The manager rose excitably to his feet. Marvelous! No hurry
with the books; no dropping them. She looked at the titles before she
announced them to her mistress; she set down "Humphrey Clinker" on
"The Tears of Sensibility" with a smart little smack which pointed the
antithesis. One moment--and she announced Julia's visit; another--and
she dropped the brisk waiting-maid's courtesy; a third--and she was off
the stage on the side set down for her in the book. The manager wheeled
round on his stool, and looked hard at Miss Garth. "I beg your pardon,
ma'am," he said. "Miss Marrable told me, before we began, that this was
the young lady's first attempt. It can't be, surely!"
"It is," replied Miss Garth, reflecting the manager's look of amazement
on her own face. Was it possible that Magdalen's unintelligible industry
in the study of her part really sprang from a serious interest in her
occupation--an interest which implied a natural fitness for it.
The rehearsal went on. The stout lady with the wig (and the excellent
heart) personated the sentimental Julia from an inveterately tragic
point of view, and used her handkerchief distractedly in the first
scene.
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