Show A STORY OF THE tribulations OF A BUDDING ACTRESS THE SPARK OF genius BY HOWARD FIELDING 1902 by charles W IIo oke VAS the gentleman who has the back parlor and this Is a title of distinction at mra mcandrews one eels like sir somebody or at le astas one had the right to put a few letters after ones name in tact in a recent corn munt catlon to mrs mcandrew inclosing the amount ot her weekly charge tor the accommodations I 1 signed myself john chandler the distinction Is in a sense herad being based upon the many vir bues tues of the first G B P an old fellows who died aa I 1 inter from no ordinary ailment but because he was too growl for this world ills merits seem to have been entirely negative but thus ara we judged both in and out of boarding bouses we are im afraid most valued for the noise that we do not make for the gossip that we do not peart tor the debts we do not owe even aitor the liquor that we do not drink salt was long ago defined as the stuff that makes potatoes taste badly when yon dont put any on and vices are the things that make us virtuous when we do not have teem mrs mcandrews house Is reputable because of what does not happen there I 1 hasten to say that it Is a cheerful place where the negative policy Is not construed to mean no coal in the furnace and no food on the table pens too often our landlady Is a widow of middle age a good hearted simple minded woman who lives ever if in the sight of the late mr mcandrew and abl die gladly when her time comes to join him he was a very superior man she says and so highly educated that she could not understand more than halt of his conversation but she loved every word she occupies the small front parlor which Is separated from my room by folding doors with heavy somber curtains and I 1 had supposed that this barrier was impervious to sound but one afternoon when I 1 was dressing for din nep I 1 heard a comans womans voice loud strained and angry forcing its way through doors and curtains how dare you how dare you it cried 1 I was just putting on my coat and I 1 paused with an arm through one of the cleeves el eeves again that voice was uplifted even more strenuously how dare you how dare you now upon a question of the rights and safety of such a good waman as barf mcandrew I 1 would fight a man nine feet high or two of them if cessare ces sary I 1 slid into my coat and through the curtain seemingly with a movement and my hand was up gabed to smite the heavy doors when I 1 heard oar land ladys calm voice very alse as it within a yard of me 1 I think that was very good she said well go back said a masculine voice which I 1 recognized as that 0 horace wilton a young man who lives on the top floor you tell lionel you tell me oh ill answer you no more ex some one whom I 1 now knew not to be mrs mcandrew believe what you please ot me I 1 want no more ot your help let me go let me eo keep it up keep it cupl said wilton excitedly dont drop down let me go let ma got frantic you understand now try tt again I 1 let the curtain all and stepped back into the middle ot my room dazed not even the violent scene which I 1 had sup 1 STEPPED OUT INTO THE HALL posed to in progress in the hushed and sacred precincts beyond those doors would have surprised me nearly so much the reality A theatrical rehearsal in my land ladys parlor I 1 and I 1 remembered that when I 1 had first come to the house seeking tor lodgings she had scanned my smooth shaven and rugged countenance rather anxiously and had stammered youre not an actor are you ray mustache I 1 look a little like a high grade coachman and the two types are not dissimilar so I 1 had complimented mrs mcandrew upon her knowledge 0 physiognomy while assuring her that I 1 was not connected with thal alae she had apologized promptly adding that she enjoyed the theater very much but that she had found that persona engaged in artistic pursuits were not the most desirable boarders in a later conversation she had reiterated these sentiments admitting for the sake of perfect frankness that mr wilton in the top bloor front was a literary man but very quiet and steady while I 1 waa indulging in these memories and reflecting upon the extraordinary nature of this latest occurrence ithe bell which ringa when dinner la ready sent forth its summons I 1 stepped out into the hall just in time to meet mrs mcandrew behind her I 1 saw wilton nd a very pretty girl who ells beside him at table sho does not live in our house but comes here tor her meals I 1 had understood that wilton and miss lee were engaged but I 1 had never given any especial thought to the subject of the young ladys occupation she had been among us only a week or two and she was so quiet and modest that she succeeded in almost effacing herself despite her good looks I 1 found it impossible to believe that she was an actress that it was she whom I 1 had just heard declaiming hysterical lines under the direction of wilton and with the complicity even with the praise of mrs mcandrew such was the fact however her eyes were still red from the shedding of emotional tears and I 1 noticed during dinner time that she would be shaken now and then by tremors of excitement wilton la a thin tall intense sort of fellow quite handsome in his own peculiar way and very much of a gentler man after dinner he took occasion to say that he hoped I 1 had not been disturbed and miss lee added her own hope that I 1 heard anything because she had done it so badly I 1 fished up some sort of a compliment which did not seem to impress her but when I 1 confessed my surprise at learning what her profession was she flashed a sharp glance of interest upon me out of her pretty brown eyes it was the kind of look that goes through a fellows head be more surprised I 1 think said she it you ever learn that im a good one the insight and the truth of this remark staggered me it was a fact that I 1 had not been impressed by the little that I 1 had heard it had sounded strained and forced moreover miss lee was not nay notion of an actress she was very simple in her ways unready in conversation and the sort of girl that blushes upon the smallest provocation but while we were talking thus in the lower hall mrs mcandrew came out of the dining room and stepped to miss lees side in a motherly fashion putting a plump hand upon her shoulder they made a pretty picture being so strongly contrasted the girl dark and tall with a timid eagerness in her eyes the woman mature and calm with light hair that Is beginning to show a delac ate ashen hue 1 I think you did splendidly said mrs mcandrew and she drew a little fur collar more closely around the girla throat wilton looked at her gratefully over bis shoulder as he went out with miss lee I 1 walked slowly to my room aled by the strange problem of human nature the morrow was sunday and mrs mcandrew favored me with a brief call in the afternoon and we talked of mis lee never think she waa an actress would you cald she its euch a pity I 1 asked mr wilton why he let her on the stage engaged you know what did he I 1 inquired with considerable curiosity ilu saad that she had genius replied mrs mcandrew in a quaintly reverential tone now what does this woman know about genius said I 1 to myself what can she possibly care about it aloud I 1 inquired whether sho shared mr waltons Wil tons opinion she hastened to answer that her opinion was of no value at all it mr mcandrew was alive she said id ask him and then I 1 should know he was a genius he had the spark aa he expressed it 1 I have the spark in me somewhere he would say 1 I cant do anything with it but its a comfort to know that I 1 have it im a lantern bearer that refers to an essay by robert louis stevenson she added with the air ot a child saying a lesson mr wilton has genius dont you think so she continued and I 1 was pleased to reply heartily that I 1 had read some ot the gent lemans stories and believed that he was on his way up toward the top of the literary tree it must be grand when two people of that kind loye each other she said with a sigh she can be much more to him so this was the explanation poor little commonplace mrs mcandrew was trying to help another woman to be what she herself had never been she was permitting her apartment to be turned into a dramatic school in the hope that miss lee might develop the divine spark of genius and so be a fit mate for a man who had it A picture as long as an old fashioned panorama WE TALKED OF MISS LEE came flashing through my mind I 1 beheld mrs mcandrew in the days of her youth when the realization had first come to her that she had married a genius I 1 beheld mcandrew solemn and pedantic as ive no doubt he must have been reeling off string of ln intellectual itel pearls by the fireside ot an evening and poor mrs mcandrew att 1 erward lying adako to pray for wisdom that should make her worthy of so wise husband this vain aspiration had been the arlet of her life and she would save another woman from it it she could hes so nice to her said she re to wilton and he has such perfect lie never leta her despair sometimes she wants to marry him and give up the struggle but why I 1 began what I 1 say she interrupted but they both feel that way they say she must have her career and he says she shall have it first if he has to wait ten years for her 1 think dreadful to waste your youth like that but it its the way to bring her up to him I 1 suppose its right then she came down to the actual news of the matter it appeared that miss lee had played only small and had had indifferent success in them she had seemed likely to miss an engagement altogether in the current season and had shed many tears about it but wilton had kept her spirits up suddenly an for chance had come to read a leading part in competition with several other actresses of much greater reputation 1 I dont think shell get it said mrs mcandrew but mr wilton says that that make any difference its a question of doing your best he says there may be something in that I 1 admitted on the following afternoon I 1 had the pleasure of hearing miss lee again the ease with which sound traveled through those black doors and heavy curtains was amazing and proved to me what a mouse for stillness my landlady must have been I 1 was home rather earlier than usual that day and for a full hour I 1 heard a most distressful outcry when I 1 first came in miss lee seemed to be pleading that somebody be told of something dont tell lionel dont tell lionel she reiterated and wilton was all the time insisting that she take it hard enough then they went back to a hysterical scene and it ended in a case of genuine hysteria with miss lee weeping upon our land ladys bosom and declaring tha she would never never never amount to anything that she might as well give up and marry mr wilton if he could still care for her and I 1 could hear mrs mcandrew Mo Andrew soothing her and telling her that she spoke her lines perfectly lovely while wilton paced the floor with a heavy tread and remorselessly morse lessly called upon the poor girl to brace up and try it again for my own part this and subsequent rehearsals convinced me that miss lee did not possess what the late mr mcandrew had called the spark by my way of thinking she was strained and unnatural and wilton was all tho time trying to make her more so he would say constantly build it up hold it o 0 work youve got to suffer in this part what its tor what genius is for to voice the cry of the human soul I 1 want to hear your soul sobbing in agony and then ill be satisfied I 1 this seemed unkind from a man who loved her but tender hearted mrs mcandrew approved the sentiment one day I 1 ventured to say to our landlady that I 1 thought miss lee had mistaken her vocation the effect wa remarkable and unexpected mrs mc andrew looked at me with a eort ot pitiful distrust with a pained surprise and from that time ehe never mentioned miss lees efforts and A few daye later tho agony in the front parlor to culminate and I 1 heard no more ot it I 1 judged that liaa lee had had her reading and had been found wanting she appeared at the table always with a look 0 despair and there were dark line under her pretty ayea mrs mcandrew never passed her chair without laying a ca HE SEEMED TO BE SINKING SLOWLY INTO HIS SEAT hand upon her and it was only at such moment that the poor girl would smile aa tor wilton he was darker thinner more upon edge as the phrase Is than ever before sometimes I 1 was upon the point of getting him into rny room for a good long talk but his manner was forbidding and then I 1 got a considerable shock it came from a morning newspaper wherein I 1 beheld a two column picture of misa lee with some lines beneath it to the effect that on the following monday she would replace a certain well known actress in a certain newly famous role I 1 recognized that role I 1 had beard it through the black doors a great many times I 1 took the earliest opportunity to congratulate miss lee mrs mcandrew and mr wilton but they were all in aj trance our land ladys manner was only a reflection of course but it waa extremely accurate she was the sort at woman who must always reflect something some mood cf one whom she lovs cd or a thought from another source than her own brain but she did it so well so sweetly so loyally it will be guessed that I 1 had a seat in a certain theater on monday evening and there sat mrs mcandrew and wilton just ahead of me I 1 could our landlady lay her hand upon his arm in a motherly fashion now and then be fore the curtain went up I 1 had caught the infection and was prayerfully nerv ous I 1 had very little idea what waa eald on the stage until amsa le ap feared and then I 1 came to myself ah looked very charming I 1 had had no idea that her beauty would carry sij welt and the surprise was welcome when she began to I 1 saw thab ehe had greatly improved she seemed more like a real actress and when eh won her elret applause I 1 glanced loyally at wilton he deemed to be sinking eflowly down into his seat his head was drawing itself slowly in like a turtles and it had nearly disappeared by the end of the elret act if came out again during the second and then alow ly subsided in the following intermission I 1 found liim in the smoking room he wa walking back and forth and he to be eating a cigar I 1 took him by the hand and he stared at me miss lee Is great bald I 1 he shook his head she la making a hit I 1 insisted applauding her all the time them he eald with fervor switched her clean off the track that first burst of applause confound it she Is thinking of her success and it Is spoiling her kleinz her but surely the encouragement there are two kinds of encouragement he interrupted one Is this sort of thing and the other Is the everlasting dissatisfaction that ashes bad from me the dissatisfaction that never loses confidence that always shows the goal but never falsely saya that it is attained how about sirs mcandrews Mc kind ot encouragement I 1 asked the tears came into his eyes god bless her he said that encouragement and it discouragement its just simply love and w need it more than anything else but she know it she thinks that she was never of any real use to mcandrew 1 and he laughed with an emotional unsteadiness that did him great credit the third act was beginning and we hurried back to our seats it Is the great act ot the play and I 1 was afraid of it at the very outset I 1 detected the in miss lees work that had impressed me in the rehearsals the note of agonized endeavor she had forgotten success now she had even forgotten love she was feeling the scourge and then suddenly J felt that pain enter my own breast and in an instant miss lee disappeared and I 1 beheld the woman of the play the tortured creature whose secret was being wrenched from her heart to her own destruction in its proper place I 1 recognized its reality it bad been different in mrs mcandrews |