He came to fulfil his trying ordeal in London with great credentials. Charles Dickens had described seeing him first, quite by accident, in Paris, having strolled in to a little theatre there one night. "He was making love to a woman," Dickens wrote, "and he so elevated her as well as himself by the sentiment in which he enveloped her, that they trod in a purer ether, and in another sphere, quite lifted out of the present. 'By heavens!' I said to myself, 'a man who can do this can do anything. I never saw two people more purely and instantly elevated by the power of love. The man has genius in him which is unmistakable.'"

Photograph by [London Stereoscopic Co.

KATE TERRY.

Taken when she was acting with Fechter at the Lyceum, and won the admiration of Charles Dickens.

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In due course Fechter, having made his triumph on English boards, became the manager of the Lyceum Theatre. It was a great undertaking for a French actor, for he had to contend against the conservatism of not only our audiences, but of English actors and critics. That he was the best "love-maker" our stage had seen was readily admitted, and the fascination of his love-scenes was certain to be an attraction. But no actor can make the success of a love-scene unless he is assisted by a perfectly accomplished and responsive actress. Who was to be the heroine of Fechter's reign at the Lyceum? She was found in Kate Terry, and she right worthily shared in his notable victories.

One of the earliest productions was the first English version of the French play that (in spite of many other and differently named versions) has been made familiar to us as "The Duke's Motto." In this Kate Terry appeared as Blanche de Nevers, and in speaking of the impersonation Charles Dickens, who, for the sake of his friend Fechter, was inclined to be very critical, said that it was "perfectly charming,"—"the very best piece of womanly tenderness he had ever seen on the stage."

No doubt Kate Terry contributed largely to Fechter's Lyceum successes. She could not only act, but she so threw herself into her characters that she could listen to those who acted with her, and let her audiences not only see, but believe that she was listening with all her heart and soul. The exercise of this rarely displayed histrionic gift was invaluable in the beautiful love-scenes of Fechter.