my queen!

"Do you know, all the old wonder of you is coming back to me. When I
think of you as the great actress my nerves are shaken. Is it possible
that the mysterious Helen Merival is my Helen? I am mad to rush back to
you to prove it. Isn't it presumptuous of me to say, 'My Helen'? But at
this distance you cannot reprove me. I came across some pictures of you
in a magazine to-day, and was thrilled and awed by them. I have not said
anything of Helen MacDavitt to my people, but of the good and great
actress Helen Merival I speak copiously. They all feel very grateful to
you for helping me. Father thinks you at least forty. He could not
understand how a woman under thirty could rise to such eminence as you
have attained. Walt also takes it for granted you are middle-aged. He
knows how long the various 'Maggies' and 'Ethels' and 'Annies' have been
in public life. He saw something in a paper about us the other day, but
took it as a joke. If this fourth play of mine comes off, and you find
it worth producing, I shall be happy. It might counteract the baleful
influence of _Alessandra_. I began to wonder how I ever did such a
melodrama. Is it as bad as it seems to me now?...

"I daren't ask how _Enid_ is doing. It makes me turn cold to think of
the money you are losing. Wouldn't it pay to let the theatre go 'dark'
till the new thing is ready?...

"I am amazed at my temerity with you, serene lady. If I had not been
filled with the colossal conceit of the young author, I never would have
dared to approach--What I did during those mad weeks (you know the ones
I mean) gives me such shame and suffering as I have never known, and my
whole life is now ordered to make you forget that side of my character.
I ask myself now, 'What would Helen have me do?' I don't say this humble
mood will last. If _Alessandra_ should make a 'barrel of money,' I am
capable of soaring to such heights of audacity that you will be
startled."

To this she replied: "I am not working at rehearsal more than is
necessary. Mr. Olquest is a jewel. He has taken the whole burden of the
stage direction off my hands. I lie in bed till noon each morning and go
for a drive each pleasant afternoon. Our spring weather is gone. Winter
has returned upon us again.... I miss you very much. For all the worry
you gave us, we found entertainment in you. Don't trouble about the
money we are losing. Westervelt is putting up all the cash for the new
production and is angeli