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?

The action of _The Prude's Fall_ was sup