Garth, coming round unwillingly to the general opinion.

"I almost wish we were Papists, and I had a convent to put her in to-morrow." One of Mr.Marrable's servants entered the theater as that desperate aspiration escaped the governess.

She instantly sent the man behind the scene with a message: "Miss Vanstone has done her part in the rehearsal; request her to come here and sit by me." The servant returned with a polite apology: "Miss Vanstone's kind love, and she begs to be excused--she's prompting Mr.Clare." She prompted him to such purpose that he actually got through his part.

The performances of the other gentlemen were obtrusively imbecile.

Frank was just one degree better--he was modestly incapable; and he gained by comparison.