“Yes. She is a beautiful woman. I have not seen her upon the stage; but I have met her.”
“Do you consider ‘Charles I.’ will present you to a New York audience in one of your best characters?”
“No; and I am not very fond of the part of Henrietta Maria either.”
“What are your favorite characters?”
“Oh, I hardly know,” she says, now fairly interested in the conversation; and turning easily towards her questioners, for the first time, “I love nearly all I play; but I don’t like to cry, and I cannot help it in ‘Charles I.’ I like comedy best,—Portia, Beatrice, and Letitia Hardy.”
“Do you intend to star on your own account?”
“No, no.”
“You prefer to cast your fortunes with the Lyceum company?”
“Yes, certainly. Sufficient for the day is the Lyceum thereof. There is no chance of my ever desiring to change. I am devoted to the Lyceum, and to Mr. Irving. No one admires him more than I do; no one knows better, I think, how much he has done for our art; no one dreams of how much more he will yet do if he is spared. I used to think, when I was with Charles Kean,—I served my apprenticeship, you know, with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean,—that his performances and mounting of plays were perfect in their way. But look at Mr. Irving’s work; look at what he has done and what he does. I am sure you will be delighted with him. Excuse me, is that the ‘Britannic’ yonder, following in our wake?”
“Yes.”