A greater part of the audience knew her, but they were astonished by the sight of her beauty, rendered more beautiful by the exquisite dress, and they led the thunder of welcome which the strangers, who saw her for the first time, followed as heartily.
Doris had been taught by Jeffrey that to stop the business of the scene to acknowledge applause was a cardinal sin, and commenced at once, and the crowded house fell into instant silence, in which her sweet, clear voice rang like a silver bell.
A round of applause marked the close of the scene, but there was not much enthusiasm in it.
She had looked a very typical Juliet, had played her part well, but there was nothing extraordinary in her acting.
“That’s right, Miss Marlowe!” said Romeo, as she passed him at the wing. “Saving yourself up! Reserve force, and all that! Quite right! You’ll let yourself go in the later scenes!”
“Well?” she said to Jeffrey, as he threw a silk shawl over her and drew her into a corner out of the draughts.
“It is for you to answer that,” he said, quietly. “It was well done; quietly and with self-possession.”
“I see!” she said, growing pale. “I have failed!”
“No!” he almost shouted; then, in a low voice that quavered: “It is not your best scene. It ought to be cut out. It is sometimes. You have nothing to fear. Did you see the house?”
She shook her head.