People who have seen both tell me that my performance of Polly Eccles is inferior to that of Mrs. Bancroft. But I have, I fancy, excelled Mrs. Bancroft in one particular: I have doubled Polly and the Marquise. I did it in Simla—did it with éclat.
The generous friend who was coming from Subathu to play the Marquise was detained at the last moment. We were in despair. The house was beautifully sold for that, our first night in Simla, and we could ill afford to return the money; we could still less afford to postpone our opening and break faith with our public.
“I will double the part with Polly,” I said as we sat mournfully on the stage at two in the afternoon.
“It’s an impossible double,” said Sam Gerridge.
“It’s a very ugly double,” I said. “But if you like, I’ll try it.”
We took the prompt-book and we did some remarkable things to it. But I am sure that Robertson himself would have forgiven us—under all the circumstances—had he been there.
Then we had a flying rehearsal of the changes, and I went back to the hotel to face the grave difficulty of dresses for Madame la Marquise. I had frocks enough that would do for the part at a pinch. But the great desideratum was to contrive something into which and out of which I could get with very great rapidity. I think that we did well, Ayah and I. She didn’t in the least know what it was all about, but she did what she was told—and did it exactly. Dear old black treasure! How calm, how helpful she was!
Fortunately there had been no question of studying for me. I had played so many times in Caste, I had rehearsed so many Marquises, and my “study,” as we play-folks call the memory of words, has always been a blessed and useful one. It never fails or betrays me.
The first act went as well as I had ever known it to do. We were all just enough nervous to be rather brilliant. There were three Gordon Highlanders in the caste, and well as they had played their parts in their own regimental theatre, they excelled themselves at Simla.
Captain Macready’s “George D’Alroy” was a masterly performance. Surgeon-Captain Barratt’s “Hawtree” was really fine.