
Rosalind, for wife.'"
"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife," said _Orlando_, earnestly.
Then _Rosalind_ asked, "Now tell me how long you would have her after
you have possessed her?"
And _Orlando_ replied--both in the words of Shakespeare and in the
language of his own heart--"For ever and a day!"
That is the true story of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal. It was a
natural desire of each never to play apart from the other, and from that
day they have never separated. For some seven years Mr. and Mrs. Kendal
played at the Haymarket, under Buckstone's management, and the gifted
actress merrily referred to the little jokes played on "Bucky" by some
of the actors. He was stone deaf, and could only take his cues when to
speak from the movements of his fellow-actors' lips, so they would annoy
him by continuing the lip movement, and "Bucky" sometimes got "stuck."
[Illustration: THE DRAWING-ROOM. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._]
Little need be said of Mrs. Kendal's subsequent work--her acting at the
Court, the Prince of Wales's, and her labours at the St. James's, when,
in 1881, she appeared there under the joint management of Mr. Kendal and
Mr. Hare. Not only in this country has her name become fondly familiar
in the homes of those who "go to the theatre" and those who "never
would," but in America the artistic acting of herself and husband has
been instantly and enthusiastically recognised.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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