PART FOUR
THE PEN AND THE BOARDS
I
The manner of Wynne’s return to England was fortuitous. It resulted from the remark of a chance customer at the little restaurant.
“I wish to heaven you’d come right down to one of my rehearsals, young man, and show the Gordam idiot I’ve engaged how a waiter waits.”
The speaker was a Cockney impresario who had come to Paris to collect a few French revue artistes for a scene in a London production.
“I’ll come and play the part if you like,” replied Wynne.
The little man scrutinized him closely.
“Some idea!” he ejaculated (he had a habit of employing American expressions). “But could you realize your own personality?—that’s the point.”
“Good God! you don’t imagine this is my personality,” came the reply. “This is as much a performance as any of Sarah Bernhardt’s.”
“Durn me, but I believe you.”