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Show oNDENSED . f classics I H jyoFFlNGTON 1 j W & H, CHARLES READE BJT H condensation by Edward H.Crosby sB ... . . aaaa6666664'V'4 KTwnKFlNOTON stood bcforo K mirror In her dressing room 'the Theater Boynl, Covcnt Tendon. Sho was nlono with bE wcr, both,sc" Hfcaturca could bo token ns a gho was summing up her Hi career from tho timo when' Klld of eight, cold, rngged nnd K she had been found on tho Kd nuiiy In Dublin by nn actress Hdertook her professional cdu H to tlio present moment, when, rtlcnlng actress of tho British H she bad tbo world at lior fcot. Hhnd many admirers nnd quite H flirtations, but they hod nil ephemeral, as Peg Wofllngton anlclfly detect Idle flnttery nnd Hjcophancles of tho Jcunesse H which liunB nbout her shrine, BL, a woman of the world, keen, Kous and cynical, and whllo she Hwllb her gallants, her henrt nnd Here In her work. But one eve-He eve-He noticed In n box, n faeo now H theater. Ho was a man cvl-H cvl-H from the provinces, but ho Hither wlth'undlsgulsed admlra-vMght admlra-vMght after night ho was nt his BWnlng Intently to every word Hke nnd with an uumlstokablo respect. waited, thlrking llko nil tho E, b? would seek an Interview, E tunc went on nnd ho mndo no Kit to bring nbout an acquaint-Ws acquaint-Ws curiosity was piqued nnd Banhd Inquiries she learned thnt Hi Ernest Vane, n country gentle-Hf gentle-Hf means and reputed n bnchclor. Meltht. however, Mr. Vano was p to tho green room by Sir Hm Fomandcr, n man about town bad long but unsuccessfully Bt to win Peg's favor. Miss Woff-H Woff-H was not in tho room when Mr. lint arrived. Ho quickly adapt-HsKlf adapt-HsKlf to the novel surroundings Hunched into a eulogy of Peg's Bkl charms nnd histrionic nblllty. Hfeg Mr. Vane's remarks Peg had Bm the room and overheard her Ki to eloquently sung nnd, know-BJtt know-BJtt Mr. Vano wns unaware of her Hire, she was Impressed with his Hlty. Then they were introduced Hfr. Vnne was almost speechless idmlratlon. All that his lrang-Bn lrang-Bn had painted, was more than Bed. Her beauty, her Intclll-H, Intclll-H, her graclousness wero over-Bring over-Bring and Mr. Vane, in his embnr-Bent, embnr-Bent, could only stammer a few Bonplaccs. Here indeed wns a Ht, and her curiosity turned to Bit B was still cautious nnd would H her new-found friend with vary-Boods. vary-Boods. Ehe stood bcforo her mirror, she malting tho arrival of Mr. Vano. i had becomo warm friends, much H on tho part of Mr. Vane, who Bpenly declnrcd his love nnd hod Bher many tokens of his affection, B Peg bad accepted, but with her tar whim she had declined any-B any-B 8ave some inexpensive gift, toll-Ber toll-Ber lover thnt It was the sentl-B sentl-B which sho desired, not tho In-He In-He vnluo of tho present. Sho had HM to reveal to Mr. Vnne thnt she, Brn, loved him, but tho old, bus-B19 bus-B19 feeling would not lenvo her. Hen they were alono together Peg Hi ner bonds on Vnno's shoulders Hsazlng fixedly into his eyes said : most wo actresses make good Bold proverb, 'many lovers, few Bd,' hut no ono outsldo our circle B" how much wo need n friend. B?ou bo ono to mo?" Bd Ernest promised faithfully. Ben sno B"vo herself up to tho In-Ballon In-Ballon f tbo moment With all odulntlon Peg was lonely. There been no ono to whom slid could td open her heart with a senso Hecurlty, and when Viino poured her willing ear his nvownls of un-Be un-Be lovc nnd devotion, Peg's hun- soul drank in his words ns tho B'y earth absorbs refreshing show- Sho was supremely hnppy. r Charles Pomander did not nt nil h the turn affairs had taken. IIo Planned ninny schemes to win ntTectlon, and when ho wit-ed wit-ed the triumph of ono ho regard-B?5 regard-B?5 n rank outsider his lovo turned We. Ho endeavored Insidiously Blson Vnno's mind with stories of B Wofllngton's. past lifo and on ono Hs,n ho wns nenrly successful. B Triplet, n hanger-on at Covcnt B ." wns recognized by Peg ns ono P had befriended her in tho early 'of poverty. Triplet was a play-sit play-sit nnd scene shifter, and to glvo B asslstancc Peg offered him n com-B, com-B, n t0 lmlnt ,ier portrait. Peg's Mjto Triplet's studio wero told by UiarU-a to Vano ns ovldenco of BJS faithlessness, but tho falsity of BL- Bca wns soon Provccl nntJ Infatuation wns stronger than Kr' lr Charles had almost nban-W nban-W ' hopo of defeating his rival Unas6 Un-as6 day, when returning to Lon-Bee Lon-Bee t the country, ho gave; asilst-C asilst-C ,,a woman whoso coach had lm-B" lm-B" disabled. JL'lio beamy of tne iauy so u. prcsROtl Sir Cbnrles thnt bo aeiit his servant to lenrn her identity, and tho wan brought back word that sho wns Mrs. Ernest Vnne. A deadly wi-.ip.in was tliuv placed In Sir Charles' hands, but ho tefrnlncd from making public his Infomntlon until tbo proper moment. mo-ment. A banquet had been arranged by Mr. Vano in honor of Peg Wotllng. ton nnd Sir Cbnrles ninnngcd to hnvo Mm. Vane nppenr when tho festivities wero nt their height. Ills scheme wns successful and the effect of Mrs. Vane's advent wns dec-trlcal. dec-trlcal. Mr. Vane, not knowing that tils wife was In town, wns filled with constcrnntlon, but Peg's tact did not desert her even in this trying moment nnd she introduced those present ns members of tho nobility. Mrs. Vnne wns not suspicious, nnd accepted the situation In rootI faith, but Triplet, who had brought verses in honor of Miss Wofllngton, nnd being ironware of Mrs. Vane's identity, revealed the true facts nnd tho wlfo wns heartbroken. As for Peg, sho was furious nt the deception placed upon her. She fully believed thnt Mr. Vane wns frco to woo her and then In n moment, lnr dreams were rudely shattered nnd her faith in mnnklnd destroyed. .Sho determined de-termined to tnke desperate revenge. Sho would, keep Vnne nt her stdo In spite of tho wife nnd then, when he wns firmly In her tolls, sho would publicly pub-licly discard Jilm. Filled with these thoughts she went to Triplet's studio where the portrait ho hnd painted wns to be exhibited, The first glance showed the picture to bo a wretched failure, nnd even Triplet ncknowledgcd his defeat. But thero was no tlmo to lose, for tho critics were already approaching the studio. Peg, with a sudden inspiration, inspira-tion, cut the face from tbo portrait and, having nrrnnged the draperies so that her body would bo conccnled, sho placed her own lenturcs In tho aperture. aper-ture. Tho comments of tho connoisseurs connois-seurs were ludicrous, some declaring thero was not tho slightest resemblance resem-blance to the original, others that the flesh tints wero Imperfect, nnd still others thnt the drawing wns out of nil proportions. When tbo opinions had been expressed, Peg enmo from behind the onscl nnd expressed her views In true Mlleslnn manner. Peg remained after tho others had departed nnd told Triplet of her intentions in-tentions townrd Mr. Vane. Unexpectedly Unexpect-edly Mrs. Vnne knocked nt tbo door of the studio. She had been followed by Sir Charles Pomander and Had sought refuge from his attentions. Peg hnd no desire to meet Mrs. Vnne, but there wns not sufficient time to escape, es-cape, so onco more she went behind tho easel nnd placed her face in tho I portrait. Mrs. Vane, after explaining explain-ing her presence, noticed tho picture nnd cxclnlmed: "You nre a great artist, Mr. Triplet, i tho likeness nctunlly breathes. Oh that sho wero hero, instead of this : wonderful image of her. I would speak to her. I am not wise or learned, bu orators never pleaded ns I would plead . to her for my Ernest's heart" She paused for a moment nnd then, addressing tho picture, continued: "Oh, yes, you nro beautiful, you arc i gifted, nnd tho eyes of thousands wait on your every word and look. What wonder thnt he, ardent, refined and I genial, should lay his heart at your feet? I cannot tako him from you but oh, be generous to tho weak and J elve him back to mo I Glvo him back to me, beautiful, terrible woman, and 1 will lovo you longer, than men can lovel" Suddenly sho stnrted back with n wild Bcrcnm. "It is nllvol" she cried, nnd run nlng to Triplet hid her faco on his shoulder. , For Peg hnd been so affected by tho piteous appeal of tho heart-broken womnn that with all her self-control sho could not check tho tears which coursed down her checks. Peg ordered or-dered Triplet to leavo the room and wiien tho two women were nlono Peg turned to Mrs. Ynno and said calmly: "I trust, madam, you will do mo tho Justice to believe I did not know Mr. Vnne was married?" "I am sure of It," replied Mrs. Vono. "Vou nro ns good ns you nro gifted." Peg then promised to so degrade liorsou in vanes uyen wuu u .,...-leavo .,...-leavo her in disgust, but to this plan Mrs. Vnno refused to agree. Finally Peg arrayed herself In Mrs. Vnno's cloak and hood, threw n note from tho window to Sir Charles, who was waiting wait-ing below, which they knew would hrlng thnt worthy into tho room, nnd then dispntched Triplet to summon Mr.. Vnno to tho Btudlo, Mrs. Vnno con-cenllng con-cenllng herself in nn adjoining npnrt-ment npnrt-ment Sir Charles responded to tho summons Immediately nnd In a moment mo-ment wns making violent lovo to Peg, whom ho mistook for Mrs. Vnne. In the height of n most Impassioned scene, Vnno entered nnd mndo tho samo error as did Sir Charles. Swords wero drawn, but Peg disclosed herself before matters beenmo serious. The thought thnt his wlfo wns beloved by nnotber produced such a shock to Mr. Vano that ho realized ho still loved her and tho two deported together, leaving Peg with her unhappy thoughts. . Peg Wofflngton never recovered from this episode. Sho plunged once nidro Into her work, but llfo had lost nil Its interest Sho did not romnln long on tho Btogc, but retired to prl-vato prl-vato lifo nnd dovoted herself to char ity, Mr. nnd Mrs. Yuno being her Btnnch friends whllo alio lived, rnnvrlitht 1119. by tho Poit rublmnlns CCoy The Boston Post). Copyrliht In th. United Klnffdom. th Domlnlona. IU Colonies Col-onies and dependencies, under the copy-rlent copy-rlent act. by th Post Publlshlnc Co., Boston Mail.. U. B. A. All right, reserved. |